Emerita Torres
Emerita Torres is the Democratic and Working Families Party nominee for re-election in NY Assembly District 85, a South Bronx seat she has held since January 2025. A former U.S. diplomat and public-policy advocate, she sits on the Aging, Banks, Consumer Affairs and Protection, Economic Development, Education and Housing committees, and is running unopposed.[2][3]
Floor votes in Albany
- YesProvides that a microbusiness licensee authorized to conduct retail sales may serve as a processor and cultivator for purposes of cannabis showcase event permits · S10113 · Passed Assembly 88–53 · 2026-06-05 official record ↗Provides that a microbusiness licensee authorized to conduct retail sales may serve as a processor and cultivator for purposes of cannabis showcase event permits.
- YesRelates to granting employees access to personnel records · S3460 · Passed Assembly 92–49 · 2026-05-19 official record ↗Grants employees access to personnel records; requires notice of negative information in such records and an opportunity for a review; permits employee to include certain information in personnel records.
Votes on landmark laws since 2019, plus 2026 roll calls where at least five members voted on the losing side — read from the legislature’s official records.
On the record — official actions
- actionSecured over $8 million in new investments for the district for local services, infrastructure and community priorities in her first year in office.[5]
- actionDirected $7 million toward keeping housing affordable in the district.[5]
- actionAllocated $1 million in discretionary funding across community development, youth programs, gun-violence prevention, arts education, climate resilience, healthcare affordability and food-insecurity efforts.[5]
- billPassed what her campaign describes as a first-in-the-nation surveillance-pricing disclosure law requiring corporations to disclose when they use personal data to set prices.[5]
- actionInvested in forming a merchants' association along the Westchester Avenue corridor to support small businesses and local jobs.[5]
- actionWorked to stop a vehicular expansion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, citing pollution and traffic concerns.[5]
Positions on the issues
- SupportsStronger rent regulation and tenant protections
Directed $7 million toward keeping housing affordable and protecting longtime residents and working families from displacement, part of what her campaign describes as her first-year record.[5]
- SupportsUniversal, publicly funded child care
Says she led the fight for universal childcare in the state legislature, calling it essential infrastructure for working families and economic stability.[5]
- SupportsFaster transition away from fossil fuels
Says she stopped the vehicular expansion of the Cross Bronx Expressway to protect her community from increased pollution, traffic and environmental harm, and allocated discretionary funding toward climate resilience.[5]
- OpposesExpand immigration enforcement and deportations
Describes herself as a consistent and outspoken advocate for immigrant New Yorkers, advancing legislation to protect immigrant families.[5]
In their words — priorities
- Affordability, fairness and opportunity for Bronx families, and directing investments back to the district.[4]
- Keeping housing affordable and protecting longtime residents and working families from displacement.[5]
- Universal childcare, which she has led on in the state legislature as essential infrastructure for working families.[5]
- Protecting immigrant New Yorkers from harm and discrimination.[5]
Background
- A lifelong Bronx resident who grew up relying on public assistance and rent-stabilized housing; the first in her family to graduate from college.[3]
- Earned a B.A. in history from New York University and a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.[2][3]
- Served roughly a decade as a U.S. diplomat with the State Department, with postings including Brazil, Pakistan, Colombia, Washington, D.C. and the United Nations, working on labor rights, climate change and protecting women's rights in conflict.[3]
- Served as Vice President of Policy, Research and Advocacy at the Community Service Society, where she worked on expanding New York's half-price MetroCard program, tenants' rights, homeownership and rental-assistance reform.[3]
- Served as Director of Policy Research and Programs at The Soufan Center, working on disinformation, terrorism and the rise of authoritarianism; her advocacy contributed to the first U.S. sanctioning of a white supremacist group.[3]
- Has served on the boards of the Bronx River Arts Center and the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco).[2][3]