Email: rachel@rachbarnhart.com
Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart is a lifelong Democrat who was elected in 2019 and reelected in 2021 and 2023. She is Chair of the Agenda Charter Committee and serves on the Ways and Means Committee and the Monroe County Planning Board.
Rachel’s bill amending the Monroe County Code of Ethics for the first time in three decades passed the legislature unanimously. It prohibits sexual harassment and bans officials from using county resources for politics. Rachel is also the only local legislator to post her campaign finance and personal financial disclosure reports on her website.
Rachel has made government accountability a hallmark of her tenure. She secured additional legislative oversight of the Seneca Park Zoo expansion after learning $6 million had been spent on a design that couldn’t be built. She uncovered irregularities in how the county spent its American Rescue Plan Act funds, leading to new oversight. And she authored local laws requiring the Sheriff’s Office to disclose its surveillance technology purchases and biometric data collection.
Rachel has repeatedly stood up to powerful interests on behalf of renters and small businesses. She challenged Airbnb and its lobbyists over their objection to a registry of short-term rental properties. She took on third-party food delivery apps, introducing legislation to cap the fees Grubhub and DoorDash charge restaurants; after Republicans blocked her bill, the County Executive issued an executive order capping fees, which small, family-owned restaurants say saved them thousands of dollars. Her separate bill, the Food Delivery Fairness Act, passed the legislature and bars delivery apps from listing restaurants without their permission.
Rachel has repeatedly stood up to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. She organized a press conference against Avelo Airlines over its contract to run federal deportation flights out of Rochester. She has also pushed the county to hold the Sheriff’s Office accountable for its interactions with Customs and Border Patrol and undocumented immigrants, working to ensure local law enforcement isn’t doing the federal government’s immigration enforcement work for it.
Rachel led the push to bring transparency to the Sheriff’s Office’s use of surveillance technology. Her measure requiring disclosure of the Sheriff’s surveillance technology purchases passed the legislature, giving the public and elected officials a window into tools that had previously been acquired with no oversight.
Rachel is a lead sponsor of a local law requiring retail stores to disclose their use of biometric data collection, including facial recognition. She became a leading voice across New York State pushing retailers like Wegmans to disclose when they’re scanning customers’ faces.
Rachel is passionate about bridging the digital divide. She co-founded an informal broadband working group with partners in the city and philanthropic community that helped secure funding for Rochester City School District students to get upgraded Mi-Fi devices for remote learning.
Rachel worked with the Sheriff’s Office to provide subsidized phone calls to incarcerated individuals at the Monroe County Jail. Inmates received 75 minutes a week of free calls, paid for through a self-sustaining fund built from phone call revenue, saving families of inmates $30 a month. The plan passed the legislature unanimously, but was discontinued in 2025. Since then, Rachel has pushed for oversight of the jail trust fund that holds the phone and tablet revenue.
Rachel has advocated for small businesses, particularly restaurants hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. She invited County Executive Bello to meet with restaurant owners at Village Gate about the challenges they faced heading into the winter months; he responded by announcing a $15 million small business grant program, with priority for women- and minority-owned businesses and businesses in distressed zip codes.
Rachel led the effort to pass the Carrie Ray 3-Foot Passing Law, which requires vehicles to give cyclists at least three feet of clearance, bringing Monroe County in line with the standard in more than 30 states. She also helped to relaunch the county’s safe-driving campaign.
Rachel worked with Connected Communities, Common Ground Health and the United Way to run a first-of-its-kind Covid-19 vaccination “party” in Rochester, securing incentives that made a real difference in turnout. She wrote about the model for the Gotham Gazette.
Rachel spends much of her current term on housing policy and the delivery of social services. She authored a report on Monroe County’s high rate of benefit denials and case closures, and worked with experts and advocates to develop a plan to end homelessness in the county.
Rachel is a lifelong city resident and Democrat who grew up in the Maplewood neighborhood and graduated from John Marshall High School. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Communication from Cornell University and an Executive Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Rachel spent 18 years as a broadcast journalist at stations including 13WHAM-TV and WROC-TV, known for her fearlessness, tenacity and ability to get answers. Over the years, the Democrat and Chronicle has called Rachel a “champion of liberty” and a “breath of fresh air.” Most Monroe County legislators have careers outside of government; Rachel heads communications for a global sustainability organization.
Rachel lives in North Winton Village. Her rescue dogs, Penny and Prudy, often walk her through the district.