Edward P. Ra (born November 4, 1981) is a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, representing the 19th district, which includes portions of the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. A Republican, Ra was first elected in 2010. Ra was born in Mineola, New York and raised in Franklin Square, New York, where he still resides with his wife Laura. He earned a B.A. in computer science from Loyola College in 2004. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

St. John's University School of Law St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school in Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States, affiliated with St. John's University. The School of Law was founded in 1925, and confers Juris Doctor degrees and degrees for Maste ...

in 2007 and

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in Intellectual Property Law from

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University. Located in New York City and founded in 1976, the school is named for Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. Cardozo graduated its first class in 1979. An LL.M. p ...

in 2008. Prior to entering elected office, Ra served as the deputy town attorney for the Town of Hempstead, where the Town Attorney is his father, Joseph Ra. He was also a legal aide in the Office of the New York State Attorney General. In 2010, Assemblyman

Thomas Alfano Thomas W. "Tom" Alfano (born September 9, 1959) is a former Republican member of the New York State Assembly, most recently representing the 21st Assembly district. The district includes Elmont, Franklin Square, North Valley Stream, Malverne, ...

decided not to seek reelection, and Ra entered the race to succeed him. Ra defeated Democrat Patrick Nicolosi. Since his initial election, he has never faced serious opposition. In 2018, Ra defeated Democrat Bill Carr 55% to 45%, his closest race since the 2010 election.

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New York Assemblyman Edward P. Ra (R-Franklin Square)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ra, Edward P. 1981 births Living people Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Loyola University Maryland alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni People from Mineola, New York People from Franklin Square, New York Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law alumni New York (state) lawyers 21st-century American politicians