Angel Vasquez

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Angel Vasquez
Image of Angel Vasquez
Elections and appointments
Last election

August 23, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Cornell University, 2011

Graduate

Columbia University, 2015

Personal
Profession
Senior policy advisor at the United Federation of Teachers
Contact

Angel Vasquez (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New York State Senate to represent District 31. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022.

Vasquez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Angel Vasquez earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 2011. He earned a graduate degree from Columbia University in 2015. His career experience includes working as a senior policy advisor at the united federation of teachers.[1]

Elections

2022

See also: New York State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 31

Incumbent Robert Jackson defeated Donald Skinner in the general election for New York State Senate District 31 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Jackson
Robert Jackson (D / Working Families Party)
 
85.1
 
42,110
Donald Skinner (R)
 
14.7
 
7,277
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
84

Total votes: 49,471
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 31

Incumbent Robert Jackson defeated Angel Vasquez, Francesca Castellanos, and Ruben D. Vargas in the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 31 on August 23, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Jackson
Robert Jackson
 
58.0
 
10,478
Image of Angel Vasquez
Angel Vasquez Candidate Connection
 
32.7
 
5,900
Image of Francesca Castellanos
Francesca Castellanos
 
5.0
 
896
Image of Ruben D. Vargas
Ruben D. Vargas
 
4.1
 
733
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
63

Total votes: 18,070
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Donald Skinner advanced from the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 31.

Conservative Party primary election

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Robert Jackson advanced from the Working Families Party primary for New York State Senate District 31.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Angel Vasquez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vasquez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Angel Vasquez is running to be the next New York State Senator for Senate District 33 in Northern Manhattan. He serves as the senior policy advisor, with expertise in education and labor policy, in the legislation department at the United Federation of Teachers, a union representing over 190,000 educators in NYC. He is an appointed board member of Manhattan Community Board 12 in Washington Heights and Inwood where he serves as 2nd vice chair of the board and vice chair of the licensing committee. Angel is also the chair of the board of La Unidad Latina Foundation, dedicated to college access programming for first generation high school students and scholarship giving to undergraduate and graduate Latino students. He’s devoted his career to education and policy to enact social change for the different communities he represents including Latino, Dominican, black, LGBTQ+, and immigrant. He began his career as a middle school teacher before transitioning into the role of policy analyst in the New York State Senate, and then serving as chief of staff to the first Dominican woman to be elected to the State Senate. He was listed in City & State’s list of 40 under 40 rising stars in 2019. Angel holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and a masters of public administration from Columbia University.
  • As someone who has lived in the margins of our society whether it be because of my race, ethnicity, sexuality, or immigration status, I know what it takes to fight to have your voice heard.
  • For over ten years, I have served as a dedicated public servant first as a middle school teacher, then as a government chief of staff and now as an education and labor policy advisor at the United Federation of Teachers and as 2nd vice chair of Manhattan Community Board 12.
  • I am running for New York State Senate because our district deserves bold new leadership with a focus on serving as a sensible voice in Albany to put us back on the right track and delivering for the diverse needs of the district.
As a former middle school English teacher and education policy expert, I know the exact needs of our public school communities. I am committed to converting more of our schools into community schools so that our school buildings serve as a central hub of services for the entire community.

As an immigrant gay Latino from the black diaspora, my life has always consisted of fighting for social justice and equal rights. Much of my political and community activism stems from the fact that my everyday life depends on decisions made by the government. I am committed to protecting LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, and breaking down systemic inequities for people of color.

There is no doubt that crime and violence has been on the rise in New York City. We are also seeing more mental health related incidents on the streets and on our public transit rides. Without public safety, we will hold back our city from a full pandemic recovery. I am committed to curbing the supply of guns into NYC, increasing the number of psych units across NYC hospitals and stopping their relocation to areas outside of the city, and giving judges the discretion they need to keep the public safe when dealing with defendants who are repeated offenders.

As a labor policy expert, I am committed to I am committed to advocating for more private sector unionization across the state and protecting benefits afforded to union members.
My mother started off cleaning offices in midtown Manhattan and my father was first a factory worker and then a taxi driver in NYC. Even with so many barrier in place as non-English speakers, they were able to achieve their own version of the "American Dream" for my brother and me by opening up their own small businesses and owning their own home. They taught me that dedication, perseverance, and determination can get you anywhere you dream of in life.
It's important to have all stakeholders at the decision-making table. In housing for example, you cannot make decisions for tenants without having landlords present. Good public policy considers all points of view.
As someone who has lived in the margins of our society whether it be because of my race, ethnicity, sexuality, or immigration status, I know what it takes to fight to have your voice heard.
The responsibilities are two-fold: direct constituent services and serving as an effective legislator by making public policy decision for the betterment of the district.
Providing every student access to an excellent education regardless of the zip code they are born in.
Immigrating from the Dominican Republic to the United States when I was four years old. My life took on a completely different journey and trajectory from that moment forward.
As immigrants from the Dominican Republic, my parents came to the United States with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and eventually opened up two small businesses in New York City. As a high school student I would commute over 2 hours every day to get from school to their businesses. I also worked for them during my college summer breaks. After graduating from college, I became a middle school English teacher in Denver, Colorado primarily teaching low-income immigrant students.
There need to be a balance. State legislative leaders have their ear to the ground in a very local way that a state governor may not. While governors are elected by the entire state, it's the legislative members that can provide a more nuanced and detailed description of what people want and need across the state.
I believe we need to solve the homelessness crisis in New York City. Rents are simply too expensive and they are driving more working class New Yorkers into homelessness. We also have to seriously upgrade our public transit system if we want to incentivize commuters to leave their cars behind. We have to tackle climate change and to do so we have to become a carbon-free state.
The benefit would be faster deliberation and implementation of public policy. However, the drawback is a loosening of checks and balances.
Yes, I believe it's beneficial to have an understanding of how government and politics function to do the work in the most effective way possible.
Absolutely--through building relationships, you get to learn about issues that are effecting other people in the state. Often you will find that there are similar issues and can find ways to work together to tackle a problem
I believe in complete independence. Protecting incumbents only hurts communities.
Education; Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Businesses; Labor
I have a master of public administration from Columbia University where one of the most important lessons I learned was that all stakeholders must be invited to sit at the table to make good public policy. The more diversity at the table, the better the end result. However, more representation at the decision-making tables means more need for compromise.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 23, 2022


Current members of the New York State Senate
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Minority Leader:Robert Ortt
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John Liu (D)
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Democratic Party (41)
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