Mathylde Frontus

Mathylde Frontus is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 46th district since 2018. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of southern Brooklyn, including Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights. Prior to elected office Frontus was well known as a community organizer in southwestern Brooklyn, including as the founder of Urban Neighborhood Services.[1] She received the Characters Unite Award from NBCUniversal for that work in 2014.[2] She is a graduate of New York University, Teachers College, Columbia University (Ph.D.) and Harvard Divinity School.[3] Frontus is of Haitian descent.[4]

In 2018, Assembly member Pamela Harris resigned her seat after allegations of fraud led to an 11-count indictment.[5] 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.[6] In the general election, Frontus defeated Republican Steven Saperstein with 56% of the vote.[7]

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.[8][9]