Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Phara Souffrant Forrest for NY Assembly District 57
Candidate Name: Phara Souffrant Forrest
Office Seeking Election for: NY Assembly District 57
Campaign Website: https://pharaforassembly.com/
1. Based upon your life experiences and accomplishments, why do you believe you are best qualified to represent your district?
As the daughter of Haitian immigrants, I know what it means to feel racism and prejudice. As a lifelong public-school student, first in Brooklyn and then at SUNY and CUNY, I know the importance of public education and the consequences of its neglect. As a nurse, I know firsthand the cruelty and viciousness of a healthcare system that puts profits over people. As a tenant, I know the value of a home and the injustice of eviction and gentrification. As a union member, I know the struggles that working people face on a daily basis. And as an organizer and legislator, I know the dignity and strength that comes from fighting back as part of a multiracial grassroots movement and the power of standing in solidarity against greed and injustice.
In 2020, I ran to represent my district in the State Assembly because I was tired—tired of luxury development pushing out my friends and neighbors, high rents, police brutality, and an inhumane healthcare system. In office, I have worked to successfully raise $4.5 billion in new revenue by increasing taxes on the rich; passed transformative legislation like Good Cause Eviction; and worked to demystify the inner workings of Albany’s bureaucracy. I was especially proud to sponsor and pass the Less Is More Act to prevent thousands of people from returning to prison on technical parole violations, and to champion the elimination of insulin copays in New York State.
I’ve also used my office to organize residents across the district, offering an annual leadership development and organizing training program to support my constituents. I’ve championed organizing efforts across the district, from the Union of Pinnacle Tenants fighting against the sale of their homes to the nurses of the Brooklyn Hospital Center fighting for safe staffing to the seniors of Clinton Hill fighting for better bus service.
I am proud of the progress I’ve made over the past 3 terms, but the fight is far from over and there is still much more we need to do. I want to stay in office to Tax the Rich; pass the Treatment Court Expansion Act; pass New York For All to protect our neighbors from ICE; win higher pay, safe staffing, and better contracts for healthcare workers; and deliver green social housing.
2. What LGBTQ+ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
In office I have worked in partnership with the Pride Agenda on passing legistlation and I sponsored a letter in the assembly to pressure hospitals where nurses are on strike to ensure they do not delay, cancel, or move gender affirming care appointments during the walkout.
3. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBTQ+ issues, pro- choice legislation, racial justice, criminal justice have you attended, including rallies specifically against Donald Trump and his policies?
Since the beginning of the second Trump administration I have been standing arm in arm with my fellow activists, organizers, and colleagues in office to defend New York from the authoritarian facism of the Trump administration. This year I have supported numerous rallies for the Treatment Court Expansion act, Providing legal rights to all immigrants, and the full passage of New York for All. Last year I participated in an act of civil disobedience where I was arrested protesting federal conditions inside 26 federal plaza. Last Month I attended the 1/23 general strike march and rally in solidarity with Minneapolis and I have repeatedly called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of the killings Nicole Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
4. In light of the Trump Administration’s war on women, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities and immigrants, what are your plans to organize and combat the Trump agenda?
Our city is already facing a massive budget deficit thanks to the cronyism of the last administration. This tired politics of kicking the can down the road must end. The economic reality, especially with the expected cuts of the Trump administration, is grim. We will not give up on providing New York as a sanctuary city for immigrants, people seeking abortions, and Transgender and Queer people seeking care in our state. Standing with our neighbors may incur the wrath of the Trump administration which is why it is more important than ever to secure in-state funding for cuts to transit, housing, and healthcare. Specifically I am currently carrying the Fair Share Act in the Assembly which would allow New York City to levy independent income taxes on the wealthiest 1%, raising more than 4 Billion dollars annually.
5. Will you seek or accept endorsements from individuals who oppose LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights?
No, absolutely not.
6. Do you support the unrestricted right to reproductive care and abortion?
Yes. Healthcare, which must include reproductive care, abortion, and gender affirming care are human rights and they must be supported and provided by the state, preferably through a single payer healthcare system like the New York Health Act.
7. Have you hosted, funded or otherwise supported Drag Story Hours in your community?
I have helped secure funding for the Brooklyn Children's Museum which hosts Drag Story Hours.
