NEW YORK — The NYS Tenant Bloc endorsed tenant champions Maurice “Mo” Brown (AD 128) and Adam Bojak (AD 149) for two key Assembly seats in the June 2026 primary. These endorsements come as the statewide tenant movement is fighting to expand rent stabilization around the state. As time ran out at the end of last week’s legislative session, the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act didn’t reach the floor for a vote. These races represent the growing power of tenants upstate and send a message to the legislature that tenants are watching and voting. The NYS Tenant Bloc also released a scorecard to guide tenant voters in key races around the state where support for tenant protections and housing affordability are on the ballot and there is a clear choice for tenants.
“Mo and Adam have proven records as tenant champions and are the fighters we need in the state legislature to help shift the balance of power away from the real estate industry and towards tenants. Tenants across the state ran a powerful campaign this year to expand rent stabilization with the REST Act, but the legislature went home without addressing housing affordability. Tenants are half of New York state and we deserve representatives who will fight for us, not our landlords,” said Sumathy Kumar, director of the NYS Tenant Bloc.
Mo Brown is a county legislator in Onondaga who has long been a champion for Syracuse tenants including being a supporter of adopting Good Cause Eviction protections and rent stabilization. He recently wrote an op-ed in support of the REST Act and is running against incumbent Bill Magnarelli who has opposed expanding tenant protections.
Adam Bojak is a lawyer and organizer who has spent years helping tenants on a pro bono basis to fight evictions and organize with their neighbors to build power in their community. He is running for an open Assembly seat in Western New York, including parts of the city of Buffalo where nearly 60% of residents are renters. Adam recently made a video talking about rent affordability and talking about support for Good Cause Eviction, the REST Act, and social housing.
Both candidates are running campaigns that reject real estate dollars and are focused on improving the lives of tenants in Syracuse, Western New York, and around the state.
“As a longtime tenant lawyer, I am proud to earn the endorsement of the NYS Tenant Bloc. For too long, elected officials have acted like the business interests of landlords are more important than safe, affordable homes for tenants. Quality housing shouldn’t be a luxury. Western New York tenants deserve protections from unjust rent hikes and arbitrary evictions, and I’m looking forward to fighting with the tenant movement to win tenant protections and investment in permanently affordable social housing,” said Adam Bojak, Candidate for Assembly District 149.
“Housing is a human right. But right now, tenants are living in deteriorating apartments worried every day that they might lose their homes – and our current representative is still opposing tenant protections like Good Cause Eviction and rent stabilization. The endorsement of NYS Tenant Bloc is a vote of confidence that I will be a champion for tenants once I get to Albany,” said Maurice “Mo” Brown, Candidate for Assembly District 129.
The NYS Tenant Bloc also released a TENANT POWER SCORECARD to inform tenant voters on where candidates stand on key issues related to tenant protections and housing. The scorecard focuses on races where there is a clear choice for tenants that could shift the balance of power away from real estate and towards tenants in the state legislature. Candidates were rated in five categories on support for policies that make rent affordable, crackdown on slumlords, house the homeless, and invest in permanently affordable social housing.
In 2025, the NYS Tenant Bloc was part of the coalition that elected Zohran Mamdani as NYC Mayor and ran a campaign to get out the tenant vote in Syracuse to increase support for Good Cause Eviction on the City Council.
View the scorecard here.
