""The fact is 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 a father and 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.""
""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 the working people to name just a few,""
Michael Gianaris will not seek re-election in 2026 after more than 25 years representing western Queens. Born to Greek immigrant parents in Astoria, he won an Assembly seat in 2000 and a Senate seat in 2010. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family and embrace fatherhood as the primary reason for stepping down. As deputy majority leader he rebuilt the Democratic Senate campaign committee, opposed the Independent Democratic Conference, recruited challengers to IDC members, and helped Democrats regain the Senate majority in 2019. He led legislative advances across voting rights, tenant protections, immigrant safeguards, reproductive rights, environmental measures, criminal law reforms, animal rights, and support for working people. Critics contend some criminal justice reforms hampered prosecutors, and he shared responsibility for Amazon abandoning its planned Long Island City headquarters.
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