VoterLens
New York State Senate District 38
Georgetown University—JD; Stanford University—JSM in Law and Psychology; Georgetown University—Bachelor's in Government and History
Data last updated 10/21/2026
Joseph Rand is the Mayor of the Village of Nyack and a candidate for New York State Senate District 38 in the 2026 general election. He is Chief Creative Officer of Howard Hanna | Rand Realty and previously worked as a federal judicial clerk, litigation attorney, law professor, and executive in the real estate industry. His public-service background includes service on the Nyack Village Board beginning in January 2021 and election as Nyack mayor in November 2023.
Committee Assignments: No committee assignments available.
Joseph W. Rand, the Democratic/Working Families candidate for New York State Senate District 38 in 2026, frames healthcare primarily as an affordability and care-access issue. He supports reducing healthcare costs and has specifically endorsed publicly funded home care reforms, fair pay and safe conditions for home care workers, Medicaid-dollar oversight, removing corporate middlemen from home care, and access to independent living supports for older adults and people with disabilities.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand lists lowering healthcare costs among his core affordability priorities for Rockland families in his State Senate campaign.
SourceRand said he is committed to a publicly funded home care system that works for people who depend on it rather than Wall Street.
SourceAt his State Senate campaign kickoff, Rand identified rising healthcare costs as a key challenge facing Rockland residents and reiterated his commitment to working across party lines on quality-of-life issues.
SourceRand’s official campaign priorities page states that he will fight to reduce healthcare costs, alongside utility-rate and housing-cost concerns.
SourceJoseph Rand presents an economic agenda centered on affordability, more housing, lower-cost clean energy, faster infrastructure delivery, and economic opportunity in Rockland County. He also emphasizes working-family priorities, including stronger workers' rights, economic development, health care and child care access, and bringing more state funding back to local communities.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand says he would support greater density in downtown and transit-oriented areas, streamlined permitting and environmental review, incentives for municipalities to increase housing production, and policies that reduce the cost and time needed to build homes.
SourceRand says New York needs more electricity for climate goals and economic growth, and supports accelerating clean generation, transmission, storage, grid modernization, responsible energy permitting, and distributed energy to lower costs for families and businesses.
SourceRand's campaign announcement identified affordability, especially utility, health care, and housing costs, plus additional state funding for infrastructure, traffic safety, community services, and local nonprofits, as campaign priorities.
SourceAfter winning the Working Families nomination, Rand's platform was reported to include strengthening workers' rights and promoting economic development throughout Rockland County, alongside housing, health care, child care, and education priorities.
SourceJoseph Rand supports limits on local cooperation with ICE where aimed at preventing abusive or discriminatory immigration enforcement, while distinguishing that stance from being anti-law-enforcement. He also opposes Donald Trump-era immigration policies, criticizing them as harmful to working families and disruptive to food supply chains.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand expressed conditional support for the principle behind Rockland County's proposed Our Safety and Dignity for All Act if it would prevent abusive ICE conduct in Rockland, while saying he needed to read the full bill text.
SourceRand criticized President Trump's immigration policies, saying they disrupted grocery supply chains and increased food prices for working families.
SourceJoseph Rand supports expanding affordable clean energy, grid modernization, transmission, storage, distributed energy, and climate-resilience infrastructure for New York State Senate District 38. His record as Nyack mayor/trustee is described as advancing Climate Smart Communities work, greenhouse-gas inventories, a climate action framework, clean municipal energy, fleet electrification, and adaptation planning.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand stated that New York should produce more affordable clean energy by accelerating clean generation, transmission, storage, grid modernization, and distributed energy while keeping power reliable and affordable.
SourceRand agreed that New York should prioritize public and private construction of renewable energy, grid electrification, transmission upgrades, and resiliency infrastructure to meet climate goals and adapt for the future.
SourceRand agreed with proposals to preempt local regulations that effectively ban solar projects and to adopt automated permitting systems to enable more solar energy.
SourceAs Nyack mayor/trustee, Rand is credited with helping advance Nyack’s Climate Smart Communities commitments, including completing a greenhouse-gas inventory and adopting an ambitious climate action framework.
SourceRand is credited with supporting renewable and low-emissions changes in Nyack, including transitioning municipal buildings to clean energy, electrifying the village vehicle fleet, and advocating waived permit fees for heat pump installations.
