NYS Senator Daniel Squadron Announces Resignation
New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, who has represented parts of Lower Manhattan and Northern Brooklyn since 2008, announced his resignation today, August 9. His last day serving District 26 will be Friday, with the Senator intending to focus his efforts on the national level.
In an opinion piece Squadron wrote for the New York Daily News, the Senator says “a sliver of heavily invested special interests” helped him come to his decision to leave his post, adding “while New York is a particularly seedy example, ours is not the only state where a combination of political dealmaking, big money and public distraction have allowed corruption to fester. Once considered laboratories of democracy, too many states have become petri dishes of corruption; rather than increase economic opportunity, they serve the most opportunistic.”
Squadron writes Trump’s presidency “threatens our democracy and our future,” continuing, “There are no easy answers, but I believe stronger candidates, a sharpened approach and better policies at the state level can help turn the tide nationally.”
Though no specific details were provided, the Senator says he will fight corruption by collaborating with the entrepreneur Adam Pritzker (Chairman and CEO of Assembled Brands and co-founding Chairman of General Assembly) and economist Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University), in launching a “national effort focused on addressing this crisis — joining others already doing important work toward 2018 and beyond.”
With the primary election approaching on September 12 and the general election in November, Squadron says, “The timing of my decision means the 26th District Senate seat will be filled in this November’s election — and I remain committed to continuing to fight for an empowered Democratic majority.”
New York Senate District 26 includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Waterfront, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Fulton Ferry, Greenpoint, the Navy Yard, Vinegar Hill, and Williamsburg.