Today we continue our profiles of our favorite Progressive candidates who are running to represent their communities at the state and federal levels, and move the country forward, to continue to ensure that all Americans are equally represented in government.

This week we are profiling Kristen Gonzalez (she/her/hers). Kristen is a millennial tech worker, community organizer, and democratic socialist representing parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens next year in the New York State Senate. On August 23, she won the Democratic primary for one of two new state Senate districts, capturing 58% of the vote against a well-funded opponent. Prior to running for office, she was involved as a leader in the Democratic Socialists of America and as a local community organizer, working on campaigns for community land trusts, climate action, and public internet. She was raised by a single mother from Puerto Rico in Elmhurst, Queens, where she first got involved in activism, eventually working her way to the Obama White House before returning to community organizing in Queens.

Where are you based?
Long Island City, Queens.

What position are you running for?
I’m the presumptive New York State Senator for District 59, one of the new districts that was drawn this year. It includes Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens — neighborhoods like Astoria, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Stuyvesant Town, and Long Island City.

Why did you choose this seat?
I live here and I’ve been organizing in these neighborhoods a long time. I grew up nearby in Elmhurst, Queens, where I first got into activism. Since 2018, I’ve been involved in local community fights and became a leader in the Democratic Socialists of America for things like lower rents, public internet, and climate action. When this new seat was drawn where I live, some of the people I had been organizing with asked me to run. Not alone, but alongside other democratic socialists in office as part of the same left movement that I came from. Ultimately, because of the urgency of things like climate and rent, I chose to step up and run to represent our district.

How would you briefly summarize your platform?
Housing, healthcare, and a Green New Deal. What that looks like is an affordable home that you’re not afraid of losing; simple, universal healthcare that is free at the point of service; and a fairer, greener future that we can be proud to pass onto our families. We already have three very popular bills in New York State to make these things possible. Those are the Build Public Renewables Act to start building wind and solar, the New York Health Act to bring universal healthcare to New York, and Good Cause Eviction to give nearly every tenant the right to a lease renewal and power to fight rent increases over 3.5%. Broadly, though, we’re fighting for a world where our neighborhoods are funded, our lives are full and needs are met, and where people are thriving, not simply getting by. And we have the power to build that together.

What inspired you to run?
I was asked to run by the Democratic Socialists of America as part of a larger slate of organizers running what we call movement campaigns. That means campaigns that are about building leaders and building our power together with candidates that will be accountable to regular people in office. We need more organizers in office rooted in fights around things like climate change, people serious about using their power to win and rejecting corporate and fossil fuel money. I’ve seen the damage done to communities like mine when politicians don’t do their jobs representing us. I saw neighbors in my immigrant neighborhood pass away in the epicenter of the pandemic. We can do better. I believe in the power of running with a movement and organizations that understand what we need from our elected officials.

What change are you hoping to bring to your district, state, and country?
When Democratic Socialist of America candidates take office, we’re doing something very different. We’re very active in our communities, fighting on the big bills but also local fights in the neighborhood. We’re also working deeply with the other socialists in office to strategize about how we can use our legislative powers to win more of the things we need. For example, last year in Astoria Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who I’ll share a district with, helped us stop a $1.5 billion fracked gas plant. Legislators should be rooted in the work on the ground, down to things like helping a constituent with a landlord or working with them through other everyday struggles. They shouldn’t be taking money from lobbyists and corporate interests who want to see us fail. This is a movement of politics taking across the nation with candidates like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in my district lead by progressives and democratic socialists.

What do you foresee as major accomplishments you will tackle once in office?
The democratic socialist slate that I’ll be joining as its ninth member has existed since 2020, when we elected five democratic socialist to the state legislature in a clean sweep. Since then, we taxed the rich to win the most progressive budget in decades, stopping many of Governor Cuomo’s massive budget cuts. This year, we came close to passing the most sweeping climate bill to date and what would have been the first piece of climate legislation to pass the state legislature in three years, called the Build Public Renewables Act. We’ll be picking that fight back up in January when the session begins. Democratic socialists in office have also won some big non-legislative fights with the community, like debt relief for struggling taxi drivers and the fight against the $1.5 billion fracked gas plant last year. Next year, we plan to go even further to pass some big bills.

What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?
There are many things, but two things incredibly urgent this year are climate and housing. That will be a big focus of our agenda next year in office. New York State is failing on its climate goals at just 4% wind and solar, behind about half the nation. Across much of New York, even beyond the city, rents are rising faster than people can keep up. Next year, we’re very serious about organizing to pass the Build Public Renewables Act and Good Cause Eviction so that we can stop rising rents and start confronting the climate crisis. I won’t be alone in trying to pass them. I’ll be joined by the same movement I grew out of and was recruited by, and we’ll have the support of eight other democratic socialists in office as well.

America is extremely divided these days. How would you hope to bridge that divide with your constituents to better unite Americans?
One thing about our campaign was that we didn’t just win progressive strongholds, we won very diverse communities across three boroughs. I think that really shows that these ideas are ultimately very popular when voters are given a choice, things like housing, healthcare, and a Green New Deal. My hope is that New York can lead the way in showing that progressive policies are possible. In our district, we’ll continue doing the important work of being there in our communities fighting for everybody to win people over to our side and make people less divided, too.

How would you foresee your unique identity and background to be an asset to you in office?
I’ll be entering office as an organizer with experience on the ground actually winning campaigns and the legislation we need. We need more people in office who come from these fights and are serious about winning power for working people. I also grew up in a very working-class family in the city, and I’ve been navigating very different worlds since I was young. At 12, I got a scholarship to a prep school on the Upper East Side. Every day, I’d commute back to my working class immigrant neighborhood in Queens. I know how to organize different spaces to fight for working people, and I think that will help me personally as a legislator.

What is your motto in life?
In high school, I remember quoting something from The Lorax that stuck with me: “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.” It’s not so much a motto, but in retrospect it’s something I’ve tried to model. What that means to me is that nobody can sit this moment out. There’s a place for all of us in the progressive and democratic socialist movement, and it’s going to take each and every one of us to win the things we deserve.

Where can we find out more about you?
You can learn more about me, our campaign, and our policies at www.gonzalezforny.com and find us on Instagram and Twitter at @Gonzalez4NY.

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2022 - Kristen Gonzalez, New York State Senate District 59