Niou Announces She Is Running For Lower Manhattan Senate Seat

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, who currently represents multiple neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan, just announced she is running against incumbent Brian Kavanagh in the primary this summer for the 26th State Senate District position.

The state senate district represents a large chunk of Lower Manhattan, including SoHo, Tribeca, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and a small portion of Hudson Square.

Niou currently represents a similar but smaller chunk of downtown neighborhoods in the assembly, which includes Chinatown, the Financial District, Battery Park City, and parts of the Lower East Side.

“The past two years tested our communities in ways we never could have imagined. But in our state’s darkest moments, we came together to showcase the fighting spirit that makes New York a role model for the world," Niou wrote in a news release about her candidacy. "As we start down the long road to recovery, it is more important than ever to ensure communities share equally in that recovery. It isn’t enough for things to return to a pre-pandemic ‘normal’. We must learn from history and build a city and a state that is more equitable, safer, and more inclusive than it was before."

"That’s why I’m running for the State Senate," she added.

Niou has represented the 65th Assembly district since 2017. It was also the same year that Kavanagh was elected to his State Senate seat.

Prior to 2017, Kavanagh represented the 74th District on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in the State Assembly. He was first elected in 2006, before winning five more reelections.

There are 320,000 New York City residents living in the 26th State Senate District.

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