Amanda Septimo is an American politician from the state of

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 * '' ...

. A Democrat, Septimo is the Assemblymember for the 84th district of 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 ...

, based in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

; her term began in January 2021.

Early life

Septimo was born and raised in the

, before attending Vanderbilt University on a full

Posse Foundation The Posse Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that partners with select colleges and universities in the United States to provide student scholarships and leadership training. Posse connects a network of more than 10,000 scholars and ...

scholarship in 2008. With one semester left at Vanderbilt, Septimo moved back to the Bronx to work for

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

José Serrano. She plans to complete her degree in political science in December 2020.

Career

In 2018, Septimo ran for the

's 84th district, challenging incumbent Carmen Arroyo from the left. Despite receiving high-profile endorsements from 1199SEIU and former City Council Speaker

Melissa Mark-Viverito Melissa Mark-Viverito (born April 1, 1969) is an American Democratic politician and former speaker of the New York City Council from 2014 to 2017, as well as councilmember for the 8th district from 2006 to 2017, representing Concourse, Concours ...

, Septimo lost in the

Democratic 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 ...

primary, 63-37%. Septimo announced a second run against Arroyo in 2020. Before the Democratic primary could be held, however, Arroyo was removed from the ballot for petition fraud, leaving Septimo as the de facto Democratic nominee. Although Arroyo ran in the general election on the Proven Leader Party line, Septimo defeated her easily and began her term the following January.

References

Living people Politicians from the Bronx Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Candidates in the 2018 United States elections 1991 births {{NewYork-NYAssembly-stub