Experience and Qualifications
New York State Assemblymember since 2023, Community organizer, mom of 3, small business owner, and New Yorker. Co-founder of Children First.
Education
BA from Columbia University and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Campaign Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/graceleefornyc/
First, housing affordability. I secured nearly $400 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, helped pass Good Cause Eviction, and will fight to fully fund the Housing Access Voucher Program and expand protections for seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities. Second, fighting Trump and protecting immigrant communities from federal overreach. I am fighting for the New York for All Act, the MELT Act, the RADAR Act, the New York Civil Rights Act, and the SAFE AIR Act to limit state involvement in federal immigration enforcement and ensure New Yorkers can hold federal agents accountable. Protecting New Yorkers from Trump also includes ensuring we push back against EPA rollbacks of clean water standards and regulations to protect our environment and standing up to federal cuts to food subsidies, healthcare access, and more. Third, expanding universal childcare. I will push to expand 2-K, 3-K and Pre-K statewide, and raise wages for childcare workers.
Climate change is personal for me. I held my daughter during Hurricane Sandy as it devastated our neighborhood. Before I was elected, I co-founded Children First to fight toxic exposure at a brownfield site near two elementary schools. In the Assembly, I helped pass the Climate Change Superfund Act to make polluters pay. This session, I am fighting to pass the NY HEAT Act, the Clean Fuel Standard, and the ASAP Act to accelerate our transition to clean energy.
Advancing social and racial justice means dismantling systems that have excluded communities of color — reforming criminal justice, confronting hate, and ensur…Advancing social and racial justice means dismantling systems that have excluded communities of color — reforming criminal justice, confronting hate, and ensuring every New Yorker can access housing, healthcare, and opportunity regardless of race, background, or immigration status.
On criminal justice, I prioritize investment over incarceration. I co-sponsored the Clean Slate Act, Treatment Not Jails, Elder Parole, and the bill to end qualified immunity. I championed the Stop Hiding Hate Act to hold tech companies accountable, and secured $90 million for community-based nonprofits providing culturally competent services.
I'll keep fighting for housing stability, the New York Health Act, and making the wealthy pay their fair share — and I will always fight to protect immigrant New Yorkers.
The Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a devastating blow to voting rights, gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and making it far harder for communities of color to challenge maps that dilute their political power. New York must respond. I support a constitutional amendment that would allow New York to redraw congressional district lines if another state engages in mid-decade redistricting—a direct response to states like Texas breaking from longstanding practice at the urging of the Trump administration. We cannot allow other states to manipulate the map while New York’s hands are tied. We must also codify state-level standards prohibiting the dilution of minority voting power, ensure our redistricting process centers Black, Latino, Asian, and immigrant New Yorkers who now have fewer federal protections, and invest in voter protection at the state level. The federal courts are abandoning their responsibility. New York must lead.
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