Jesse Hamilton is an American lawyer and politician in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. 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 ...
, he represented the
New York State Senate's 20th District, including parts of the
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
neighborhoods of
Crown Heights,
Brownsville and
East Flatbush
East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...
from 2015 to 2018. Hamilton is a former member of the
Independent Democratic Conference
The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a group of members of the New York State Senate from the Democratic Party who were elected as Democrats but formed a coalition to give the Republicans the majority in the chamber, and attempted to ...
(IDC), a group of Democratic senators who allied themselves with Senate Republicans.
Hamilton is the Secretary of the
Brooklyn Democratic Party, the official organization 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 ...
for
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. He was defeated in the September 2018 Democratic primary election by lawyer
Zellnor Myrie.
Early life
Hamilton was born and raised in the
South Bronx. He later moved to
Crown Heights, and served on the
school board
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
, as president of his block association and as president of the Rosa Parks Independent Democratic Club. He was the Democratic District Leader in the 43rd Assembly District for nearly a decade. He also served as
counsel for then-Senator
Eric Adams
Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022.
Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York ...
of District 20.
[
]
Career
In November 2013, Adams was elected to the office of Brooklyn Borough president, leaving District 20's State Senate seat vacant. On September 9, 2014, Hamilton won 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 ...
primary election to represent District 20
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
. There was no Republican Party opponent, Hamilton won the November 2014 general election without opposition.
On Monday, November 7, 2016, Hamilton announced that he would join the Independent Democratic Conference
The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a group of members of the New York State Senate from the Democratic Party who were elected as Democrats but formed a coalition to give the Republicans the majority in the chamber, and attempted to ...
, a group of Democratic senators who caucused with the Senate Republican Conference, allowing the Republicans to control the chamber. In January 2017, after joining the IDC, Hamilton was named Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Banking - which ''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 d ...
'' notes earned him a $5,500 raise.
In 2017, Hamilton played a key role in passage of legislation to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction for 16- and 17-year-olds, ensuring that they will not be treated as adults under the criminal justice system for misdemeanors and many felonies. The legislation also removes 16- and 17-year-olds from Rikers Island by April 1, 2018, to the extent practicable, and by no later than October 1, 2018. The IDC-backed legislation was criticized as a "watered down" version of legislation proposed by Democrats, and because "it still pushes the majority of juveniles through the criminal justice system. "As of 2017, there were 150 minors in Rikers Island.
Hamilton has advocated for an end to broken windows policing and has proposed legislation to decriminalize fare evasion on subways, buses and railroads, which would make fare evasion a civil penalty instead of a criminal penalty.
In 2017, Hamilton and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz passed legislation named "Briana's Law", after 11-year-old Briana Ojeda, that requires New York City police officers and state troopers to be retrained in CPR every two years. The legislation was introduced after the death of Briana Ojeda when she suffered a severe asthma attack. A police officer stopped her mother driving the wrong way on a one-way street but the police officer did not know how to perform CPR to save Briana's life.
Hamilton and his IDC colleagues rejoined the Senate Democratic Conference in April 2018. Subsequently, the Republican conference stripped Hamilton of his position as Chair of the Banks Committee.
In the September 13, 2018 Democratic primary, Hamilton was defeated by lawyer Zellnor Myrie. Hamilton's loss was attributed to long-simmering anger with the former members of the IDC. Due to New York State's electoral fusion laws allowing candidates to run on multiple ballot lines in an election, Hamilton still appeared in the November 6, 2018, general election as the third-party candidate for the Independence Party of New York and the 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 ...
. Myrie won the general election.
In the 2020 elections, Hamilton ran against incumbent Diana Richardson in the Democratic primary for the New York 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 Assembl ...
's 43rd district. Hamilton lost to Richardson in a landslide.
References
External links
Ballotpedia: Jesse Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Jesse
Living people
New York (state) Democrats
People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn
People from the Bronx
21st-century American politicians
Politicians from Brooklyn
Independent Democratic Conference
1964 births