Andrea Stewart-Cousins
American politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Andrea Stewart-Cousins (born September 2, 1950) is an American politician and educator from Yonkers, New York[1] She is a Democrat. Stewart-Cousins worked for District 35 with the New York State Senate starting in 2007. She became the Majority Leader and Temporary President with the New York Senate in 2019.[2] She became the acting Lieutenant Governor of New York with Kathy Hochul, the first female governor of the state, twice in 2021 and in 2022.[3]
NYS_Senate_Majority_Leader_Andrea_Stewart_-Cousins_(cropped).jpg)
Stewart-Cousins was the first female in the history of New York State to lead a conference with the New York State Legislature.[4] She was also the first female Senate Majority Leader in the history of the state.
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Early life
Andrea Alice Stewart was born on September 2, 1950, in New York City.[5][6] The Stewart family lived in public housing in Manhattan and the Bronx. She had chronic asthma when she was young.
Stewart-Cousins spent twenty years in the private sector, working with New York Telephone (later known as AT&T).[7] She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree from Pace University and her teaching credentials in Business Education from Lehman College.[8] She received her Masters of Public Administration from Pace University in May 2008.[9]
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New York State Senate
Stewart-Cousins first ran for New York State Senate in 2004. Incumbent Republican Sen. Nicholas Spano, however, defeated her by a margin of 18 votes.[10] In 2006, she challenged Spano again and defeated him.[11][12] As of 2019, Senate District 35 includes all of Greenburgh and Scarsdale and portions of Yonkers, White Plains and New Rochelle.[13]
Stewart-Cousins voted in favor of same-sex marriage legislation on December 2, 2009. The bill was later defeated.[14] A same-sex marriage law was eventually passed in 2011. Stewart-Cousins supports abortion rights. She has pushed for legislation to expand abortion access across the State of New York.[15]
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Senate Democratic Leader
On December 17, 2012, Stewart-Cousins was elected Senate Democratic Leader.[16][17]
Senate Majority Leader
The Democratic Party won a Senate majority in the 2018 elections. On January 9, 2019, Stewart-Cousins was elected Senate Majority Leader. She operates as the body's Majority Leader and Temporary President.[18] In 2019, Stewart-Cousins sponsored the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. This act overhauled the rules that had affected rent-controlled apartments in New York City.[19][20] During Stewart-Cousins' first year as the Senate Majority Leader, New York passed a variety of progressive laws on issues. Those included climate change, voting rights, abortion rights, criminal justice reform, gender equality, gun control, marijuana decriminalization, LGBT rights and immigration.[21] According to City & State New York, Stewart-Cousins employs a "consensus-driven approach" to leading the Senate Democratic Conference. This is what sets her "apart from her predecessors".[22]
Acting Lieutenant Governor
After the resignation of Governor Andrew Cuomo because of multiple allegations of sexual harassment, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul replaced him as governor in August 2021.[23] Per state law, as state Senate Majority Leader, Stewart-Cousins became the state's Acting lieutenant governor until Hochul appointed a full-time replacement.[24] She was the first Black woman to serve in this role.[25][26] This was also the first time New York was governed by both a female governor and lieutenant governor.[26]
Hochul picked Brian Benjamin, who took office on September 9, 2021, as her replacement for lieutenant governor. However, Benjamin resigned less than a year later on April 12, 2022 after being arrested in a corruption scandal. This caused Stewart-Cousins to once again become acting Lieutenant Governor.[27]
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Personal life
In 1979, Stewart married Thomas Cousins, and the couple moved to Yonkers, New York. Stewart-Cousins has three children and four grandchildren.[28] Thomas Cousins died on November 26, 2007.[29]
References
Other websites
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