Jeremy Cooney (born August 1, 1981) 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 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 ...

, Cooney represents the 56th district 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 ...

, covering parts of the City of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, the Town of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, and the western suburbs of

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

. His term of office began on January 1, 2021.

Early life and education

Cooney was adopted from an orphanage in

Kolkata, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, by a single mother in upstate New York. He was raised in Rochester and attended schools in the

Rochester City School District The Rochester City School District is a public school district that serves approximately 24,900 students in the city of Rochester, New York. It is currently operating with a budget of $983 million, which comes out to approximately $39,500 per st ...

, graduating from School of the Arts. Cooney earned his B.A. from Hobart College and his J.D. from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...

, where he served as executive editor of the

Albany Law Review The ''Albany Law Review'' is a quarterly law review edited by students at Albany Law School. The ''Albany Law Review'' is one of three student-edited law journals published by the school.Albany Law School"Journals & Publications" History The ' ...

Political career

Prior to running for elected office, Cooney served as an aide to U.S. Congresswoman

Louise Slaughter Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. She served as the Dean of the ...

, a law clerk to New York Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

, worked for

Empire State Development Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the ...

under

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

, and was the first chief of staff to Mayor Lovely A. Warren of the City of Rochester.

New York State Senate

Elections

Cooney ran for the 56th Senate District in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and lost to 20 year incumbent Joseph Robach. He ran again in 2020 and won a 3 way primary election before winning the 2020 general election by a margin of 12.6%. He is the first Asian to be elected to state office from upstate New York. In November 2022, he defeated Republican Jim VanBrederode and was re-elected to a second term.

Tenure

Cooney serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Procurement and Contracts and is a member of the Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee, Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks And Recreation Committee, Ethics And Internal Governance Committee, Finance Committee, Insurance Committee, and Transportation Committee. He also serves as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis. In 2022, Cooney sponsored the Green CHIPS Act, legislation that provides state tax incentives to attract

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

and high-tech chip manufacturers to New York. The bill was signed into law by Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; née Courtney; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of New York since August 24, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she is New York's first female governor, as well as the firs ...

in August 2022.

Personal life

Cooney lives in the City of Rochester with his wife, Diane Lu, a urological surgeon at the

University of Rochester Medical Center The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), now known as UR Medicine, is located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and pat ...

Election Results

2018

2020

2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooney, Jeremy 1981 births People from Brighton, Monroe County, New York Democratic Party New York (state) state senators People from Kolkata American adoptees Albany Law School alumni Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in New York (state) politics Indian emigrants to the United States Living people