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 Jasmin Sanchez who is running to represent New York’s 65th Assembly District. The 65th Assembly District is located in Manhattan and includes the Financial District, Chinatown and the Lower East Side.
What are the top three issues for your campaign?
My top priorities in office will be affordability, strengthening public education, health care and advancing climate justice while ensuring working families and immigrant communities are not left behind.
Why did you decide to run for office?
Our community deserves leadership that is rooted in this district. I was educated here and have worked within school districts one and two and expanded youth/family services with local institutions. Seniors are being priced out, families face housing instability, children are attending under-resourced schools, and our communities are becoming strictly luxury developments. I will bring these issues to Albany because I have lived them, organized around them and drafted bills to combat these experiences.
What do you believe is the top issue facing voters and how do you plan to address it if elected?
I believe the top issue facing voters in the 65th District is affordability. Whether it’s the rising cost of utilities, rising rents, or soaring child care costs, more and more working people are struggling just to get by. That’s not the New York we should be. I will always legislate with an eye toward how any bill or budget affects working families and the most vulnerable among us.
How does your background qualify you to hold office?
My background is rooted in lived experience, public service, and community organizing. As a lifelong Lower East Side resident, Afro-Latina and NYCHA tenant, I understand the challenges working families face. My work in education, social services, and nonprofits has connected me directly to community needs. As a district leader, labor advocate, and organizer, I’ve built coalitions, fought for equity, and advanced policy solutions, preparing me to deliver results and represent our community with integrity.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?
Voters should choose me because I am deeply rooted in this community and not just during elections. I’m not backed by the status quo; I’m backed by tenants, families, workers, and neighbors who are ready for change. As a NYCHA resident, educator, and organizer, I’ve lived what Albany often ignores. I’m running to deliver material change, affordable housing, universal health care, and economic justice and to build a politics rooted in dignity, solidarity, and collective power.
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!
