VoterLens
New York State Senate District 28
Hofstra University—BBA in Computer Information Systems, Frank G. Zarb School of Business, cum laude; Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania—executive education/specialized accelerator program in entrepreneurship
Data last updated 10/21/2026
Alina Bonsell is the Republican candidate for New York State Senate District 28. Her campaign biography says her family came to the U.S. as Jewish refugees from Soviet Ukraine, settled in Brooklyn, and that she has lived on Manhattan's East Side for more than 20 years; she currently lives in Yorkville. She has worked in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business development, and the private sector, started her own businesses, and describes having about 20 years of experience managing complex systems and regulatory frameworks.
Committee Assignments: No committee assignments available.
Alina Bonsell, the 2026 Republican candidate for New York State Senate District 28, frames healthcare primarily as an affordability issue. Her stated healthcare platform supports reducing state benefit mandates and proposing a "LifeStage Choice" approach so individuals and employers can buy lower-premium plans while preserving federally required essential health benefits.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell's campaign says she would give individuals and employers an alternative to New York's current one-size-fits-all state benefit requirements so insurers can offer lower-premium plans.
SourceBonsell's campaign homepage lists healthcare as a priority and says she would reduce state mandates to make premiums less expensive.
SourceBonsell says consumers should be allowed to choose plans that do not automatically include every state-mandated service they may not need, reducing costs built into premiums.
SourceAlina Bonsell's Economy & Jobs platform emphasizes lower taxes and costs for working New Yorkers, childcare tax relief, pro-growth energy and innovation policy, and support for job pathways and small-business ownership. She also frames affordability and reliable energy as prerequisites for keeping workers, employers, data centers, research institutions, and other emerging industries in New York.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell opposes a blanket moratorium on data centers, says New York should lead in AI, innovation, and job creation, and supports tying tax incentives to real investment and real jobs while requiring large energy users to pay their fair share of infrastructure and energy costs.
SourceIn a voter-guide statement for the New York State Senate District 28 race, Bonsell says she would expand pathways to jobs and small-business ownership.
SourceBonsell says she would bring down the cost of living, oppose new taxes on working families and retirees, and fight Albany spending that she says is driving prices up.
SourceAlina Bonsell, the Republican nominee for New York State Senate District 28 in 2026, states that her immigration position is to support "secure borders and a fair legal process." Her platform also proposes requiring government-issued identification or verified legal documentation for shelter enrollment, framed as preventing identity fraud and exploitation in the shelter system.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell states under her campaign's immigration issue heading that she supports secure borders and a fair legal process.
SourceAlina Bonsell supports an "all of the above" energy approach centered on affordability and reliability, with expanded nuclear power, selective renewables and storage, and continued natural gas when needed for grid stability. She criticizes costly climate mandates and argues energy timelines should be based on reliability, consumer costs, and measurable emissions reductions rather than political deadlines.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell said she would prioritize expanding nuclear power while supporting solar, wind, hydropower, and natural gas where needed to maintain reliability and affordability.
SourceOn her campaign site, Bonsell lists "Support nuclear energy solutions" under environment-related beliefs for her New York State Senate District 28 campaign.
SourceBonsell criticized Senator Liz Krueger's Climate Change Superfund Act after a federal court ruling and said her energy plan emphasizes zero-emission nuclear power, grid reliability, less dependence on expensive imported energy, and honest accounting before mandates.
SourceAlina Bonsell’s education platform for New York State Senate District 28 emphasizes expanding charter schools and adding or strengthening civics education. She also frames access to strong schools and quality education as part of social and racial justice and opportunity.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell states that she supports charter-school expansion as part of her education platform.
SourceBonsell states that she supports civics education as part of her education platform.
SourceIn her VOTE411 candidate responses for New York Senate District 28, Bonsell says she would improve access to quality education as part of policies to promote social and racial justice.
SourceAlina Bonsell, Republican candidate for New York State Senate District 28 in 2026, emphasizes public safety through changes to bail reform, stronger shelter oversight, treatment or inpatient care for severe untreated mental illness, and tougher hate-crime prosecution. She supports more judicial discretion for repeat offenders and public-safety risks while saying protections should remain for low-income defendants charged with non-violent offenses.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Bonsell says she would amend New York’s 2019 bail reforms to let judges consider public-safety risks and repeat violent offending when setting bail.
SourceBonsell supports expanding appropriate inpatient psychiatric capacity and treatment for people with severe untreated mental illness who pose a danger to themselves or others.
SourceBonsell’s platform calls for full and consistent prosecution of clear bias-motivated crimes under Article 485, clarifying evidence requirements, and creating dedicated hate-crimes units in Manhattan and outer-borough district attorneys’ offices.
SourceAlina Bonsell campaign website
https://www.alinabonsell.com/meetalinaFetched: biography, location, education, background
Patch Upper East Side
https://new.patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/election-q-meet-upper-east-side-candidate-alina-bonsell-0Fetched: biography, location, education, background
NYC Campaign Finance Board Follow the Money
https://www.nyccfb.us/FTMSearch/Home/FTMSearchFetched: campaignFinance
VOTE411 / League of Women Voters Education Fund
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/m/candidate-detail.do?id=73189142Fetched: endorsements
OpenCampaign
https://www.opencampaign.com/politicians-in-united-states/201112/alina-bonsellFetched: endorsements
Nextdoor - Alina Bonsell for NY Senate
https://nextdoor.com/pages/alina-bonsell-for-ny-senate/Fetched: issuePositions
Alina Bonsell for NY State Senate - 8-Point Plan
https://www.alinabonsell.com/8-point-planFetched: issuePositions
Scientist Network for Advancing Policy - Alina Bonsell
https://snapcoalition.org/initiatives/stance-on-science/candidates/ny/alina-bonsellFetched: issuePositions
VOTE411 - New York Senate District 28 Candidate Detail
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/m/candidate-detail.do?id=73189142Fetched: issuePositions
Branch - Alina Bonsell platform and website
https://www.branch.vote/races/2026-new-york-general-election-ny-state-state-senator-ny-state-senate-28/candidates/alina-bonsellFetched: issuePositions
Alina Bonsell campaign website - Meet Alina
https://www.alinabonsell.com/meetalina?rc=test-siteFetched: issuePositions
Alina Bonsell campaign website - 8-Point Plan
https://www.alinabonsell.com/8-point-planFetched: issuePositions
Scientist Network for Advancing Policy candidate questionnaire
https://snapcoalition.org/initiatives/stance-on-science/candidates/ny/alina-bonsellFetched: issuePositions
Patch
https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/bonsell-kruegers-75-billion-legal-defeat-another-example-24-years-neglect-nodxFetched: issuePositions
Branch
https://www.branch.vote/races/2026-new-york-general-election-ny-state-state-senator-ny-state-senate-28/candidates/alina-bonsellFetched: issuePositions
VOTE411 Voter Guide
https://onyourballot.vote411.org/m/candidate-detail.do?id=73189142Fetched: issuePositions
Patch
https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/election-q-meet-upper-east-side-candidate-alina-bonsell-0Fetched: issuePositions