Meet Jen
Jen Lunsford is a mom, a lawyer and a lifelong advocate for those unable to advocate for themselves. She has represented the good people of Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, East Rochester and Mendon, including Fairport and Honeoye Falls, since she was first elected in 2020. Prior to taking office, Jen represented injured and disabled New Yorkers trying to navigate the complexities of the legal system to access the benefits and the justice they deserved. This experience gave Jen a unique perspective and useful expertise that has allowed her to provide comprehensive services to her constituents while also standing out as a leading voice in Albany on matters of law, insurance and healthcare.
Jen was raised on Long Island by a working mom and a stay-at-home dad — not exactly the norm in the 1980s. Her mother worked as a secretary and later as a sales manager, while her father, a Vietnam veteran and former NYPD officer, returned to the workforce as a retail manager once Jen started school. Jen graduated with honors from Hartwick College with a degree in political science and philosophy. She worked for two years as a paralegal at the prestigious international law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, and then went on to law school at Boston University, where she concentrated in health care law, won the Dean's Award for Constitutional Law, and served as a note editor of the American Journal of Law and Medicine. After law school, she settled in Rochester to start her family and her legal career.
Jen spent twelve years as a practicing attorney, first on the defense side, representing hospitals and insurance companies in medical malpractice and other tort claims, and then on the plaintiff's side, representing injured people in personal injury, workers' compensation and social security disability cases. She also volunteered her time with the Rochester Teen Court, the Center for Youth's Crisis Nursery, the Volunteer Legal Services Project, Empire Justice Center, and the American Lung Association. Jen served in various leadership positions with the Monroe County Bar Association, and won several awards for her legal work including both the Up & Coming Attorney Award and Top Women in Law Award from the Daily Record. She was also listed as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for plaintiff's-side personal injury work.
Disability doesn't discriminate. It strikes the rich and poor, the educated and uneducated, all races, genders, nationalities and political ideologies. Doing the kind of work I did, where you get to know people during some of the toughest times in their lives, you get to see that we are far more alike than we are different. I bring that empathy and understanding with me to Albany and use it every day.
In office, Jen takes all of her life experiences, education and skill and puts it to work for the 135th District. When her three-year-old son was hospitalized after an allergic reaction, she wrote the law — signed in 2025 — that now requires allergen labels on prepackaged foods prepared for sale on-site at retail locations like bakeries and delis across New York, so no other family has to go through what hers did.
As a working mom who knows firsthand how crushing childcare costs can be, Jen has made affordability her signature fight. In addition to helping expand childcare subsidies to thousands of middle class families across the state, she passed a law ensuring parents who unexpectedly lose childcare can collect unemployment benefits while they look for new care. Jen also helped win a $20 million universal childcare pilot for Monroe County, fully funded foundation aid for public schools, and fought to raise universal pre-K rates so that every district in the state could start a UPK program.
And Jen never stops showing up at home. She has delivered nearly $18 million in direct state grants to municipalities and organizations in the 135th District, including volunteer fire departments and ambulance services, village police, town park departments, Lollypop Farm, local YMCAs and our schools. From building skateparks to funding after-care programs, Jen is committed to making sure our community always gets its fair share.
Jen’s Record
Affordability, public safety, schools, the environment, healthcare, reproductive rights and childcare — read where Jen stands on the issues, see the organizations endorsing her re-election, or sign up to volunteer in Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, East Rochester or Mendon.