Epicenter NYC and TBN24 invited several incumbents and challengers in key primary races across New York City to participate in the Candidate Conversations series. Interviews with other candidates will be scheduled and published ahead of the June primary. Are you running? Drop us a line at hello@epicenter-nyc.com.
The early voting period runs from Friday, June 13 through Sunday, June 22, with the primary election taking place on Tuesday, June 24. To view your ballot and polling location, visit findmypollsite.vote.nyc.
When Assembly Member Steven Raga’s family immigrated to New York from the Philippines, they had lived in Woodside for only a year when his father died while awaiting citizenship. The family struggled to afford health care and stay in their home, an experience that Raga said shaped his view of government.
“I don’t want any teen to have to decide whether they keep their family whole or pay rent or medication,” he said.
Now seeking to represent New York State Senate District 17, Raga has made affordability the centerpiece of his campaign. He pointed to rising housing and health care costs and argued that more state resources should be directed to local communities rather than tax breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations. His family’s experience with housing insecurity continues to inform his support for expanding affordable housing while helping longtime residents remain in their neighborhoods. “We don’t want anyone to leave the community that they call home,” he said.
Drawing on his background as a community organizer and nonprofit leader, Raga highlighted his work securing funding for immigrant-serving organizations and community institutions. He also linked public safety to quality-of-life concerns and recent immigration enforcement actions. “You don’t have a high quality of life if you can’t walk down the street feeling scared from law enforcement,” Raga said. “The kids are scared to go outside, the grandmothers are scared to go get the mail.”
Safer neighborhoods, he said, require sustained investment rather than one-time interventions. Pointing to efforts in Corona and along Roosevelt Avenue, Raga highlighted partnerships among nonprofits, small businesses, law enforcement and workforce development groups, including programs that employ formerly incarcerated people in neighborhood cleanup and revitalization projects. “Public safety is quality of life,” he said.
