Guillermo Linares

Public office 1991-2009 In 1991, Linares became the first Dominican American elected to public office in New York City and tied for first in the United States with Kay Palacios. He served from 1992 to 2001 in the New York City Council. Linares also served as a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, after President Bill Clinton appointed him in 1999 as a commission chair. Linares was appointed the NYC Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs in 2004.

2010-16 In 2010 Linares was elected New York State Assemblyman for the 72nd District, a seat that Adriano Espaillat had left after he was elected to the New York State Senate.

In 2012 Linares was defeated when he challenged Senator Espaillat in the Democratic primary for New York's 31st State Senate district, and Linares lost 62%-38%. Linares was replaced in the New York State Assembly by Gabriela Rosa.

In 2014, after NY State Assembly Member Gabriela Rosa pleaded guilty to marriage fraud (lying about a sham marriage in order to become a U.S. citizen) and resigned, Linares ran for his old seat in the 2014 New York State Assembly election. He won a four-way Democratic primary with 45% of the vote, and went on to win the general election with 92% of the vote.

In 2016 Linares was defeated when he ran against Adriano Espaillat and others in the 2016 New York's 13th United States House of Representatives Democratic primary election. Espaillat defeated him again and won, as Linares came in 5th with 5% of the vote.

Linares was then defeated as well in his bid for re-election to his seat in the New York State Assembly in 2016 by Carmen De La Rosa, 53% to 38% in the primary (and she was unopposed in the general election).