Mathylde Frontus (born December 1, 1977) is an American politician. 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 ...

, Frontus represented the 46th district in the New York State Assembly. Her district includes portions of southern

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, including Coney Island,

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

, and

Dyker Heights Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and ...

. As of 2023, Frontus remains the only person since

Adele Cohen Adele H. Cohen (born July 19, 1942) is an American lawyer and former politician. She is a 1964 graduate of Brooklyn College. Participation in politics 1991 race for New York City Council After having failed in her first attempt to run for offi ...

, who retired in 2006, to have represented the 46th State Assembly District and not have faced criminal charges.

Early life and education

Born December 1, 1977 in Brooklyn, Frontus is the daughter of Haitian immigrants. Frontus is a graduate of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

, and

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

Career

Prior to holding elected office, Frontus was well known as a community organizer in southwestern Brooklyn, and notably founded the Urban Neighborhood Services. She received the Characters Unite Award from

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

for her work in 2014.

New York State Assembly

In 2018, Assembly member Pamela Harris resigned her seat after allegations of fraud led to an 11-count indictment. Soon afterward, Frontus announced her candidacy for the open seat, and then won the Democratic primary election over Ethan Lustig-Elgrably by only 51 votes. In the general election, Frontus defeated Republican Steven Saperstein with 56% of the vote. In March 2020, Frontus fired a member of her staff, Marilyn Franks, a receptionist in Frontus’ Coney Island district office, after Franks shared a message on Facebook that urged patrons to avoid Chinese restaurants and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontus was reelected in the November 2020 election. In November 2022, Frontus lost reelection to

Alec Brook-Krasny Alec Brook-Krasny (born March 2, 1958) is an American politician serving in the New York State Assembly representing the 46th district. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and was elected on November 7, 2006, to represent the 46th District ...

by 806 votes.

References

External links

Mathylde Frontus - New York State Assembly (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frontus, Mathylde Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly 21st-century American politicians Politicians from Brooklyn Teachers College, Columbia University alumni New York University alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in New York (state) 1977 births American politicians of Haitian descent