Marisol Alcantara
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Marisol Alcantara is an American politician in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the New York State Senate's 31st District from 2017 to 2018. Alcantara is a former member of the
Independent Democratic Conference The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a caucus consisting of several New York State Democratic Committee, Democratic members of the New York State Senate that existed from 2011 to 2018. The IDC is notable for having formed a power-shar ...
(IDC), a group of Democratic senators who allied themselves with Senate Republicans.


Life and career

Alcantara was born in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
and emigrated to New York City at the age of twelve. She has resided in
Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...
ever since. She graduated from
Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...
with a degree in government and politics, as well as the CUNY Murphy Institute of Labor, where she earned her master's degree. A Coro fellow, Alcantara has spent her career working on pro-immigration initiatives as well as with labor organizations. She has helped organize with
SEIU 32BJ Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (often shortened to SEIU 32BJ, 32BJ SEIU or just 32BJ), is a branch of Service Employees International Union headquartered in New York City which mainly represents building workers (maintenance, cu ...
, 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 for Ydanis Rodriguez in his first campaign for the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
.


New York State Senate

In 2016, state Senator
Adriano Espaillat Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez ( ; born September 27, 1954) is a Dominican-American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. He is the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to se ...
ran for
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
in the race to replace retiring long-serving Congressman
Charlie Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel ( ; June 11, 1930 – May 26, 2025) was an American politician who served as United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for districts in New York City for 46 years. A member of the Democratic Party (Unite ...
of
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
. 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. Facing Bloomberg administration alumnus
Micah Lasher Micah C. Lasher is an American politician serving as a member of the New York General Assembly for district 69. He was previously the director of policy for governor Kathy Hochul and director of state legislative affairs under New York City mayor ...
and former
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
member Robert 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. Alcantara easily won the general election in the heavily Democratic district with over 85% of the vote. Upon winning her seat, Alcantara announced that she would join the
Independent Democratic Conference The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a caucus consisting of several New York State Democratic Committee, Democratic members of the New York State Senate that existed from 2011 to 2018. The IDC is notable for having formed a power-shar ...
, a group of state senate Democrats that allied with the senate Republicans, allowing Republicans to control the chamber. This did not come as a surprise, as she owed Independent Democratic Leader
Jeffrey D. Klein Jeffrey David Klein (born July 10, 1960) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He represented the New York State Senate's 34th District, serving parts of Bronx and Westchester Counties from 2005 to 2018. Klein also s ...
for his assistance in her primary election campaign. After joining the majority coalition, the freshman Senator was named Chair of the Labor Committee. According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Alcantara "condemned" a bill by Democrats designed to stop deportations in
New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. Alcantara proposed a bill that raised the limit for discretionary contracts for minorities and women from $20,000 to $150,000 that passed. In April 2018, Alcantara and her IDC colleagues rejoined the Senate Democratic Conference. Subsequently, the Republican conference stripped Alcantara of her position as Chair of the Labor Committee. In the September 2018 Democratic primary election, Alcantara was challenged again by Jackson (who also won the backing of the
Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...
) as well as by Thomas Leon and Tirso Santiago Pina. This time, Jackson won the four-way primary in a landslide with 56% of the vote to Alcantara's 38%. Alcantara's defeat was attributed to long-simmering anger with the former members of the IDC. As part of New York State's
electoral fusion Electoral fusion in the United States is an arrangement where two or more United States political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, allowing that candidate to receive votes on multiple party lines in the same election. Electoral fus ...
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-party
Independence Party of New York Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
candidate; however, Alcantara conceded to Jackson and pledged to work with him.


See also

*
List of New York state senators This is a complete list of members of the New York State Senate, past and present. Members who were serving in the Senate as of July 2022 are highlighted . See also * New York State Senate * Majority Leader of the New York State Senate * New Y ...


References


External links


Ballotpedia: Marisol Alcantara
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcantara, Marisol American politicians of Dominican Republic descent Living people Politicians from Manhattan Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Year of birth missing (living people) Independent Democratic Conference Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature