Pierina Ana Sanchez (born June 10, 1988) is an American politician from

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Since 2022, Sanchez has represented the 14th district on the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

, encompassing

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the abo ...

, Fordham, University Heights, and Tremont. A

Democrat 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 ...

, Sanchez formerly served in the mayoral office of

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

as a policy advisor.

Early life and education

Sanchez was born in University Heights and grew up in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. She is the daughter of Mixed-race Dominican immigrants who immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. After enrolling in the Upward Bound college-preparatory program provided by

Bronx Community College The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (BCC) is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. History The college was established in 1957 through the eff ...

, Sanchez attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. She later received a Master's in Public Affairs (M.P.A.) degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

School of Public and International Affairs A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...

Career

While at Harvard, Sanchez worked for an immigration non-profit organization and tutored incarcerated

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

students. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she worked in constituency services for councilman Fernando Cabrera. While at Princeton, Sanchez interned at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in the summer of 2012 during the

presidency of Barack Obama Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican n ...

. In 2015, Sanchez was elected to serve on the board of the Bronx Young Democrats. She also worked under

Mayor of New York The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

as senior advisor for housing, economic development and labor.

New York City Council

In the

2021 New York City Council election The 2021 New York City Council election were held on November 2, 2021. The primary elections were held on June 22, 2021. There were several special elections for seats vacated in 2020 and early 2021; these special elections were the first to use ...

, Sanchez ran to replace Cabrera, her former boss. Sanchez's campaign received the support of the

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union in the United States. Founded in 1937, the RWDSU represents about 60,000 workers in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to retail, grocery stores, poultry pro ...

(RWDSU) and the

New York City Central Labor Council New York City Central Labor Council (NYCCLC) is the largest local labor membership organization under the direction of the national AFL–CIO. Founded in 1959 the NYCCLC represents over 400 local New York City unions in both the public and private ...

. As a candidate, Sanchez advocated for universal after-school programs for college preparation and vocational training, and endorsed the creation of more

worker cooperative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which ...

s. On housing, Sanchez endorsed the creation of a

right to counsel In criminal law, the right to counsel means a defendant has a legal right to have the assistance of counsel (i.e., lawyers) and, if the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, requires that the government appoint one or pay the defendant's legal exp ...

, rent cancellation, and direct funding for repairing

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

(NYCHA) units. Sanchez endorsed the

defund the police "Defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and o ...

movement in 2020. In the final count, Sanchez received 62.4 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary against runner-up

Yudelka Tapia Yudelka Tapia (born November 9, 1963) is an American politician who is currently representing the 86th district in the New York State Assembly since 2021. Early life and education Tapia was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Raised i ...

, who received 37.6 percent. Sanchez won the general election against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent Shemeen Chappell. On the City Council, Sanchez currently serves as chair of the housing and buildings committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Pierina 1988 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Dominican Republic descent Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Harvard University alumni Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members Politicians from the Bronx Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni