State Senator - District 20
Zellnor Y. Myrie
Has represented Senate District 20 since 2019 and chairs the Senate Codes Committee, after earlier chairing the Senate Elections Committee.
Issues Zellnor is raising
Guns, crime and criminal justice
Sponsored laws requiring payment card networks to use merchant category codes for firearm and ammunition dealers, defining a mass shooting for emergency funding, expanding crime victims' access to compensation without a mandatory police report, and raising criminal fines on corporations. His Senate biography says he wrote the state's gun industry liability law in 2021.
Voting rights and election rules
Sponsored the 2023 law setting the effective date of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York and voted for a law letting boards of elections set up absentee ballot drop-off locations. His Senate biography says he authored that voting rights act and, in 2021, held voter-focused hearings across the state and issued a report with more than 50 recommendations to reform elections.
Housing and rents
Voted for a 2025 law on landlords' use of algorithmic pricing to set the rent charged to residential tenants.
Medical aid in dying
Voted for the Medical Aid in Dying Act in 2025, which became law in February 2026.
Cannabis dispensary locations
Voted against a 2026 bill amending the limits on how close retail adult-use cannabis dispensaries may be to schools and houses of worship; it passed the Senate 35-24 and became law.
Background
He ran in the 2025 Democratic primary for mayor of New York and was eliminated in the second round. He holds a law degree from Cornell Law School.
- Chair of the New York State Senate Codes Committee
- Former chair of the New York State Senate Elections Committee
- Won the Sept. 13, 2018 Democratic primary for Senate District 20 over incumbent Jesse Hamilton with 54.0% of the vote, and the Nov. 6, 2018 general election with 92.6%
- Took office in the State Senate on Jan. 1, 2019
- Re-elected in 2020 over Tucker Coburn with 97.3%, in 2022 with 99.5% and on Nov. 5, 2024 with 107,498 votes (99.3%)
- Candidate in the 2025 Democratic primary for mayor of New York; eliminated in round 2
- Received the Founders' Award from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and was named Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year by Everytown for Gun Safety
- Received the Council of State Governments' "20 Under 40 Leadership Award" in 2022
- Graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School
- B.A. in Communications and M.A. in Urban Studies from Fordham University; J.D. from Cornell Law School
Support
New York Working Families Party
Also on your ballot on the Working Families Party line
Money
$92K
raised
Top donors: 1199 Seiu, Mark Egerman, Deborah Bers