NY SENATE DISTRICT 17: Bensonhurst, New Utrecht, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, and Greenwood heights.
★ Endorsed Candidate – Iwen Chu★
Party: Democrat, Working Families
Age: 44
Occupation: Chief of staff for Assembly Member Peter Abbate
Education: Brooklyn College (MA)
For the last ten years, Iwen Chu has served as chief of staff for Peter Abbate, who represents this area in the State Assembly. She has been a member of Community Board 11, Community Education Council District 20, and the board of Healthcare Choices. Earlier in her career, Chu worked as a TV journalist in Taiwan, where she was born and raised, and for Chinese newspapers that focused on south Brooklyn’s Asian community. The district she seeks to represent is brand-new, created in the last redistricting cycle to allow the growing Asian-American community in south Brooklyn an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice, as required by the federal Voting Rights Act (a second brand-new district was created in western Queens). Chu’s top priorities are increasing language access, improving public safety, and fully funding public education. She wants to make voting more accessible by providing interpreters in additional languages at polling sites. Chu supported all of Citizens Union’s policy goals on the candidate questionnaire. Citizens Union endorses Iwen Chu in this race because of her deep ties to the district and her experience navigating the state legislature. We believe she will be an excellent first senator for a new senate district.
Vito LaBella
This candidate did not respond to Citizens Union’s questionnaire.