Joseph R. Lentol (born January 15, 1943) is former representative for District 50 in the New York State Assembly, which comprises Greenpoint, Williamsburg and

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the wes ...

, among other neighborhoods located in the northern portion of the

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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 is a

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Early life

Lentol was born on January 15, 1943, the son of State Senator and Supreme Court Justice Edward S. Lentol (1909–1981).

New York State Assembly

Lentol was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1972. He has served as Chairman of the Committee on Codes since 1992, and has previously served as Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Employees and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Operations. In 2000, he was one of two Assembly members chosen by Sheldon Silver and Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

to serve on the Election Modernization Task Force. The following year, he was elected by his colleagues to represent the Brooklyn Assembly Delegation and appointed to New York City's Community Action Board, of which he later became Chairman. Prior to his election, Lentol served as an Assistant District Attorney within Kings County. In 2001, Lentol was elected by his colleagues to direct the Brooklyn Assembly Delegation, responsible for making decisions and advocating for funds and activities for all areas of the borough. As the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Codes, between 2004 and 2005 Lentol contributed to a report regarding hearings on the death penalty in New York State. He credited the hearings with changing his mind regarding the death penalty which he had in 2004 "wanted to see done right."

2020 Democratic primary defeat

On June 23, 2020, Lentol was challenged in the Democratic primary for the first time since 2010. It was the fourth primary of his career. His opponent was community activist Emily Gallagher, who he led by 1,763 votes on election night. However,

absentee ballots An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vot ...

were more significant than usual due to the

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, and once they were counted, Gallagher was determined to have won by between 400 and 600 votes on July 21, 2020. Lentol conceded on July 22, 2020.

References

External links

New York State Assembly Member WebsiteBuildings in the Hot Seat at State Hearing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentol, Joe 1943 births Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Living people Politicians from Brooklyn New York (state) lawyers Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American legislators American prosecutors