8. How will you work to enhance protections for immigrants and uphold New York’s role as a “Sanctuary City”?
I have marched, protested, and been arrested in acts of civil disobedience against ICE here in New York City. I am the child of immigrants and I will do everything within my capability to defend my immigrant friends and neighbors from abduction and deportation. In the assembly I am supporting the New York for All Act and the Dignity not Detention Act to end NYS cooperation with ICE. I am also a supporter of providing legal representation to every immigrant in New York through passing the Representation for All Act. In my district I am planning to host know rights training and court watch training as a part of my campaign.
9. Do you support New York becoming a Transgender Sanctuary State?
Yes. Supporting LGBTQ+ people must always be intersectional and recognize that Black Trans Women face the most discrimination because they are targeted as Trans women, Black people, and Queer people. There will be people fleeing repressive and vile laws in states in this country. New York can and should welcome them. I will continue fighting for legislation that protects LGBTQIA+ communities by decriminalizing sex work, making gender-affirming care an essential health benefit, making HIV education mandatory for healthchare professionals, and establishing NYS as a sanctuary state for people providing or receiving gender affirming healthcare. My goal continues to be building a New York where all people are free to love who they love without fear and express their gender how they choose.
10. If elected, will you commit to supporting legislation that raises taxes on the richest New Yorkers and large corporations in order to fund the services and investments our communities need?
Without expanded state revenue we will not be able to afford universal childcare, social housing, or any of the investments we need to fight back against Trump’s cuts: these are my legislative priorities and I intend to fight like hell to increase tax revenue on the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for it. I have been a proud champion of taxing the rich since I first ran for Assembly and am extremely proud of the 2021 state budget when we raised over $4b in new revenue. This session, I introduced the Fair Share Act in the Assembly, allowing the New York City Council to generate $4 billion in annual revenue by adding a 2% surcharge on people making over $1 million or more a year.
It is a disgrace that in the richest city, in the richest country, in the history of the world that any child should go to sleep hungry, yet 1 in 5 do so every night. The election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor, with the support of the Working Families Party, has ignited a populist movement across this state, and country, with a clear demand: Tax the Rich. Working people will no longer tolerate a status quo that allows for rampant economic inequality. I will be proud to stand with them in demanding a fairer state.
11. How will you represent the most vulnerable, including individuals experiencing homelessness and asylum seekers? Have you ever opposed any shelter in your district?
I have been a strong advocate for the rights and well-being of asylum seekers. Everyone deserves a dignified and safe life, including resources for shelter, food, health, and beyond. The refusal of our federal government to provide support for asylum seekers in this country is disgraceful. I will continue to use my position in office to advocate for federal aid through public education and participating in actions organized by advocacy groups. In the legislature, I will start conversations with colleagues about advocating for federal aid, while also pushing the state and city government to do what’s right for the asylum seekers in our state.
12. Will you sponsor and support legislation which will ensure that state and local resources are not used to facilitate or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement (New York for All Act) to prevent the funneling of people into ICE custody, and the sharing of sensitive information with ICE?
Absolutely. I am a co-sponsor of New York for All and I am prioritizing its passage this legislative cycle.
13. To advance safety and justice, New York must address our archaic sentencing and parole laws. Do you support the following key legislation: 1) Second Look Act (S.158/A.1283), which would allow judges to review and reconsider excessive sentences by considering if incarcerated people have transformed while incarcerated or based on changes in law and norms; 2) Earned Time Act (S.342/A.1085), which would strengthen and expand “good time” and “merit time” programs in prison that encourage personal transformation and reunite families?; 3) Marvin Mayfield Act (S.1209/A.1297), which would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, thereby allowing judges to consider individual factors in a case?; 4) Elder Parole (S.454/A.514), which would allow incarcerated people over age 55 who have served 15 years the opportunity to go before the parole board?
Absolutely. I am a co-sponsor on all four of these bills.
14. Do you oppose the death penalty?
Yes.
15. Do you support outlawing solitary confinement?
Yes.
16. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated? Will you work to secure the release of individuals who have demonstrated sincere remorse, worked toward rehabilitation and are not deemed a threat to society?
