Andrew Gounardes

Andrew Gounardes (born July 8, 1985) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a Democrat and a member of the New York State Senate, representing the 22nd district, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Gerritsen Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Marine Park in Southern Brooklyn.

Andrew Gounardes
Member of the New York State Senate
from the 22nd district
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Preceded byMarty Golden
Personal details
Born (1985-07-08) July 8, 1985
Brooklyn, New York
Political partyDemocratic Party
ResidenceBay Ridge, Brooklyn
Alma materHunter College
George Washington University Law School

Early life and career

Gounardes was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bay Ridge neighborhood.[1] He graduated from Fort Hamilton High School before going on to earn degrees from Hunter College and the George Washington University Law School.[2]

Following law school, Gounardes worked for Councilman Vincent J. Gentile as a constituent aide,[3] and later as Counsel to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.[4]

Gounardes formerly served as a trustee of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System,[5] and as a member of Brooklyn Community Board 10.[6] Following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Gounardes, along with Justin Brannan, founded the non-for-profit Bay Ridge Cares, which assisted local residents with disaster relief.[7]

New York Senate

Gournardes first ran against Senator Marty Golden in 2012, but lost.[8] Despite the district being predominantly Democratic, Golden proved to be a popular incumbent due to strong constituent services and name recognition.[9] Golden even ran unopposed in 2016.[10]

However, in 2018, Golden faced scrutiny after it was publicized that he had failed to pay a number of parking tickets, and was illegally posing as a police officer to run red lights.[11] He also utilized illegal parking placards.[12] As a result, and along with the national political climate, Golden was seen as vulnerable by New York political operatives.[13]

Gounardes declared his candidacy against Golden in early 2018.[14] Defeating journalist Ross Barkan in the Democratic primary,[15] Gounardes went on to defeat Golden in the general election, 51% to 49%.[16]

In the Senate, Gounardes serves as Chairman of Committee on Civil Service and Pensions.[17]

In an effort to "make [himself] accessible and available to constituents," Gounardes announced his establishment of a "Constituent Portal" on January 31, 2019.[18][19]

gollark: Also, I mildly dislike your blog's URLs.
gollark: That is... a very long post on that, wow.
gollark: I self-identify as SCP-055.
gollark: It seems to have on another server I'm on.
gollark: I don't think it makes sense as a *default*, especially since it means that if you ban someone via bots their stuff gets deleted.

References
  1. "Bay Ridge State Senate Showdown: Andrew Gounardes vs. Marty Golden". Streetsblog New York City. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  2. "State Senate Debate: Andrew Gounardes vs Marty Golden". www.ny1.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  3. King, David Howard. "Democrats Hope for State Senate Win In Conservative Brooklyn". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  4. Mena, Kelly (2018-11-07). "Gounardes Ousts Golden As Blue Wave Washes Across Southern Brooklyn". Kings County Politics. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. a_tu (2018-12-17). "Did Gounardes get the best Senate committee assignment?". CSNY. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  6. "StreetsPAC to Bay Ridge: Elect Andrew Gounardes over State Senator Marty Golden". Streetsblog New York City. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  7. "Know Your Candidates: Andrew Gounardes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  8. "Our Campaigns - NY State Senate 22 Race - Nov 06, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  9. Wang, Vivian (2018-09-30). "To Flip the State Senate, Democrats Eye a Republican Redoubt. In Brooklyn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  10. "Our Campaigns - NY State Senate 22 Race - Nov 08, 2016". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  11. Calder, Rich (2018-06-26). "State senator dodged ticket after parking at bus stop: witness". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  12. "Marty Golden Weaponized His City-Issued Parking Placard. Will de Blasio Let Him Get Away With It?". Streetsblog New York City. 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  13. d_evers (2018-04-30). "Previewing the 2018 state Senate elections". CSNY. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  14. "The race to flip a Brooklyn Senate seat". am New York. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  15. "Our Campaigns - NY State Senate 22 - D Primary Race - Sep 13, 2018". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  16. "Our Campaigns - NY State Senate 22 Race - Nov 06, 2018". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  17. a_tu (2018-12-17). "Did Gounardes get the best Senate committee assignment?". CSNY. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  18. "Senator Gounardes' Constituent Portal". www.senatorgounardes.nyc. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  19. "Senator Gounardes' Official Twitter". Retrieved 2019-02-03.


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