Thomas White, Jr. (August 21, 1939 – August 27, 2010) was a member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

from

Queens 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 ...

. 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 ...

, he represented the 28th Council district, which includes the neighborhoods of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

South Jamaica South Jamaica (also commonly known as "The Southside") is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, located south of downtown Jamaica. Although a proper border has not been established, the neighborhood is a subsection ...

, and Richmond Hill. He co-founded and was the Executive Director of J-CAP, an alcohol and substance abuse residential treatment program in New York State.Official NYC Council Website about Thomas White
/ref> White won the Democratic primary vote in November 2009 to seek a new term, following the overturning of

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s at the insistence of New York City's Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

in a vote by the

, by a six votes. This small margin of victory has been attributed by some political observers to public anger over the overturning by the City Council of two referendums supporting eight-year term limits. Five other council incumbents, four of whom had voted to overturn term limits, lost their bids for re-election, the largest such number since the 1980s.

References

1939 births 2010 deaths New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Politicians from Queens, New York African-American New York City Council members 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people {{NewYork-politician-stub