With a teacher’s heart and a fighter’s determination, Athena Clarke has emerged as a rising voice for change as a Republican candidate for City Council in District 46, making her presence known from Canarsie and Bergen Beach to Mill Basin, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach and Sheepshead Bay.
Every day, Clarke is out walking blocks throughout the district, meeting residents, visiting homes and stores, and listening to frustrations about rising costs, crime and quality of life, making her case for a new kind of leadership. Clarke even picked up a spontaneous endorsement from a neighborhood local business by Renee Rose, owner of Verdure, a vegan Jamaican restaurant.
From door-knocking along Ralph and Flatlands Avenues to greeting store owners and chatting with residents at the Bayview and Nostrand Houses, Clarke has made personal outreach a priority of her campaign. Her efforts were warmly received in Brooklyn’s diverse communities, whose residents said they’ve too often been forgotten by their elected leaders. Her positive message resonated with many who felt their everyday needs were being ignored in neighborhoods in need of attention.
Recently, she joined hundreds of residents on Coyle Street, marching up Avenue U in solidarity with the community opposing what many call a “bait-and-switch” homeless shelter project. Clarke said the rally symbolized what her campaign is all about: standing with everyday New Yorkers who feel left out of the decisions shaping their neighborhoods
“I’m not a politician — I’m a teacher and a mom,” Clarke told supporters. “I know what it means to fight for something you believe in. This campaign is about restoring integrity, common sense and accountability in our city.”
Her campaign is a story of a teacher’s journey to public service. Before entering politics, Clarke worked with children for more than a decade, but her life soon was turned upside down. As a former special education teacher in the NYC public school system, Clarke lost her tenured position after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. “I chose not to comply,” she said during a recent rainy-night fundraiser. “It was hard, but faith and freedom guided me. No one should have to choose between feeding their family and following their beliefs.”
“For the first time in the city’s history, tenured teachers were fired without due process,” her campaign manager Jimmy Wagner said. “Athena stood on principle — and she paid a price for it. Now she’s standing up for everyone who’s been ignored or mistreated by a government that’s lost touch.”
The transformation from teacher to politician is the backbone of a campaign built on faith, freedom and family. Supporters say it’s that authenticity that’s drawing new energy to a district long dominated by Democrats. “There’s nothing New Yorkers respect more than a teacher who stands on principle,” Wagner said.
Clarke’s “Common Sense Contract with New York City” outlines seven pledges to restore integrity and accountability. Among them: repealing sanctuary-city policies, fully funding the NYPD, expanding charter school access, defending parental rights and stopping top-down zoning under the “City of Yes” plan. “It’s time to put New Yorkers first — not special interests,” she said.
As early voting is underway, Clarke’s campaign continues to grow through grassroots door-to-door outreach and neighborhood listening sessions. From the classroom to the campaign trail — Clarke has struck a chord with voters who see her as a symbol of perseverance. Clarke’s rise from a devoted mother and member of a working-class family embodies the spirit of everyday New Yorkers. Her Jamaican roots, conservative family values, mother of a two-year-old girl and wife of an FDNY firefighter blends into the fabric of a community she now wishes to represent.
“I don’t want to leave Brooklyn,” she told a recent crowd. “This is my home. This is where I belong. I’m fighting for a city that listens again — one that protects families, respects freedom and helps people achieve the American Dream.”
With her grassroots energy and focus on community, Athena Clarke is proving that one determined teacher can indeed spark a movement — and give District 46 a voice that stands tall, proud and unafraid.
