Campaign Insiders is PoliticsNY’s latest Q&A series featuring candidates running for office in the 2026 New York primary election. This edition of Campaign Insiders features Aber Kawas who is running to represent New York’s 12th Senate District. The 12th Senate District is located in Queens and includes the neighborhoods of Astoria, Long Island City, and Sunnyside, as well as parts of Woodside, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Woodhaven.
What are the top three issues for your campaign?
Defending immigrant communities, taxing the rich to fund our future, and making Queens affordable for all.
Why did you decide to run for office?
I’ve spent years organizing with working-class communities to push for legislation that would make our lives better, yet repeatedly, elected officials have not fought hard enough for us. Today, we are facing an affordability crisis, but we can pass transformative policies in NY State by taxing the rich to fund free transit, universal healthcare, and making housing affordable for all. We need organizers in office who will pressure our legislature to get things done!
What do you believe is the top issue facing voters and how do you plan to address it if elected?
Affordability. Basic necessities are increasingly becoming inaccessible for working-class New Yorkers. This is the crisis that Zohran’s platform addressed, but he needs allies in Albany to see it through. By taxing the rich, we can raise the revenue needed to expand universal childcare, invest in fast & free transit, and deliver healthcare for all New Yorkers. By creating social housing and expanding rent stabilization, we can prevent displacement from our communities due to skyrocketing rents.
How does your background qualify you to hold office?
I’m an organizer first and foremost, who’s been on the frontlines demanding change from legislators who too often choose inaction and complacency. I don’t believe that one good senator changes everything. But a senator who governs like an organizer and brings the people with them into the halls of power can help shift the terrain. Change comes from below.
Why should voters choose you over your opponent?
With our city becoming extremely unaffordable, immigrants under constant attack from the Trump administration, and an ongoing genocide in Gaza, we need fighters in office who will treat these issues as non-negotiable, because we can’t afford half-measures. I’m running to challenge the establishment and use elected office as a tool to build grassroots working-class power. It’s why my campaign refuses to take money from billionaire PACs, real estate interests, or corporate lobbyists.
From now until early voting, Campaign Insiders will be featuring candidates from select democratic primary races across the City & State. Be sure to check back to hear from a wide range of candidates from assembly, senate, and congressional races as well as the NYS comptroller race!
Early voting in NYC is June 13th-21st and Election Day is June 23rd. Check out the PoliticsNY Election Primer to see who will be on your ballot and don’t forget to vote this June!
