De La Rosa was born in the Dominican Republic but came to New York City with her family at a very young age, where they settled in northern Manhattan.

With Rangel's seat open, state Senator Adriano Espaillat, one of the nation's first Dominican-born elected officials, was seen as a front runner, spurring widespread excitement and support in the Dominican community for his candidacy.

Along with his own campaign, Espaillat, following his victory in the Democratic primary over six other candidates, announced his support for Marisol Alcantara to replace him in the Senate, and for De La Rosa in the 72nd Assembly district.

[4] On primary day, De La Rosa would easily defeat Linares 53% to 38%, with a third candidate, Democrat George Fernandez, taking 10%.

Current retirees in the City of NY are no longer in unions, and their vested health benefits were earned during decades of service.

[11] The Retirees were forced to continue grass roots fundraising to support their litigation since De La Rosa refused to help them.

[12] In 2024, the retirees introduced a new bill, Intro 1096[13] to codify their access to Medicare and protect the benefits they earned; it preserves a floor the council set 60 years ago that can be built upon in the future.