MOHAMED FARGHALY
mfarghaly@queensledger.com
Queens state Sen. Michael Gianaris, the chamber’s deputy majority leader and one of New York City’s most powerful lawmakers in Albany, announced Sunday he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending a legislative career that spans more than 25 years.
Gianaris, who represents western Queens neighborhoods including Astoria, Woodside, Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Maspeth and Ridgewood, first won election to the state Assembly in 2000 and later the Senate in 2010. He has served as the highest-ranking New York City member of the Senate for the past eight years and helped lead Democrats to a durable governing majority.
In a statement, Gianaris said the decision was driven by a desire to focus on his family after decades in public life.
“After more than 25 years representing the people of western Queens in the Senate and Assembly, I have decided not to seek re-election in 2026,” he said.
He described his time in leadership as the highlight of his career, pointing to his role in the Senate’s largest-ever Democratic majority.
“Serving as Deputy Leader of the State Senate’s largest-ever majority, and as the highest-ranking Senator from New York City for the past eight years, has been more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined,” Gianaris said. “Being part of the leadership team that made these achievements possible will certainly be the greatest highlight of my career.”
Gianaris recalled entering the Senate when Democrats were politically weakened and financially strained.
“When I was first elected to the Senate, the conference had just lost the majority and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee was more than $3 million in debt,” he said. “Eight years later, alongside Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and my amazing colleagues, we overcame obstacles that most believed insurmountable, including opposition from leaders of our own party.”
After Democrats secured the majority in 2019, lawmakers pushed through a sweeping legislative agenda.
“Beginning in 2019 when we secured the majority, we embarked on an unprecedented and unrelenting rush of legislative achievements unlikely to be repeated — celebrated advancements on issues such as voting rights, tenant protections, immigrant safeguards, reproductive rights, the environment, criminal law reforms, animal rights, and support for working people, to name just a few,” Gianaris said.
He said the demands of legislative leadership and campaigning left little time for family life, which ultimately shaped his decision.
“While the State Senate’s future is in good hands with the current members of the Democratic conference, it is time for me to embrace a new role as the best father I can be,” he said. “Children grow in the blink of an eye and mine are no exception.”
“The fact is that working in my district, leading the majority’s efforts on the floor of the Senate, and steering our conference’s campaign arm are intensely time-consuming tasks. But so is being a husband and father,” Gianaris added. “I cherish my time with my family as much as any political success I have experienced, and after a quarter century as a legislator I simply do not want to miss another moment.”
During his tenure, Gianaris also backed legislation recognizing Middle Eastern and North African residents as a distinct demographic category in New York’s data collection, a change advocates said would improve visibility and access to services for MENA communities. He championed the measure alongside Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, arguing that more accurate demographic data would allow the state to better tailor policy. The law separated MENA residents from the broader “white” category in state records, addressing what supporters described as years of underrepresentation.
Gianaris worked closely with fellow Queens lawmaker Zohran Mamdani on issues affecting immigrant and working-class communities, including support for the MENA data bill and transit affordability efforts. Mamdani framed the demographic change as a civil rights issue. “For far too long, Middle Eastern and North African New Yorkers have been afforded data disaggregation only in matters of surveillance and suspicion,” Mamdani said at a rally last year. “The time has come for that to be applied for the purposes of state support, instead of the policy of erasure that we have today.”
Reflecting on public service, Gianaris acknowledged the personal toll of elected office.
“Public service is a tremendous and often thankless sacrifice, even more so in today’s divisive climate,” he said. “I honor all those who dedicate their lives to making things better for their neighbors.”
He thanked colleagues, staff and constituents, singling out Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the voters of western Queens.
“All my thanks to the many legislators and friends in both legislative houses with whom I served over the years, to the talented staff who have worked with me, to Andrea Stewart-Cousins — the greatest Majority Leader the Senate has ever known, and especially to the people of western Queens who placed their faith in me even as the neighborhood went through multiple evolutions over many years,” Gianaris said.
“Most of all I am grateful to my family, who also bear the burdens associated with having a loved one in elected office,” he added. “Leaving public service is obviously a bittersweet moment, but it is made better knowing I will now have more time with them.”
His departure is expected to trigger a competitive Democratic primary in a district where the party’s nominee is heavily favored in the general election.