The prison system in New York is already a moral failure. Allowing incarcerated people to be murdered by the state is unconscionable. Incarceration should not be a death sentence for. But for Black people behind bars, especially Black men, it often is. I have worked closely with criminal justice advocates and was a champion of the omnibus corrections bill that passed this session, although I believe the state must go much farther to truly dismantle the ills of our carceral system. We must work to reconstruct our criminal justice system away from punishment and violence, and towards systems that attack the root cause of crime and violence: poverty.
17. Do you commit to make applications for clemencies available to your constituency including a link to an application in a constituent newsletter? Will you submit it to our club?
Yes, this is something I would like to build out as part of my constituent services Branch.
18. Did you rank Andrew Cuomo on your Democratic primary ballot in 2025? Who did you support for mayor in the 2025 Democratic primary and general election?
No. I supported my colleague and fellow Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani.
19. In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of scores of people with AIDS, excused city council members who voted against the gay rights bill and was blatantly racist, would you support and sponsor a bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge?
Yes, he was also a vile racist.
20. What is your legislative remedy to secure the building of low and moderate-income housing around the state?
I became an organizer to stop my landlord from evicting my family and turning our apartment into luxury condos for the super rich. Before I was a legislator I made trips to Albany fighting for the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. In the past year I have worked closely with the Union of Pinnacle Tenants in their fight against the bankruptcy of their homes.
As a co-sponsor of the Tenant Right to Purchase Act I will be fighting to see it passed this session. Homes should not be an asset of financial speculation or a tool for the rich to get richer.. Instead, it should be focused on providing dignity, stability, and joy for the people who make their lives there. This bill would give tenants a powerful tool to have autonomy over their homes and move housing away from being a for profit industry.
In the last legislative session I was proud to cosponsor the Housing Access Voucher Program, and will fight to see it fully funded in this year’s budget. We must also increase funding for new affordable and supportive housing so that more options are available to New Yorkers. I am proud to support the Social Housing Development Authority which would enable the State to build union made, renewable powered, and permanently affordable housing.
21. Will you refuse donations from AIPAC, SolidarityPAC, police and corrections associations, the fossil fuel industry, and the charter school industry?
I always have and always will.
22. Do you support removing criminal penalties for consensual commercial sex work between adults? Also known as Cecilia's Act for Rights in the Sex Trades (S2513 Salazar / A3251 Forrest).
Yes. This is my bill.
23. There is an effort to have mandatory inclusion of the New York State proposal that would require public schools to teach about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, commonly described in the bill text as an “insurrection.” Do you support this proposal?
Absolutely.
24. What additional information would you like the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club to consider when we are making our endorsement decision?
I am the incumbent and have held this seat since 2021. My opponent is Samantha Johnson, who works as a district liaison for Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez but has never held any elected office within the district. I believe that progressives win when they run data-driven, volunteer led, field operations that build new coalitions while expanding existing ones, and this is the type of race I plan to run.
I am most accountable to the working-class residents of my district who sent me to Albany to fight on their behalf. My base includes working-class tenants, particularly rent-stabilized tenants in Crown Heights and members of the Union of Pinnacle tenants, and progressive voters who are disillusioned with the Democratic party establishment. Throughout my first three terms, I’ve also built strong relationships with NYCHA residents and longtime political activists. This is my base because this is also who I am: a working-class tenant who is tired of politics as usual. I have worked with these groups in various organizations and fought alongside them. I believe that my platform and campaign continue to speak to their interests.
Running as an incumbent does not mean that I aim to coast to victory. Rather, I view incumbent races as an opportunity to continue organizing my community. I will seek the WFP line in addition to the Democratic line and work hard to expand my coalition beyond the supporters I’ve had in my past terms. My team and I plan to utilize the well developed field infrastructure we already have in place to quickly incorporate new and returning volunteers, giving them substantial responsibilities including leading canvasses and weighing in on strategy. My campaign does not merely aim to win but also to use the structure of our campaign to identify, engage, and train new organizers who, ultimately, will one day run for office.
25. If you receive our endorsement, do you agree to identify the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club on all appropriate literature and electronic materials?
Yes.