SourceJoseph Rand supports increasing investment in local schools, saying every Rockland child should have access to an A+ education. His education platform also emphasizes securing Rockland County's fair share of state education aid and strengthening public school investment.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand's campaign priority says he would invest in all local schools so every Rockland child has access to an A+ education.
SourceRand's campaign announcement listed education as a priority, specifically securing Rockland's fair share of state aid and improving public school investment.
SourceBallotReady's candidate profile for Joseph Rand in New York State Senate District 38 lists his education position as investing in local schools so every Rockland child has access to an A education.
SourceJoseph Rand says his public-safety approach for New York State Senate District 38 is to make communities safer by ensuring law enforcement has needed resources, while also emphasizing lawful, accountable enforcement. As Nyack mayor, he has backed visible downtown safety measures, coordination with police and social services, and street-safety policies such as lower speed limits and camera enforcement.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Rand's campaign lists public safety as a priority and says he would secure the resources law enforcement needs to keep communities safe.
SourceAs Nyack mayor, Rand is associated with the village's Safety Patrol program, a foot patrol meant to deter incidents, assist the public, and support Orangetown Police as extra eyes and ears.
SourceRand supported the general intent of proposed Rockland County legislation limiting county cooperation with ICE except where federal authorities act under a criminal investigation or judge-issued warrant.
SourceRand said Nyack put a curfew in place and was working with police and social services to make downtown feel safe while connecting people with services.
SourceRand was described as supporting municipal control over lower speed limits and camera enforcement programs, DMV reform for road safety, and stricter regulation of Class 3 e-bikes while opposing licensing and registration for slower Class 1 and 2 e-bikes.
SourceBallotReady
https://www.ballotready.org/people/joeph-w-randFetched: biography, education, professional background, office context
Joe Rand For Rockland
https://joerand.com/Fetched: biography, education, professional background, location
The Official Website of Nyack, NY - Mayor
https://www.nyack.gov/mayorFetched: biography, location, professional background
New York State Board of Elections Public Reporting System
https://publicreporting.elections.ny.gov/Fetched: campaignFinance
New York State Board of Elections Campaign Finance
https://elections.ny.gov/campaign-financeFetched: campaignFinance
Blue Voter Guide - CSEA Endorsements
https://bluevoterguide.org/endorser-org/Civil_Service_Employees_Association_%28CSEA%29/NY/3954Fetched: endorsements
New York League of Conservation Voters
https://www.nylcv.org/candidate/joe-rand/Fetched: endorsements
Rockland Post
https://rocklandpost.com/state-senate-candidate-joe-rand-endorsed-by-sierra-club-and-new-york-league-of-conservation-voters/Fetched: endorsements
StreetsPAC
https://www.streetspac.org/2026_nys_additional_legislative_endorsements?recruiter_id=8Fetched: endorsements
Joe Rand For Rockland - Caring Majority Rising endorsement
https://joerand.com/joe-rand-endorsed-by-caring-majority-rising-as-a-candidate-who-cares/Fetched: issuePositions
Daily Voice
https://dailyvoice.com/article/nyack-mayor-launches-campaign-for-ny-state-senate/Fetched: issuePositions
Monsey Scoop
https://monseyscoop.com/nyack-mayor-joe-rand-holds-campaign-kickoff-for-38th-state-senate-race/Fetched: issuePositions
Abundance New York questionnaire
https://voterguide.abundanceny.org/questionnaires/joseph-randFetched: issuePositions
Rockland News campaign announcement
https://rocklandnews.com/rand-announces-bid-for-new-york-state-senate/Fetched: issuePositions
Rockland News Working Families nomination coverage
https://rocklandnews.com/joe-rand-wins-working-families-nomination/Fetched: issuePositions
Joe Rand For Rockland
https://joerand.com/what-donald-trump-should-hear-about-when-he-visits-rockland/Fetched: issuePositions
Abundance New York Candidate Questionnaire
https://voterguide.abundanceny.org/questionnaires/joseph-randFetched: issuePositions
Village of Nyack Sustainability
https://www.nyack.gov/departments/SustainabilityFetched: issuePositions
Monsey Scoop
https://monseyscoop.com/state-senate-candidate-joe-rand-responds-to-sanctuary-county-debate-defends-limits-on-ice-cooperation/Fetched: issuePositions
News 12 Westchester
https://westchester.news12.com/nyack-residents-express-concerns-about-homelessness-panhandlingFetched: issuePositions