Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs Setting the Record Straight

While some seek to divide our community in order to achieve political success and personal gain, Rhoda Jacobs has for over 30 years served our community with honor and distinction, and believes strongly in the democratic process. She believes that as long as candidates play by the rules and have our community's best interests at heart, no one should be excluded from the election process. Jacobs believes in ballot access, a major reason why she chose not to challenge the petitions of either of her competitors and did not attempt to short-circuit the election in the Courts.

Jacobs’ opponent—who unsuccessfully attempted to throw Jacobs’ team off the ballot and successfully eliminated a third Assembly candidate—appears afraid to let the voters have their say, and hoped that the Courts would decide the election in advance by eliminating all of her competitors from the ballot, as she has done before.

Jacobs believes in letting the voters choose. 

It is not Assemblywoman Jacobs’ job to knock opponents off the ballot or block their good intentioned efforts to be our voice in the state capitol; it is instead her job to serve the neighborhoods that comprise our wonderfully diverse part of Brooklyn by understanding the issues most important to us and taking action on our behalf.

Assemblywoman Jacobs is proud of her longstanding relationship with the Haitian community, which goes back to the early 1980s. She continues to work hard to serve the Haitian community, through her daily attention to their needs and concerns, and through special efforts like sending medical supplies to Haiti following the floods and raising funds for those affected by the devastating earthquake that hit the Haitian homeland in 2010. In addition, Jacobs continues to advocate for legislation of importance to the Haitian community, such as the DREAM Act, voters’ rights laws, temporary protected status (TPS), and the Haitian Family Reunification Program.

Jacobs remains a strong voice for the concerns of the Haitian community as she is for the many faces of the district she calls home and has served in since 1978.

Her re-election year after year after year is a result of her dedication to all she has had the privilege to represent - Caribbeans and Americans, home-owners and renters – NOT because of a crowded electoral field, as her opponent alleges. In fact, in almost every recent election, Jacobs faced a single opponent and received a substantial majority of the vote.

Jacobs’ opponent further alleges that the third candidate in the race was a plant from her campaign to split the vote—despite the fact that he announced his candidacy well before Jacobs even decided to seek re-election.

Of course, as they always do, the voters of the 42^nd Assembly District will look beyond the rhetoric and the attempts to divide us, and see that Rhoda Jacobs’ life of public service has helped us all and can continue to do so should we once again make the right decision on September 13th.