CIERP Alumni Perspectives: Running for Office on a Climate Ticket

By Katie Walsh

Last June, I ran for the New York State Assembly to represent Assembly District 51 in Southern Brooklyn, and the 130,000 people who call it home. I am 4th generation resident of my district; my great great grandparents immigrated to Red Hook, Brooklyn fleeing Ireland during the Irish potato famine, they stayed there until my grandparents moved to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where my parents raised me.

I challenged 26-year incumbent Felix Ortiz in a 4-way race, ultimately receiving 2,446 votes (roughly 24%) of the vote. While I did not win, I am proud of the role our campaign played in achieving record turnout – never before had so many people voted in my district than during my election. You can read more about my campaign here.

What motivated me to run for office?

Both my fierce commitment to climate change action and my love for my district motivated me to run for office. The climate crisis is the defining issue of our time. And the science is clear - this next ten-year period through 2030 is crucial for us to make bold changes to invest in climate action.

I have spent the last 10 years of my career working with cities and states across the United States and Canada to prioritize climate change. I currently work at CDP North America where I provide city and state government leaders with the tools to measure and manage climate risk and to pursue more ambitious climate action.

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where I served as an Environment Defense Fund Climate Corps fellow to working with mayors along the Mississippi River at CDP, I’ve learned what is possible when you have climate champions working at every level of government. These leaders are not just responding to the global climate emergency – they are part of a movement to build more sustainable, healthier, more racially just, and equitable cities and states.

New York City already has some of the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions of any city in the United States. But targets are only part of the equation - they must be backed by clear and actionable plans and funds to achieve them. I ran for office to represent the community where I was born and raised in Southern Brooklyn and bring that focus on ambitious climate action to our state’s capitol.

Why did I run for the New York State Assembly?

New York State Assembly members’ responsibilities touch nearly every element of a New Yorker’s life – from school funding to policing, from healthcare to housing. One of the most important things that State Assembly members do is to shape the state’s annual budget, controlling how funds are raised and spent. The budget includes major public policy actions, which have significant implications for New York communities. To protect New York’s climate agenda into the future and its intersecting agenda with housing and economic justice – I knew I needed to be in the state’s capitol.

My campaign focused on climate change action with a progressive agenda to benefit all New Yorkers. We focused on issues on worker’s rights, a true Green New Deal, Healthcare for All, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, protecting immigrants, government transparency, and a taxation system where everyone pays their fair share. You can read more about my policy agenda here.

My campaign prioritized climate action at the most local level and we focused on how to tackle environmental justice issues facing our district – including a massive increase in polluting trucking facilities and other safe streets, green and open space challenges.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the campaign?

New York City was the early epicenter of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, 4 months before my election. COVID devastated New York’s local economy and disproportionately hurt working families and communities of color. My district has been especially impacted by COVID-19 due to our many vulnerabilities – we have high poverty rates and many community members are rent-burdened, lack health insurance, paid sick leave and are also ineligible for state and city assistance. My district also suffers from chronically high asthma rates due to localized air pollution, which has been correlated to COVID-19 cases.

From late February through June, almost 20,000 New York City residents died and more than 200,000 people were diagnosed with COVID. It was a chilling sound to hear ambulances day and night racing up our blocks to reach New Yorkers in time and to see the U.S. Navy sailed into the New York Harbor to set up an emergency hospital in a matter of weeks.

Just like with climate change planning, the best time for action is long before a crisis hits. My experience working on climate change resilience planning gave me some foresight to listen to the science, take leadership and act. My campaign was the first in my district to shut down all door to door campaigning to protect my neighbors and volunteers. I then turned to a community organizer that I had worked with before to utilize the campaign infrastructure and tools we had built to support our neighbors. We started a mutual aid network to provide groceries; the South Brooklyn Mutual Aid network continues to support the district one year into the pandemic.

What’s next?

While I did not win the seat, it was a win for the district – the incumbent lost his seat. I am very proud of my participation in the race and the energy and momentum we created – and that another progressive candidate did win the seat and began her term in January 2021.

I continue to work in my community. I serve on my local community board and I am the Chair of my local Brooklyn Democratic Party. Drawing from experiences and working alongside fellow climate champions, I am excited to announce the launch of a new initiative to encourage climate candidates to run for local office. Please join us for our pilot climate candidate accelerator from June 4-6th 2021. You can learn more here.

I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for the many classmates, faculty and students from the Fletcher School and Tufts UEP who supported my campaign. We even had current students from Fletcher and Tufts who jumped in the race! From writing policy briefs and responding to endorsement questionnaires, to supporting fundraising to making phone calls, at any one time there were 10 or 15 alums supporting the campaign.

I find inspiration from the great words of New York State Congresswoman and U.S. Presidential Candidate Shirley Chisholm – “Defeat should not be the source of discouragement, but a stimulus to keep plotting.”

Katie graduated from Fletcher in 2014 with a focus in International Environmental and Resource Policy and International Business Relations with a dual degree in urban planning from Tufts Urban Environmental Policy and Planning School.