Cecilia F. Tkaczyk (born December 18, 1961) is an American politician who served as a member of the

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 ...

for the 46th district. She was elected to the Senate 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 ...

and was sworn in on January 23, 2013. Tkaczyk was the Democratic nominee in a district that she claimed had been

gerrymandered In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

for her opponent, State Assemblyman George Amedore. The district stretches from

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. She led Amedore on election night, but legal action by Amedore forced a judge to monitor the counting of 6,000 provisional and absentee ballots. The judge threw out 450 votes, enough to give Amedore a 37-vote lead. Amedore was certified as the winner and filed his oath of office in January. However, Tkaczyk appealed, contending that, as the ballots were primarily in Democratic-leaning areas, she could potentially win if they were all counted. Eventually, a court ordered 99 ballots in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, Albany, and Greene counties opened. Tkaczyk picked up enough votes in the opened ballots to take an 18-vote lead. Amedore conceded the race on January 18. According to the ''

Albany Times Union The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sa ...

'', Amedore was the shortest-tenured senator in the modern history of that chamber. Tkaczyk was born and raised on a dairy farm and was the only farmer serving in the State Senate. She and her husband Eric own and live on a small sheep farm in

Duanesburg, New York Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 6,122 at the 2010 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county. H ...

, with their son, Peter. She served as the ranking member on the Senate Committee of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, and on the Senate Elections Committee as well. She was also a member of the following committees: Agriculture, Environmental Conservation, Education, Children and Families and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. Tkaczyk was defeated in the 2014 election in a rematch with Amedore, losing by over 11,000 votes. After losing the 2014 election, Tkaczyk left the Democratic Party and joined the upstart

Women's Equality Party The Women's Equality Party (WEP) is a feminist political party set up in the United Kingdom in 2015. The idea was conceived by Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig at the Women of the World Festival, when they concluded that there was a need f ...

, which achieved automatic ballot access in the 2014 elections. Tkaczyk attempted to install herself as leader of the party in a legal maneuver designed to ensure the party had female leadership.Tkaczyk profile
capitalnewyork.com; accessed April 25, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tkaczyk, Cecilia Living people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators People from Duanesburg, New York Rutgers University alumni American politicians of Polish descent 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 1961 births