CONTACT: Mariah@vocalaction.org, 203 470 9979
VOCAL ACTION FUND ANNOUNCES EARLY ENDORSEMENTS OF CANDIDATES ACROSS THE STATE WHO WILL CHAMPION VOCAL-NY’S PLATFORM WITH JUSTICE, COMPASSION, & LOVE
These Candidates Have a Proven Track Record of Championing Equitable Policies that Contribute to the Quality and Life Expectancy of New Yorkers
NEW YORK — Today, VOCAL Action Fund announced its early endorsement of more than a dozen candidates across New York State. These candidates have shown their dedication and determination to promote policies that will keep New Yorkers from all walks of life alive and thriving. The candidates receiving VOCAL Action Fund’s early endorsements are:
- Senator Brisport
- Senator Gianaris
- Senator Jackson
- Senator Rivera
- Senator Salazar
- Assembly Member Bronson
- Assembly Member Epstein
- Assembly Member Gallagher
- Assembly Member Gonzalez-Rojas
- Assembly Member Kim
- Assembly Member Mamdani
- Assembly Member Mitaynes
- Assembly Member Rosenthal
- Assembly Member Walker
“These candidates are willing to tackle the deep injustices in our current systems regarding housing, criminal justice, overdose prevention, and HIV/AIDS,” said Leslie Becher, an Albany-based leader with VOCAL Action Fund. “They have earned our early endorsement because they will help build the power of low-income people, and know the issues impacting our communities are driven by institutional oppression, not personal failure.”
“The VOCAL Action Fund is endorsing these candidates because we are entrusting them with fighting for our demands,” said Elizabeth Mackey, a New York City-based leader with VOCAL Action Fund. “They have a history of standing with us and attending our rallies. They believe in what we believe in — New York needs policies that will end the war on drugs, homelessness, mass incarceration, and HIV.”
“We are proud to endorse these candidates early because as a community we’re determined to put people in office who will help us and stick to their word,” said Tracie Adams, a Rochester-based leader with VOCAL Action Fund. “We have lost so many loved ones in recent years, and our state is facing new challenges, like new asylum-seekers. We all deserve care and compassion, and these candidates will earn our votes because they will provide just that.”
“New York State has a problem with housing, the war on drugs, HIV/AIDS, and mass incarceration,” said Roy Bonner, a Syracuse-based leader with VOCAL Action Fund. “As such, we need champion-candidates who are willing to step up and not just speak on these issues, but act and try to resolve them. Men and women are being released from an overcrowded prison system to nothing, with no safe place to rest one’s head and plan for success. I hope that VOCAL Action Fund’s endorsement will inspire these candidates to work out solutions that are acceptable for all parties.”
BACKGROUND:
VOCAL Action Fund is an advocacy organization allied with VOCAL-NY and acts as the policy and political voice of the most marginalized and vulnerable New Yorkers. Centuries of community disinvestment have led to the ongoing crises of historic numbers of New Yorkers dying from preventable overdoses, record high homelessness, emerging HIV housing barriers and over populated jails. The VOCAL Action Fund is committed to using its endorsement process to support political leaders who will: bring equity to democracy, produce viable solutions to reverse generational and systemic harms, and create a caring and compassionate New York State that benefits all New Yorkers.
###