Alton Ronald Waldon Jr. (born December 21, 1936) is an American politician and jurist from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1986 to 1987 in addition to stints in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

from 1983 to 1986 and

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1991 to 2000, as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Early life and education

Born in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

, Waldon graduated from

Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

in Brooklyn, New York in 1954 and went on to earn a B.S. from

John Jay College The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts ...

in New York City in 1968 and a J.D. from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

in New York City in 1973.

Career

Military service and city career

Waldon served in the United States Army from 1956 to 1959. He was appointed as NYS Deputy Commissioner of Human Rights in 1975. He served as counsel in the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

New York State Assembly

He was a member of the

from 1983 to 1986, sitting in the 185th and

186th New York State Legislature The 186th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1985, to December 31, 1986, during the third and fourth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgrou ...

s. Waldon was a delegate to the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 Democratic National Convention The 1988 Democratic National Convention was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, from July 18 to 21, 1988, to select candidates for the 1988 presidential election. At the convention Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for pre ...

U.S. House of Representatives

In a special election to fill the

New York's 6th congressional district New York's 6th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City, located entirely within Queens. It is represented by Democrat Grace Meng. A plurality of the district's popula ...

seat in the U.S. House of Representatives vacated by the late Joseph P. Addabbo, Waldon was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

99th United States Congress The 99th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

in 1986 and served from June 10, 1986, to January 3, 1987. Waldon became the first elected African-American member of Congress from

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

. In September 1986, Waldon ran for a full term, but was defeated in the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic, majority-black district—by

Floyd H. Flake Floyd Harold Flake (born January 30, 1945) is an American businessman and former politician who is the senior pastor of the 23,000 member Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens, New York, and former president of ...

. Waldon was then appointed to the New York State Commission of Investigation.

New York State Senate

He was a member of the

from 1991 to 1999, sitting in the 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd and 193rd New York State Legislatures. In 1998, he tried to regain his congressional seat after Flake had resigned, but was defeated in the special election by state assemblyman

Gregory Meeks Gregory Weldon Meeks (born September 25, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who has been a U.S. representative from New York since 1998. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs since ...

Judicial career

In June 1999, he was nominated to the

New York Court of Claims The New York State Court of Claims is the court of the New York State Unified Court System which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies. Judges Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of ...

; and was confirmed by the State Senate in December.''Race Draws Unexpected Attention''
by Jonathan P. Hicks, in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on March 26, 2000

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waldon, Alton R., Jr. Living people African-American members of the United States House of Representatives John Jay College of Criminal Justice alumni New York Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party New York (state) state senators 1936 births Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) New York (state) state court judges African-American state legislators in New York (state) Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people