1199SEIU Endorses Jessica González-Rojas for State Senate, Citing Her Proven Leadership on Healthcare

Source: Vote JGR

[QUEENS, NY | Monday, February 9, 2026] — 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (“1199SEIU”),  New York’s largest union and one of the most powerful voices for working families in New York State, today announced its endorsement of Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas for New York State Senate, District 13. This marks the first union endorsement in the race, signaling early and decisive momentum behind González-Rojas’ campaign to deliver real change for Queens communities.

1199SEIU represents 200,000 healthcare workers in New York City, 300,000 members in New York State, and 450,000 caregivers along the East Coast including hundreds of thousands of frontline healthcare workers across New York, including nurses, technicians, home care workers, and hospital staff who kept our state running during its darkest days. Their endorsement reflects deep confidence in González-Rojas’ long-standing leadership, expertise, and unwavering commitment to strengthening New York’s health care system, especially in communities that have been left behind.

“1199SEIU is proud to endorse Jessica González-Rojas for New York State Senate. Jessica has consistently shown up for healthcare workers and for the communities we serve. She understands that access to quality, affordable health care is not a privilege but a right,” said Dell Smitherman, New York State Political and Campaigns Director for 1199SEIU. “At a time when East Elmhurst, Corona, and so many Queens neighborhoods are still waiting for the investments they were promised after the pandemic, we need leadership that will fight, deliver, and partner with frontline workers. Jessica González-Rojas is that leader.”

“As the daughter of an 1199SEIU hospital worker and a lifelong advocate for health justice, I am deeply honored to earn the endorsement of 1199SEIU,” said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, Democrat for State Senate (NY13). “Healthcare workers know better than anyone what our communities need and they know that six years after COVID devastated East Elmhurst, the fact that our community still does not have a primary health care clinic is unacceptable. We deserve leadership that delivers, not excuses.”

González-Rojas has built a record in Albany as one of the Legislature’s most knowledgeable and effective voices on health care policy. She has championed expanded access to primary care, protections for frontline workers, investments in community-based clinics, and policies that center public health, equity, and prevention. Her work is grounded in the lived realities of Queens’ Black and Brown neighborhoods, which were among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

The endorsement also highlights the real cost of failed leadership by the incumbent State Senator. East Elmhurst was one of the epicenters of COVID-19 in New York City, yet six years later, the community still lacks a local health clinic. For 1199SEIU members, and for families across Queens, that failure represents a broken promise and a missed opportunity to protect lives.

“Healthcare workers see the consequences of inaction every day,” González-Rojas added. “This endorsement is about accountability, but it’s also about hope and about building a future where every neighborhood has access to quality, affordable health care, and where frontline workers have a true partner in government.”

With the support of 1199SEIU González-Rojas’ campaign continues to build a broad, grassroots coalition rooted in collaboration, inclusion, and results. Joining a rapidly expanding movement of support for JGR from esteemed leaders like Congress Members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velasquez; Queens Borough President Donovan Richards; Assembly Members Catalina Cruz, Steven Raga, and Claire Valdez; City Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Tiffany Cabán, and Linda Lee; former Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubry; and progressive organizations like the Working Families Party, Make the Road Action, and Sunrise NYC Movement; among many, many others. Together, all are fighting for a healthier Queens; and with JGR in the State Senate putting care, equity, and working families first.

ABOUT JGR: Jessica González-Rojas is a lifelong community organizer and Assembly Member representing Queens, with a record of delivering bold, people-centered policy in Albany. She has led on universal child care, immigrant justice, reproductive rights, and housing stability, while consistently working across movements and elected offices to turn grassroots demands into lasting law. As a State Senator, González-Rojas is committed to building a more affordable, more just New York; one where working families, immigrants, and historically marginalized communities are not an afterthought, but the priority. Read more at: www.VoteJGR.com