Skip to main content
The Full Record
Menu
Portrait of Robert JacksonPhoto: nysenate.gov

NY · Officeholder

Robert Jackson

DState Senator · District 31

On the ballot Nov 3, 2026: NY State Senate · District 31

Biography

Robert Jackson is the Democratic and Working Families Party nominee for re-election to New York State Senate District 31, covering Washington Heights, Inwood, and other northern and west Manhattan neighborhoods. A longtime Washington Heights resident who first became known as a Community School Board president and co-founder of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity school-funding lawsuit, he served on the New York City Council from 2002 to 2013 and was elected to the Senate in 2018. He chairs the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee and is unopposed in the general election.[1][2][3][4]

Jackson was born in Harlem and raised in Manhattan, one of nine children according to his official biography, which says his family has lived in Washington Heights since 1975. Wikipedia gives his birth date as December 18, 1950.[3][4] He attended New York City public schools, including P.S. 186 in Washington Heights and Benjamin Franklin High School in the Bronx, and graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz (1975, per Wikipedia).[3][4] After college he worked for the New York State Department of Labor and the Public Employees Federation, a labor union, and a Cornell ILR School profile says he spent 23 years in the labor movement. He was elected to New York City Community School Board 6 in 1986.[4][5]

As Community School Board president, Jackson launched the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit (Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York), arguing that the state's school-funding formula shortchanged New York City students, and walked 150 miles to Albany to draw attention to the case. The state's highest court ruled for the plaintiffs in 2003.[3][4] He was elected to the New York City Council in 2001 and served from 2002 to 2013 representing the 7th District in Manhattan, including as Education Committee chair and co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, before he was term-limited in 2013.[3][4]

Jackson ran unsuccessfully for Manhattan Borough President in the 2013 Democratic primary, finishing third, and lost Democratic primaries for State Senate District 31 in 2014 and 2016.[4] He was elected a Democratic District Leader in 2015, according to his official biography.[3] In 2018 he won the State Senate seat by defeating incumbent Marisol Alcantara in the Democratic primary, and he was re-elected in 2020, 2022 and 2024.[2][4]

Jackson chairs the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee in the 2025-2026 session and sits on the Education, Health, Higher Education, Housing, Labor, and New York City Education committees.[2][3] According to his official biography, he is married and has three daughters.[3]

  1. 1.New York State Senate District 31 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  2. 2.Robert Jackson (New York) · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  3. 3.About Robert Jackson · NYSenate.gov Official record
  4. 4.Robert Jackson (New York politician) · Wikipedia · 2026-10-21 Reference
  5. 5.Robert Jackson · Cornell ILR School Reference

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.

On the ballot

Full candidate research ›NY State Senate · District 31 ›

Votes by issue

Their recorded votes on bills that divided the chamber (unanimous votes left out), grouped by topic. A bill can sit under more than one topic. "With" and "against" compare each vote with how most Democrats voted. How topics are assigned

Where they stood out

Voted against most of their party on 1 of 673 party-divided votes on file.

  • Relates to placing restrictions on the sale of flare guns

    What it does: Establishes the crimes of criminal sale of a flare gun in the first and second degrees; sets restrictions on and requirements for the sale of flare guns.

    Voted no · most Democrats voted yes · Democrats 34–3, Republicans 0–22

    Jun 1, 2026Official record ↗

How this is counted

Their votes on the most contested roll calls

The votes in their chamber that came out closest and most divided by party, among those they voted on. How we rank

See all their split votes

Substantive votes concern legislation or nominations; procedural votes concern how the chamber considers them. A Yes vote applies to the motion shown, which may not be final passage.

A10030-B · NY SENATE

Requires health insurers to provide coverage for speech therapy for stuttering

YesVOTED

Requires health insurers to provide coverage for speech therapy for stuttering.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 58–2·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10158 · NY SENATE

Extends limitations on the shift between classes of taxable property in the town of Clarkstown, county of Rockland

YesVOTED

Extends limitations on the shift between classes of taxable property in the town of Clarkstown, county of Rockland for an additional year for 2026-2027.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 59–1·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10184 · NY SENATE

Limiting the shift between classes of taxable property in the town of Haverstraw, county of Rockland

YesVOTED

Relates to limiting the shift between classes of taxable property in the town of Haverstraw, county of Rockland for 2026-2027.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 58–2·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10312-A · NY SENATE

Relates to information that residential health care facilities are required to disclose to residents and their families

YesVOTED

Relates to information that residential health care facilities are required to separately disclose to residents and their families; requires such information to be posted on the residential health care facility's website.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 39–21·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10390-A · NY SENATE

Establishes a school speed zone camera demonstration program in the city of Poughkeepsie

YesVOTED

Establishes a school speed zone camera demonstration program in the city of Poughkeepsie; repeals authorization of program December 31, 2030.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 59–1·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10391 · NY SENATE

Relates to adjudications and owner liability for a violation of traffic-control signal indications in the city of Poughkeepsie

YesVOTED

Relates to adjudications and owner liability for a violation of traffic-control signal indications in the city of Poughkeepsie.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 59–1·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10411-A · NY SENATE

Prohibits motor vehicle manufacturers and dealers from charging a subscription fee for certain functions of a motor vehicle after the vehicle is sold

YesVOTED

Prohibits motor vehicle manufacturers and dealers from charging a subscription fee for certain functions of a motor vehicle after the vehicle is sold; provides that any manufacturer, dealer, or agent of a manufacturer or dealer that fails to comply with such requirements shall be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars per point of sale for each violation.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 57–3·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10478 · NY SENATE

Relates to the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the town of Southampton

YesVOTED

Increases the term of office from two years to four years for the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the town of Southampton, county of Suffolk, and providing for the staggering of such terms of office.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 58–2·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A10922 · NY SENATE

Extends certain provisions relating to the sale, issuance and refund of bonds and notes of New York city

YesVOTED

Extends certain provisions relating to the sale of bonds and notes of the city of New York, the issuance of bonds or notes with variable rates of interest, interest rate exchange agreements of the city of New York, the refunding of bonds, and the down payment for projects financed by bonds; extends the New York state financial emergency act for the city of New York; makes further amendments relating to the effectiveness thereof.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 56–4·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗
A11030-A · NY SENATE

Requires utility corporations and municipalities to notify property owners prior to beginning any scheduled non-emergency construction or other work

YesVOTED

Requires a utility corporation or municipality to notify property owners at least five business days prior to beginning any non-emergency construction or other work that will result in a planned interruption of a customer's property; requires notice to include, but not be limited to, a description of the work to be performed, the expected duration of such work, the location of such work, and the contact information for the utility performing such work; exempts cases where a natural or man-made disaster or state of emergency occurs.

Official summary — read the bill text ↗
Passed Senate 59–1·Substantive·Jun 4, 2026Roll call ↗

Showing 10 of 2037 votes in this collection. Coverage may be incomplete; each entry links to the official record.