Jessica Ramos (born June 27, 1985) 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 * '' ...

. Ramos is a member of the Democratic Party. Since 2019, she has served in 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 ...

representing District 13, which currently includes the Queens neighborhoods of Corona, Elmhurst,

East Elmhurst East Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the northwest section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Jackson Heights and Corona, to the north and east by Bowery Bay, and to the west by Woodside and Ditmars ...

, and Jackson Heights.

Early life and education

Ramos was born at Elmhurst Hospital and raised in

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 ...

, the daughter of Colombian immigrants. Exposed to civic life at an early age, Ramos participated in community activities with the Colombian immigrant community's local civic groups and later on as a Democratic district leader and community board member. She graduated from the

Academy of American Studies The Academy of American Studies is a public high school in Long Island City, Queens, New York, which was founded in 1996 by the New York City Board of Education and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In June 2022, the school had a ...

and attended

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

before dropping out to work in the office of

Hiram Monserrate Hiram Monserrate (born July 12, 1967) is an American politician and convicted felon from the State of New York. A Democrat, Monserrate represented New York's 13th State Senate District in Queens from January 1, 2009 until February 9, 2010, when ...

Career

Prior to entering the State Senate, Ramos worked in

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

where she was initially a communications adviser and ultimately became director of Latino media from April 2016 to December 2017. In this role, Ramos was the city's top Latina spokeswoman and liaison to the Spanish-language press. Before joining city government, Ramos was the communications director for Build Up NYC, an advocacy organization for construction, building, and maintenance workers. She has also done communications work with a local chapter of the

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correcti ...

and a regional branch of the Service Employees International Union. Ramos has served on

Queens Community Board 3 The Queens Community Board 3 is a local government in New York City, encompassing the neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and North Corona, as well as LaGuardia Airport, in the borough of Queens.

New York Senate

In January 2018, Ramos announced her candidacy for New York State Senate, challenging

Jose Peralta José Rafael Peralta (November 10, 1971 – November 21, 2018) was an American politician who served in the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, he last represented District 13 in the State Senate, ...

, a former member of the Independent Democratic Conference, in 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 Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

. Ramos defeated Peralta and won the general election. She received a number of high-profile endorsements, including from New York City Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

, 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 ...

'', and Kirsten Gillibrand. In the Senate, Ramos is serving as the chair on the Committee on Labor.

Personal life

Ramos was born in Elmhurst to an undocumented seamstress and a printing pressman. She was the first member of her immediate family to be born in America. Ramos currently lives in Jackson Heights with her two sons. In 2019, Senator Ramos became housing co-tenants or

roommates A roommate is a person with whom one shares a living facility such as a room or dormitory ''except'' when being family or romantically involved. Similar terms include dormmate, suitemate, housemate, or flatmate ("flat": the usual term in Britis ...

with fellow New York State Senator

Alessandra Biaggi Alessandra Rose Biaggi (born May 20, 1986) is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 34th district, which includes portions of Bronx and Westchester Counties. She is the chair of th ...

and Assemblywoman

Yuh-Line Niou Yuh-Line Niou ( , born July 15, 1983) is a Taiwanese-American politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 65th district. The Lower Manhattan district, which is heavily Democratic and over 40% Asian American, includes ...

while living in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Jessica 1985 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Colombian descent Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Hofstra University alumni Living people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators People from Astoria, Queens People from Corona, Queens People from Elmhurst, Queens Politicians from New York City Women state legislators in New York (state)