Shelley Mayer (born March 6, 1952) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the New York State Senate representing the 37th Senate District, which includes portions of

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. Formerly a member of the New York State Assembly, Mayer was first elected in a special election in 2018.

Background

Born and raised in

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...

, Mayer went on to receive her B.A. at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, and later her J.D. at the

University at Buffalo Law School The University at Buffalo School of Law (also known as State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, or SUNY Buffalo Law School) is a graduate professional school at the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1887 and affiliate with Niagara Univ ...

. Prior to her election to public office, Mayer was a

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictio ...

at the National State Attorney General Program at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where she focused on health care and labor law rights. From 2007 until early 2011, Shelley worked as Chief Counsel to the New York State Senate Conference in Albany. For over seven years, she served as Vice President of Government and Community Affairs at Continuum Health Partners 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 ...

. From 1982 to 1994, Mayer served as an Assistant Attorney General in the office of New York Attorney General Bob Abrams. She served in the Civil Rights Bureau, as Chief of the Westchester Regional Office, as the legislative liaison for the Attorney General and ultimately as a senior advisor to the Attorney General. In 2006, Mayer made her first run for public office, losing a bid for the New York State Assembly to incumbent Republican

Mike Spano Mike Spano (born April 22, 1964) is an American politician who serves as the 42nd mayor of Yonkers, New York. He is a member of the Democratic Party. A former Republican, he served as a member of the New York State Assembly. Biography Born ...

. Spano later went on to change parties, ran for Mayor of Yonkers in 2011 as a Democrat, and won. Mayer was first elected to the New York State Assembly on March 20, 2012, in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to succeed

, and was re-elected three times. Mayer lives in

with her husband, Lee Smith, with whom she has three adult children.

New York Senate

Mayer was elected to the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

in a special election held on April 24, 2018 after the office was vacated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Mayer appeared on the Democratic, Working Families, and

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 ...

lines and won by a margin of 57% to 43%. Mayer attributed the win to a "'big tent blue wave' that brought together progressives, Democrats, union groups and female activists." Later in 2018, despite the district being deemed competitive by pundits, Mayer was unopposed for a full-term. With Democrats retaking the majority, Mayer is serving as Chair of Committee on Education.

References

External links

Official Senate websiteCampaign Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Shelley 1952 births Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) Jewish women politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party New York (state) state senators People from Yonkers, New York University of California, Los Angeles alumni University at Buffalo alumni Women state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American Jews