Elizabeth Krueger (born November 20, 1957) is an American politician. A
Democrat, she represents
District 28, consisting of the East Side of
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, in the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
. She was first elected in a special election in 2002.
Background
Krueger was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey to
Harvey M. Krueger and Constance Krueger. She has two sisters, Abigail and Cathleen. Her brother, Peter, died of
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
in 1988. Her father was the CEO of the investment bank
Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and served as vice chairman of
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
following the merger with Kuhn, Loeb & Co. in 1977.
She graduated from
Ridgewood High School in 1975, earned a
B.A. from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
in Social Policy and Human Development in 1979, and a master's degree from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
's
Harris School of Public Policy in 1981.
Prior to elected office, Krueger served for 15 years as associate director of the Community Food Resource Center (CFRC), and she is the founding director of the New York City Food Bank.
She is married to John E. Seley, a professor of
urban planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
and
geography
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
at The
City University of New York
The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
Graduate Center
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public university, public research institution and post-graduate university, postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Divi ...
and
Princeton's
Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs.
New York Senate
Krueger initially ran for the state Senate in 2000, narrowly losing to Republican Senator
Roy M. Goodman by less than a percentage point. Less than two years later, Goodman resigned and Krueger won the special election to replace him. Since then, she has never faced a challenging re-election. Many years later, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that months after the 2000 election that Krueger lost, hundreds of ballots from a pro-Krueger area were found in a Board of Elections air duct, although Krueger did not learn of this until just before the 2002 election that she won.
After the Democratic party took the majority in the
2018 elections, Krueger was elected the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, one of the most powerful committees in the Senate.
In 2021, Krueger was one of two members of the senate to vote against a bill designating
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
as the official state sport of New York.
Krueger is a member of the Vote Blue Coalition, a progressive group and
federal PAC created to support Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania through voter outreach and mobilization efforts.
Late November 2024, Krueger made proposals to counter the incoming Trump administration encouraging New York and a bloc of liberal northeast states to join Canada. She explained her proposal to Politico, she already made connections in Ottawa to effect Canadian support.
References
Further reading
*
Paterson, David ''"
Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity."'' New York, New York, 2020
External links
*
New York State Senate: Liz KruegerFood Bank For New York City*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krueger, Liz
Living people
Jewish state legislators in New York (state)
Jewish American women in politics
University of Chicago alumni
Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey
Politicians from New York City
Democratic Party New York (state) state senators
Northwestern University alumni
Women state legislators in New York (state)
21st-century American women politicians
1957 births
21st-century American Jews
People from Ridgewood, New Jersey
Ridgewood High School (New Jersey) alumni
21st-century members of the New York State Legislature