Be a supporter and take action for Johanna Carmona

Meet Johanna

Johanna is a public servant, lawyer, and community leader running to represent you in the New York State Assembly!

As a lifelong Sunnyside resident and daughter to Colombian immigrants, Johanna’s vocation to serve her community was instilled in her at a very young age. When Johanna was just 3 years old, her mother suffered a life-altering stroke, devastating the young family, as she now required specialized medical care and round-the-clock assistance. Johanna’s neighbors and local community organizations rallied around the family and were instrumental in helping her mother along her long road to recovery. With their help, and guidance from countless teachers, mentors, and community leaders throughout her life, Johanna became an attorney and dedicated her career to serving the most vulnerable among us.

As an attorney, Johanna was inspired by her parents to advocate for those who were often voiceless–among them were children, seniors, and disabled New Yorkers. Johanna served in the Special Victims Bureau in the District Attorney’s office, seeking justice on behalf of women and children who were victims of sexual abuse and assault. Then, as an attorney in private practice, Johanna helped first responders, emergency workers, and other survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks access the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund. Johanna also worked as a court attorney for the Queens County Civil Court, and now is a Legislative Administrative Manager at the New York City Council. Throughout her career, Johanna has worked within every aspect of our legal system and has always fought to secure justice and fair treatment for all.

Now, as a candidate for New York State Assembly, Johanna is ready to be our strongest advocate in Albany. With her deep knowledge of the law, and mission to give back to the community, Johanna will always put our needs first, and deliver for us.

In addition to her work, Johanna is a current or former member of…

  • Housing and Civil Court’s Equal Justice Initiative Committee

  • 108th Precinct Community Council Executive Board

  • Queens County Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee

  • Kings County District Attorney’s Diversity and Sexual Assault Committee

ENDORSEMENTS AND SUPPORTERS

Key Issues

Affordable Housing

  • As a lifelong renter in Sunnyside, Johanna has watched the rent soar higher every year, and has said goodbye to countless neighbors who were priced out of their neighborhood. As Assembly Member, Johanna will aggressively protect rent stabilization and control at the State level while advocating for the City government to reform our property tax system that unfairly levies high rates for small homes in Queens. Moreover, Johanna will fight to build more affordable housing for low-to-middle-income families, provide New Yorkers an affordable pathway to home ownership, and pass legislation to protect tenants and reform our troubled housing court system.

Education

  • As Assembly Member, Johanna will be a fierce advocate for education funding in the state’s annual budget, and make sure that local schools have the resources they need to educate our students. From 3-K through college, Johanna will support students at every stage and will engage with parents, teachers, and administration officials to ensure the community always has a voice. Partnering with local schools and labor unions, Johanna will support technical, vocational, and apprenticeship programs in high schools that will arm our young people with marketable skills in the trades, tech, green energy, and much more. Remembering the local teachers who educated her, Johanna will fight to raise teachers’ salaries and recognize the amazing work that they do daily. Johanna will also deliver funding to save our struggling CUNY and SUNY systems so that New Yorkers will once again realize the promise of a free college education.

Public Safety

  • …while reforming the practices that have led to disparate outcomes for people of color. While at the District Attorney’s office, Johanna worked in the Special Victims Bureau, seeking justice for women and children who survived sexual abuse and assault. As Assembly Member, Johanna will support reopening the Adult Survivors’ Act so that victims of sexual abuse can come forward regardless of time passed, strengthen laws to hold repeat violent offenders accountable and provide funding for mental health services to respond to emergency calls where police may not be needed. In our neighborhoods, Johanna will work with law enforcement to partner with community members and organizations, because true public safety can only be achieved when the community and government work with shared values and mutual trust.

Healthcare & Accessibility

  • …and protect the rights of disabled New Yorkers. As Assemblymember, Johanna will work to expand healthcare access, improve care at our public hospitals, and improve safety and working conditions for our frontline nurses, doctors, and medical professionals. Johanna will also fight for more, and better-funded maternal healthcare centers and bring affordable pre-natal and post-partum care options to mothers in our community. As we’ve learned during the pandemic, children are often given healthcare only when their school nurses are available. Johanna will increase funding for wrap-around services in our schools so that students who need it will have access to healthcare, mental healthcare, counseling, and more. To make our neighborhoods as accessible as possible, Johanna will advocate for elevators at our train stations, overhaul the broken Access-A-Ride program, and support measures that affirm the dignity and right to thrive of all New Yorkers, regardless of ability.

Reproductive Justice

  • …protecting and expanding reproductive rights for all women in New York. As Assembly Member, Johanna will fund organizations such as Planned Parenthood to expand access to safe, affordable healthcare for women in our community and beyond. Further, Johanna will stop taxpayer dollars from funding so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that prey on vulnerable women seeking safe care in our state.

Climate Change

  • Even now, our neighbors in Sunnyside, Maspeth, and Long Island City experience chronic flooding which threatens their homes and businesses, while in Woodside, we tragically lost a family who drowned in their flooded basement during Hurricane Ida. As our Assembly Member, Johanna will allocate funding to improve and replace our infrastructure so that flood water is diverted and lives are no longer in danger. Additionally, Johanna will invest in restoring and expanding our public greenspaces, such as the heavily polluted Newtown Creek, to make our neighborhoods more resilient against the next superstorm.