James Washington-Ward, 45, says his campaign for New York State Assembly District 83 is rooted in community service, lived experience, faith-based leadership, and a desire to give residents a stronger voice in government.
Born and raised in the Bronx, Washington-Ward has built a background that includes child care, mentorship, project management, security, chaplaincy, and community advocacy. He is also the founder of a new nonprofit organization, the Bronx ARCK, which he says is focused on serving the community and helping residents access support.
Washington-Ward is currently a District Leader for the 83rd Assembly District and is running on the Conservative Party line. His current campaign follows a previous run for City Council, which he says gave him a deeper understanding of the political process and the needs of residents.
“I learned a lot more,” Washington-Ward said. “I got to see more of the community needs versus more of what we think the community needs.”
He says speaking directly with residents helped him better understand the difference between campaign talking points and the everyday concerns people are actually facing in their homes, schools, and neighborhoods.
Education is one of Washington-Ward’s central campaign issues.
He says students across New York should have access to a stronger and more consistent education system, regardless of whether they attend public, private, or Catholic schools. Washington-Ward said he supports a more uniform curriculum across schools so that students are not placed on unequal educational tracks based on family income or school type.
“Just because your family has more money doesn’t mean you deserve a better education than somebody that has less than you,” Washington-Ward said.
He argues that students should not have to wait until college for society to discover whether they were properly prepared throughout elementary and high school. His goal, he said, is to help create a system where students enter adulthood and higher education on a more even playing field.
Affordable housing is another major part of Washington-Ward’s platform.
He says affordability should be measured by a person’s full financial reality, not simply by gross annual income. Washington-Ward believes housing calculations should consider expenses such as groceries, student loans, child support, and other recurring financial obligations that affect what a person can realistically afford.
“There are good people in shelters now that can’t even see their children because they’re in shelters,” Washington-Ward said.
He also supports creating more pathways to bring vacant apartments back into use. Washington-Ward said many units throughout New York City remain empty because repairs are needed, and he believes government should explore ways to help responsible landlords restore those apartments while also cracking down on negligent owners.
His proposals include additional funding assistance for apartment repairs, stronger tracking of landlords with repeated poor conditions, and possible donation programs where contractors could provide usable leftover materials such as paint, doors, or other supplies to help repair units.
“Let’s give some of these landlords a helping hand,” Washington-Ward said, while also emphasizing that slumlords should be properly fined or removed from ownership responsibility when they fail tenants.
Elderly care is also a major focus of his campaign.
Washington-Ward says older residents deserve stronger protections, better housing options, and a retirement system that does not force seniors to choose between rent, food, and medication.
“It’s time to take care of our elderly,” Washington-Ward said.
He said he believes seniors should have access to affordable housing that works with their actual budgets and that residents over a certain age should not be burdened by unaffordable medical bills. He also supports improving senior housing conditions and making sure elderly residents are not placed in living situations that become dangerous when elevators fail or services break down.
“If an elevator goes down, now you have an elderly person stuck on the 16th floor,” Washington-Ward said.
Public safety and youth safety round out another major part of his campaign.
Washington-Ward said he does not support defunding the police, but he also believes communities must take greater responsibility for maintaining order, discouraging crime, and guiding young people before they fall into trouble.
“We do need the police, but we also need to be responsible for our own actions and our own communities,” Washington-Ward said.
He said after-school programs, sports, mentorship, and structured activities are necessary to keep young people engaged and out of trouble. Washington-Ward pointed to recent youth disruptions and mall takeovers as examples of what can happen when teenagers have too much idle time and too few constructive outlets.
His proposals include restoring more sports programs in schools, finding insurance solutions that allow programs such as football and basketball to return, hiring more coaches, and reallocating funds toward youth programming.
Washington-Ward also supports stronger traffic enforcement and safer streets. He said drivers should be held accountable for illegal U-turns, running lights, ignoring stop signs, and other violations that endanger residents.
“You want to raise money? That’s how you raise money,” Washington-Ward said. “Make people pay for it and keep the streets safe at the same time.”
Washington-Ward says his qualifications come not only from titles, but from lived experience.
Over the past year, he said he has faced personal hardship, including the loss of his mother, while also dealing with systems he believes are supposed to help New Yorkers but often fail them. He specifically pointed to problems involving temporary assistance, affordable housing, and public-service systems that he says can become difficult for residents to navigate.
“Sometimes you never know what needs to be changed until you walk through it,” Washington-Ward said. “You don’t know how deep a puddle is until you step.”
He says that experience gives him a different perspective than politicians who have not personally dealt with some of the same struggles affecting working-class residents.
Before asking voters to trust him with office, Washington-Ward said he wants them to understand that he sees himself as part of the same community he is seeking to represent.
“I am one of you,” Washington-Ward said. “I’ve lived in the projects, I’ve lived in houses, I’ve slept in cars, I’ve walked on blocks where I had to look over my shoulder and all I wanted to do was just get home.”
Whether Washington-Ward ultimately succeeds in his campaign remains to be seen, but his candidacy reflects a message centered on community experience, public service, and a belief that government should better understand the people affected by its decisions.
For Washington-Ward, the campaign is about standing up for residents who feel overlooked.
“I’m a New Yorker that’s been through the suburbs of New York to the ghettos of New York and struggling to make it just like the rest of us,” James Washington-Ward said. “And I’m going to give my life to fight for you guys.”
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