Mathylde Frontus
Mathylde Frontus is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 46th district since 2019. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of southern Brooklyn, including Coney Island and Brighton Beach. Prior to elected office Frontus was well known as a community organizer in southwestern Brooklyn, including as the founder of Union Neighborhood Services. For this work she received the Characters Unite Award from NBCUniversal in 2014. She is a graduate of New York University, Teachers College, Columbia University and the Harvard Divinity School. Frontus is of Haitian descent.
In 2018, Assembly member Pamela Harris resigned after allegations of fraud led to an 11-count indictment. Soon after, Frontus announced her candidacy for the seat and would win the Democratic primary over Ethan Lustig-Elgrably by only 51 votes. In the general election, Frontus defeated Republican Steven Saperstein with 56% of the vote.
In March 2020, Frontus fired a member of her staff, Marilyn Franks, who worked as 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 pandemic.
