Kevin Thomas (born September 10, 1984) is an American attorney and 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, Thomas has represented the 6th district 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 ...

since 2019. Thomas is the first South Asian and the first Indian-American to serve in the New York State Senate.

Early life and career

Born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thomas immigrated to the United States as a ten-year-old boy. He received his J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Thomas is an Indian-American of

Malayalee The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomina ...

descent. Prior to elected office, Thomas was an attorney and an appointee of the US Commission on Civil Rights to the New York State Advisory Committee, a federal agency tasked with civil rights oversight. He lives in Levittown with his family.

New York Senate

In an upset victory, Thomas defeated incumbent Senator

Kemp Hannon J. Kemp Hannon (born January 10, 1946) is an American politician. A Republican, Hannon was a member of the New York State Senate from the 6th district in Nassau County between 1989 and 2018. Biography Hannon graduated from Chaminade High Scho ...

50.8%–49.1% in the 6th Senate District in the

2018 New York State Senate elections The 2018 New York State Senate elections were held on November 6, 2018, to elect representatives from all 63 State Senate districts in the U.S. state of New York. Primary elections were held on September 13, 2018. In April 2018, ''The Wall Str ...

. Thomas was sworn in for his first term on January 1, 2019, and is serving as Chair of the Consumer Protection committee. He is the first South Asian American and the first Indian-American to serve in the New York State Senate. In 2020, Thomas worked on a data bill entitled the “New York Privacy Act,” which would require companies to allow consumers to obtain the names of all entities with whom their information is shared and give those consumers the power to stop the company from sharing that data if they do not want it distributed. In October 2020, Thomas secured a second term after defeating Republican challenger Dennis Dunne. Although the initial count favored Dunne, the historically large number of absentee ballots cast in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic swung the race in Thomas's favor.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Kevin Living people People from Levittown, New York Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Indian emigrants to the United States American politicians of Indian descent 21st-century American politicians Asian-American people in New York (state) politics 1984 births