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Revision as of 14:28, 30 July 2012 by DJ Silverfish (talk | contribs) (→2012 congressional election: added links to Colin Beavan and GOP opponent)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Hakeem Jeffries | |
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| Member of the New York State Assembly from the 57th district | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Green |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Brooklyn, New York |
| Alma mater | New York University School of Law (J.D.), Georgetown University (M.P.P.), Binghamton University (B.A.) |
| Profession | politician |
| Website | Official website |
Hakeem Jeffries (born 1970) is the Assemblyman in New York's 57th Assembly District, and the Democratic nominee for Congress in New York's 8th Congressional District.
Early life, education, and law career
Jeffries holds a degree from New York University School of Law as well as a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's in Political Science from Binghamton University where he graduated with honors for outstanding academic achievement. He served as litigation counsel for a media and entertainment company, and worked in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and as a clerk for Judge Harold Baer, Jr.. He is nephew of CUNY professor Leonard Jeffries.
New York Assembly
Elections
- 2000
He challenged incumbent Democrat Assemblyman Roger Green in the primary. Green defeated him 59%-41%. In the general election, Jeffries ran on the Independence Party line. Green defeated him again 90%-7%.
- 2002
After redistricting, his residence was put out of the 57th Assembly District. He claimed in the 2010 documentary film Gerrymandering that it was a retaliatory move (a charge denied by Green). Nevertheless, Jeffries decided to primary Green again and lost again 62%-38%.
- 2006
Green decided to retire from the Assembly in order to run for New York's 10th congressional district against incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman Ed Towns. Jeffries ran for the 57th district again and won the Democratic primary, defeating Bill Batson and Freddie Hamilton 64%-25%-11%. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Henry Weinstein 97%-3%.
- 2008
He won re-election to a second term with 98% of the vote.
- 2010
He won re-election to a third term with 98% of the vote.
Tenure
During his three years in the legislature he has introduced over 70 bills during his service in legislative session including measures designed to assist residents in foreclosure, protect tenants from landlord harassment, reduce property taxes on homeowners and reform of prison-based redistricting. In response to a series of toy recalls, he introduced bill A02589, which would penalize retailers and wholesalers who knowingly sell to the public hazardous or dangerous toys that have been the subject of a recall. Assemblyman Jeffries also co-sponsored bill A03300, which increased the New York State tax on cigarettes.
He co-sponsored a reform bill to the 421a tax exemption program that requires developers who receive tax breaks to build affordable housing in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhoods that he represents. At least fifty percent of the affordable housing must go to people who live in the community. Along with his colleagues in the legislature, Assemblyman Jeffries enacted a state budget that provides an additional one billion dollars in funding for public schools. He recently co-sponsored a bill that would make the public display of a noose with the intent to racially intimidate a felony hate crime. Jeffries also wrote and sponsored the hotly contested house bill A. 11177-A (now law) that eliminated the stop and frisk database used by police forces in New York City. He is a cautious supporter of Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards project.
In September 2007, he was named one of City Hall's "40 under 40" for being a young influential member of New York City politics.
Committee assignments
- House Committee on Banks
- House Committee on Codes
- House Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions
- House Committee on Correction
- House Committee on Housing
- House Committee on Judiciary
- House Subcommittee on Banking in Underserved Communities
- House Subcommittee on Mitchell-Lama
- House Subcommittee on Transitional Services
- House Subcommittee on Trust and Estates
2012 congressional election
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 2012 § District 8Jeffries announced he will give up his seat to run in New York's 8th congressional district in 2012. The district had previously been the 10th, represented by 30-year incumbent Democrat Edolphus Towns. Jeffries expected to give Towns a strong challenge in the Democratic primary--the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. However, Towns announced his retirement on April 16, leaving Jeffries to face city councilman Charles Barron in the Democratic primary.
On June 11, 2012, former Mayor Ed Koch, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Councilman David Greenfield, Assemblyman Dov Hikind gathered with several other elected officials to support Jeffries and denounce his opponent in the Democratic primary, Charles Barron. The officials described Barron as anti-Semitic and denounced his allegedly anti-Semitic statements, while also denouncing his support of Zimbabwe ruler Robert Mugabe and former Libya ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Barron responded that such attacks had not been raised when spoke before Jewish groups, and that his constituents were interested in discussing bread and butter issues and not Israel.
8th district Green Party candidate Colin Beavan has called on Jeffries to "get the money out of politics," noting that as of his March 2012 filing, "he had received about $180,000, or 35 percent of his funds, from Wall Street bankers and their lawyers.” Beaven added that Jeffries gets many campaign donations from charter school backers and hedge fund managers.
Jeffries defeated Barron in the primary election on June 26, 2012, 72 to 28 percent, to become the Democratic nominee in the district. He will face Green Party candidate Colin Beavan and Republican Alan Bellone in the November general election, though he will be overwhelmingly favored in November.
References
- ^ "Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries (NY)". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/hakeem-jeffries-defeats-charles-barron-in-bitter-democratic-primary/
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=511845
- "Rematch Produces Spirited Primary Race for Assembly Seat in Brooklyn". The New York Times. 22 July 2002. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=118630
- "How Hakeem Jeffries Was Gerrymandered Out of His Own District and Other True Tales". 25 February 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- "How Hakeem Jeffries Became the Barack of Brooklyn". The New York Observer. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=127018
- "Eye On Albany: Campaign 2002". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=311575
- ^ "DESPERATELY SEEKING SPITZER". Daily News (New York). September 9, 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- "Summer 2007" (PDF). Prime New York. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=311576
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=479381
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=692623
- "Hakeem Jeffries: Sponsored Legislation". New York State Assembly. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- "Coalition Campaigns to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering". Our Time Press. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
- Hasselle, Della (16 July 2010). "Gov. David Paterson Signs Law Ending Stop-and-Frisk Database". Digital Network Associates dba DNAinfo.com. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - BAKER, AL (16 July 2010). "Paterson Signs Bill Limiting Stop-and-Frisk Data". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Rising Stars 40 Under 40: Hakeem Jeffries, City & State, September 17, 2007.
- http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Hakeem-Jeffries/comm/
- Freedlander, David (March 1, 2011). "How Hakeem Jeffries Became the Barack of Brooklyn". The New York Observer. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
- Isenstadt, Alex (May 19, 2011). "New York politicians go to town on House bid". Politico. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
- Freedlander, David (May 9, 2011). "Hakeem Jeffries Opens Congressional Exploratory Committee". The New York Observer. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- Dobnik, Verena (2012-04-16). "NYC's Towns retiring after 30 years in Congress". Associated Press.
- Charles Barron Dismisses ‘Anti-Semitic’ Press Conference As A ‘Distraction’ Politicker, June 11, 2012
- Update: Is Charles Barron ‘Surging’? How Would You Know? New York Times, June 18, 2012
- http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/hakeem-jeffries-defeats-charles-barron-in-bitter-democratic-primary/
External links
- Hakeem Jeffries Official website.
- NYS Assembly Member - Hakeem Jeffries - 57th Assembly District
- A Lawyer Eyes Lawmaking A Crain's New York Business profile.
- Hakeem Jeffries Mum on Atlantic Yards
| New York State Assembly |
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