Marisol Alcantara | |
|---|---|
| Member of theNew York Senate from the31st district | |
| In office January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Adriano Espaillat |
| Succeeded by | Robert Jackson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Independent Democratic Conference (2017–2018) |
| Education | Manhattan College (BA) City University of New York (MA) |
| Website | State Senate website |
Marisol Alcantara is an American politician inNew York City. A member of theDemocratic Party, she represented theNew York State Senate's31st District from 2017 to 2018. Alcantara is a former member of theIndependent Democratic Conference (IDC), a group of Democratic senators who allied themselves with Senate Republicans.[1][2][3][4]
Alcantara was born in theDominican Republic and emigrated to New York City at the age of twelve. She has resided inUpper Manhattan ever since. She graduated fromManhattan College with a degree in government and politics, as well as theCUNY Murphy Institute of Labor, where she earned her master's degree.[5]
ACoro fellow, Alcantara has spent her career working on pro-immigration initiatives as well as with labor organizations. She has helped organize withSEIU 32BJ, as well as with the New York State Nurses Association. In politics, Alcantara has held the position of a Democratic District Leader and served as the campaign manager forYdanis Rodriguez in his first campaign for theNew York City Council.[6]
In 2016, state SenatorAdriano Espaillat ran forU.S. House of Representatives in the race to replace retiring long-serving CongressmanCharlie Rangel ofHarlem. Upon winning that election, Espaillat's state Senate seat became open. While Alcantara did not declare her candidacy until after Espaillat won his Congressional primary in June 2016, she entered the race to succeed him when it became clear no other notable Dominican candidate would emerge.[7] Facing Bloomberg administration alumnusMicah Lasher and formerNew York City Council memberRobert Jackson, Alcantara narrowly won the September 2016 Democratic primary with a plurality of 31% of the vote; the race was considered one of the elections to watch in the 2016 state primaries, and emerged as one of the closest that cycle.[8] Alcantara easily won the general election in the heavily Democratic district with over 85% of the vote.[9]
Upon winning her seat, Alcantara announced that she would join theIndependent Democratic Conference, a group of state senate Democrats that allied with the senate Republicans, allowing Republicans to control the chamber.[10] This did not come as a surprise, as she owed Independent Democratic LeaderJeffrey D. Klein for his assistance in her primary election campaign.[11] After joining the majority coalition, the freshman Senator was named Chair of the Labor Committee.[2][12]
According toThe New York Times, Alcantara "condemned" a bill by Democrats designed to stop deportations inNew York State.[13]
Alcantara proposed a bill that raised the limit for discretionary contracts for minorities and women from $20,000 to $150,000 that passed.[14]
In April 2018, Alcantara and her IDC colleagues rejoined the Senate Democratic Conference.[15][16] Subsequently, the Republican conference stripped Alcantara of her position as Chair of the Labor Committee.[17][18]
In the September 2018 Democratic primary election, Alcantara was challenged again by Jackson (who also won the backing of theWorking Families Party) as well as by Thomas Leon and Tirso Santiago Pina.[19] This time, Jackson won the four-way primary in a landslide with 56% of the vote to Alcantara's 38%.[20][21][22][23] Alcantara's defeat was attributed to long-simmering anger with the former members of the IDC. As part of New York State'selectoral fusion laws allowing candidates to run on multiple ballot lines in one election, Alcantara still appeared in the November 6, 2018, general election as the third-partyIndependence Party of New York candidate;[24][25][26] however, Alcantara conceded to Jackson and pledged to work with him.[27]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | New York State Senate,31st District 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
