State Senator John Brooks Announces Reelection Campaign

This last week, I looked back at my time in the Senate and was proud of what we accomplished.

After a 16-year battle, we passed the EMS Cost Recovery Act, legislation that will ease the burden on first responders, expand access to emergency services, and save our state more than $100 million in local taxes. Under my chairmanship in the Veterans Committee, we increased access to essential services, expanded the Joseph Dwyer Peer-to-Peer Counseling program statewide, elevated the NYS Division of Veterans Services to a full cabinet-level department, and much more.

We have fought for and have secured funding for underrepresented kids in schools across Long Island; we have made real changes to protect our environment; we have built a larger and stronger safety net in support of our first responders, and above all else, we have strived to make Long Island a better, more equitable, more affordable place to live for all.

When the original maps were released, I was looking forward to running for reelection on this record of service we provided our communities. The new district lines were a shock because they removed so many places I had worked so hard to represent. I took stock of what we had accomplished and felt it was the right time to retire rather than seek election in the new district.

Not anymore. Not after Tuesday.

How can we allow children to die at school, mothers to die while grocery shopping, people to get shot on the train on their way to work, and sit idly by and do nothing?

After Tuesday's tragic shooting in Texas, I heard from so many people encouraging me to stay in this fight. The mother of a hero tragically lost in the Parkland shooting while saving student lives. Community leaders, labor unions, business groups, and so many of my constituents took their time to ask that I not bow out just yet. I am running for reelection because they have shown me there is too much left to do.

I will champion gun violence prevention to move us towards a world where we do not need to question if we will see our kids at night when we put them on the school bus in the morning. I will work to change how we fund public education to provide equitable opportunities for all and provide property tax relief for struggling families. I will fight to create good union jobs, pass environmental legislation to protect our coastal communities, and deliver every day to make our communities safer, affordable, and more prosperous places to live for all.

Some have said that I read the writing on the wall and dropped out earlier this week. Well, I have heard what the people have said. I read their letters, listened to their calls, saw their emails, had conversations in my office, and listened to their words when they stopped me to talk on the street. As an elected official, I have spent my political career trying to get people to support me. Now, those people have asked me to support them, and I will not ignore their call.

My work is far from finished, and I am ready to win this election to continue helping our people every day. Today, I am announcing that I will seek reelection to the new 5th Senate District to continue the work the people have asked me to do.