Miguelina Camilo, president of the Bronx Women’s Bar Association, announced
her candidacy for New York State Senate District 36.
Photo courtesy Campaign for Miguelina Camilo
STOP
BRONX TIMES R 28 REPORTER, MAR. 4-10, 2022 BTR
nyc.gov/dot
BY JASON COHEN
Miguelina Camilo was a
de facto lawyer in her father’s
bodega by the age of 12, and
today, the president of the
Bronx Women’s Bar Association
is running for state Senate.
On Feb. 25, Camilo, 36, announced
her candidacy for
New York State Senate District
36. The seat became vacant
when state Sen. Alessandra
Biaggi a Pelham Progressive,
joined the crowded primary
for the open congressional
seat in state’s third district,
which combines parts of the
Bronx, Queens, Long Island
and Westchester.
Camilo, a pragmatic Democrat
of Riverdale, was born
in the Dominican Republic
and immigrated to Washington
Heights at age 2.
“I have seen too many
young people sit in front of
me feeling overlooked and
hopeless when they come in
contact with our courts and
criminal justice system, and
I have seen too many young
women practicing law who
can’t shake the feeling that
their career would be easier
if they were only a man,” she
said in a statement. “I want to
address these issues head on
and have the hard conversations
which are necessary to
address these inequalities.”
Her father, Miguel, worked
long hours as an owner of a
few bodegas and at 12-yearsold,
Camilo was working
every weekend with him.
It was there where she not
only learned about business,
but how to treat people. In
a largely Spanish-speaking
community, Camilo was one
of the few who spoke English
and often, customers would
ask her for help with documents,
letters or other matters.
“I was pretty much acting
as an advocate at 12-yearsold,”
she told the Bronx
Times. “The customers
started saying I’m their attorney.
I learned one of the most
important lessons was to be
empathetic and relate to people.”
Even though her parents
didn’t fi nish high school, they
always stressed how important
education was. While
they encouraged their daughter
to aspire to be a doctor or
lawyer, at a young age Camilo
already felt like an attorney.
She went to NYU for prelaw
and graduated from NY
Law School in 2011, becoming
the fi rst member of her family
to graduate college.
Camilo worked as a family
attorney for six years and
from 2016 to 2021 had her own
law fi rm. Camilo then became
commissioner of the city Board
of Elections and its associate
counsel. Her work and mentorship
of women in the legal profession
led her to become president
of the Bronx Women’s
Bar Association as well as the
100 Hispanic Women – Bronx
Chapter.
During all these years as
a practicing attorney, politics
never crossed her mind, she
said. Then, when Biaggi announced
her intentions to vacate
her seat, Camilo saw the
opportunity and grabbed the
bull by the horns.
According to Camilo, some
of the issues in the 36th District
are the dumping of shelters
in Community Board 11,
creating more mentorship and
job opportunities for youth and
providing more mental health
resources, affordable housing
and jobs.
She said the past two years
of COVID-19 showed how so
many people are struggling to
make ends meet.
With the June primary a
few months away, Camilo is eager
to hit the ground running.
To come from a hard-working
family where no one had graduated
high school and to now
be running for elected offi ce is
truly the American dream, she
said.
“I think this is something
bigger than myself,” Camilo
said. “I feel ready. I feel I am
the best candidate for the role.”
From bodega to the Bar, Miguelina
Camilo eyes Biaggi’s seat
/dot