1st State Senatorial District
SKYLER JOHNSON
Democratic
BACKGROUND: Johnson, 19, of Mount Sinai is the former campaign manager for Sarah Deonarine’s unsuccessful bid for the Brookhaven Town council. He is a community organizer and recently held a protest over George Floyd’s death in a police confrontation in Minneapolis that drew hundreds of people. In high school, he helped resurrect a group called Students Act for Change. He attends Suffolk County Community College.
ISSUES: His platform includes improving health care coverage for all, protecting the rights of the gay, lesbian and trans communities, combating climate change and improving the quality of drinking water. He also wants to change the way schools are funded from the current property tax to a general tax across New York state that is based on income to make education more equitable and save the average person money. He supports legalizing marijuana and using tax proceeds to help lower income communities he said have been ravaged by the war on drugs. He also seeks more affordable housing and fixing what he calls a broken criminal justice system to make it fairer for racial minorities.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
Sayville homicide investigation ... Salvadorans face end of protective status ... Newsday photographers remember 9/11
Sayville homicide investigation ... Salvadorans face end of protective status ... Newsday photographers remember 9/11
