Phara Souffrant Forrest (born February 5, 1989) is an American politician, nurse, and tenant activist. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Forrest is the assembly member for the 57th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

. After narrowly defeating incumbent Assembly Member Walter T. Mosley in the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

primary in June 2020, Forrest won the general election in November of that year. Forrest defeated former District Manager of Community Board 2 Olanike Alabi in the primary to defend her seat in 2022. She was unopposed in the general election.

Early life and education

Forrest was born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to immigrants from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. In 2011, she graduated from State University of New York at Geneseo with a B.A. in International Relations and Affairs. Forrest pursued a career in nursing, attending the New York City College of Technology and the CUNY School of Professional Studies to receive an A.A.S. and B.S. in Registered Nursing, respectively.

Political career

In 2017, Forrest joined the

Crown Heights Tenant Union The Crown Heights Tenant Union (CHTU) is a tenants union created in October 2013 to unify old and new tenants against the gentrification of the Crown Heights, Brooklyn neighborhood. The CHTU has pushed for local collective bargaining agreeme ...

as part of her efforts to fight against the gentrification and displacement of her rent-stabilized apartment building. Then in June 2019 she worked with the Housing Justice for All campaign to fortify tenant protective rights. In August 2019, Forrest launched a campaign against incumbent Democrat Walter T. Mosley in the primary for the heavily

57th State Assembly district. Souffrant's campaign emphasized support for

decarceration Decarceration in the United States involves government policies and community campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people held in custody or custodial supervision. Decarceration, the opposite of incarceration, also entails reducing the rate ...

, investment in public housing, and state-wide single-payer healthcare. During her campaign, she was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Representative

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

. Her campaign was funded entirely by the community, with no outside funding from corporations or businesses. Forrest trailed Mosley by 588 votes on election night June 23, 2020, but

absentee ballots An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vo ...

were more significant than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once absentee ballots were counted on July 22, 2020, Forrest led Mosley by over 2,500 votes and was declared the winner. While Mosley remained on the general election ballot under the Working Families Party line, Forrest won the November race with about 74% of the vote over Mosley's 26%. In 2022, Forrest was challenged by former District Leader and Community Board District Manager Olanike "Ola" Alabi in the Democratic Primary. Alabi was supported by the Kings County Democratic Party and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, among others. Forrest won with 67.24% of the vote while Alabi received 32.43% of the vote. Forrest was uncontested in the General Election.

References

Living people Democratic Socialists of America politicians from New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) socialists Politicians from Brooklyn American politicians of Haitian descent Women state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians City University of New York alumni State University of New York at Geneseo alumni 1989 births {{NewYork-politician-stub