Justin Brown announces run for State Assembly

Justin Brown, the former Vice President of the Uniondale School Board, has officially entered the race for the New York State Assembly, announcing last week his goal to serve his home community in the 18th district, which serves Uniondale, Roosevelt, and the Village of Hempstead.

That seat, currently held by Taylor Darling, who was first elected in 2018, will be up for grabs as Darling herself is not seeking re-election, announcing back in Sept. 2023 that she will instead be campaigning for the state senate.

Brown's record of community service dates back to his childhood years. Born in Brooklyn, he and his family relocated to Uniondale during his middle school years and as the oldest of four children, Brown quickly grew into his mantle of leadership. His early promise as a hard-working leader and scholar followed him beyond his graduation from Uniondale High School in 2009. Brown was accepted on a full athletic scholarship to St. Thomas Aquinas College where he was a guard on the basketball team for all four years. As a student athlete, he earned a degree in Criminal Justice and Social Science before continuing his academic journey at Hofstra, where he obtained a Master’s in Health Administration in 2018.

“When I got my criminal justice degree, I was trying to figure out what I could do with it to help the community,” explained Brown, “but in the healthcare field, that is all about helping people whether you’re on the medical side or in an administrative role.”

Aside from his powerful educational resume, Brown has a stark reputation as a leader within the Uniondale community, serving as the school board's vice president from 2016 to 2019 and even running a campaign for Nassau County Clerk in 2021. “(Civil service) is the answer for me,” said Brown in reference to his calling, “this allows me to be able to help people in ways that really matter.”

“One of the biggest things that I am most proud of is that as vice president we passed that bond for roughly $158 million to upgrade all of the schools in Uniondale,” said Brown. He is referring to the passing of a 2018 bond that approved the addition of 112 new classrooms as well as a slew of other upgrades across the district, such as building expansions, new facilities, a renovated high school science wing, upgraded and modernized gyms, a new football field, new libraries, new locker and weight rooms and more.

“Bottom line, I want to build wealth for our communities, and how we go about building wealth is through building infrastructure, providing the resources that we need for our schools, and ensuring that everyone within the community has access to available resources and jobs,” said Brown. “I want to ensure that we have someone that's going to make sure our community has a seat at the table, that we have someone advocating for them and securing jobs and resources for people within our community.”

To learn more about Justin Brown’s campaign, please visit his Facebook page at FaceBook.com/Justinbrown4ny.