Jenifer Rajkumar

Jenifer Rajkumar (born September 1, 1982) is an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, she is a member of the New York State Assembly from the 38th district, representing Queens neighborhoods of Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven. She is the first Indian American woman ever elected to a New York State Office.[1]

Jenifer Rajkumar
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 38th district
Assumed office
January 1, 2021
Preceded byMichael G. Miller
Personal details
Born (1982-09-01) September 1, 1982
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (BA)
Stanford University (JD)
OccupationPolitician, civil rights lawyer
WebsiteCampaign website
Official website

Early life and education

Rajkumar was born and raised in New York. She is the daughter of immigrants from India who first settled in Queens.[2] As a teenager, she attended Hackley School. Rajkumar earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School. At Penn, she received the Alice Paul Award for exceptional community service to women and families.[3]

Career

Rajkumar practiced civil rights law at Sanford Heisler LLP. She later worked as a fellow at the National Women's Law Center in Washington DC. She also served as an adjunct professor of political science at CUNY's Lehman College in the Bronx.[4]

2011 District Leader race

In 2011, Rajkumar became the first Indian American elected as the District Leader of the 65th District of the New York State Assembly,[5] defeating a 28-year incumbent with over 70% of the vote.[6][7] She was re-elected to that office two more times, in 2013 and 2015.[8] As district leader, Rajkumar led the effort to bring M9 bus service back to Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan and has worked closely with Democracy for Battery Park City, an organization which seeks representation for residents of the neighborhood on the board of the Battery Park City Authority.[9][10][11][12]

2013 City Council race

In 2013, Rajkumar ran for the New York City Council in the Democratic primary in New York City's first Council district, losing to incumbent Margaret Chin.[13] Rajkumar won 41.5% of the vote.[14][15] Rajkumar's campaign championed affordable housing and community-friendly development. She was endorsed by various organizations and unions, such as The Sierra Club, and local Allied Craftworkers and Ironworkers groups.[16]

2016 State Assembly race

She ran for the New York State Assembly in the 65th District,[17] as the seat was occupied by Alice Cancel, the winner of a special election on April 19, 2016, to replace Sheldon Silver, who was convicted of corruption and expelled from the Assembly in 2015.[18][19][20][21][22]

Rajkumar finished second in a six-way Democratic primary; the winner, Yuh-Line Niou, went on to win in the general election in November.[23]

New York State government

On February 6, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Rajkumar as the Director of Immigration Affairs and Special Counsel for the New York Department of State.[24] Rajkumar also served as a state-wide surrogate for Governor Cuomo.[25]

2020 State Assembly race

Rajkumar ran in the primary for the 38th New York State Assembly district in Queens, which includes portions of the Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven neighborhoods, against incumbent Democrat Michael G. Miller and challenger Joey De Jesus.[26] Rajkumar was endorsed by California Congressman Ro Khanna in February 2020.[27] In May 2020, City & State criticized Rajkumar alongside a slate of other candidates for carpetbagging across multiple primaries and elections.[28]

Rajkumar defeated Miller and De Jesus in the June 2020 Democratic primary, and won over Giovanni Perna in the November general election.[29] Along with Zohran Mamdani, Rajkumar was one of the first members of Indian ancestry elected to the Assembly, and the first American woman of Indian ancestry.[30]

New York State Assembly tenure

Rajkumar was appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity in Law.[31] She also serves on the following Assembly Committees: Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Committee on Aging, Consumer Affairs, and Small Business.[32]

In her first term, Rajkumar passed a legislative package for domestic workers, securing them the full protections of the state human rights law, and expanding their paid family leave benefits.[33] Governor Hochul signed Rajkumar's legislative package into law in December 2021.[34] Rajkumar also passed a bill expanding benefits for victims of crime, which the Governor signed into law in June 2022.[35]

She has come under intense scrutiny for her position on Forest Park. She has come out in favor of concrete parking lots.[36]

In December 2021, Mayor-Elect Eric Adams appointed Rajkumar as a Senior Advisor on his Transition Team.[37]

Personal life

Rajkumar is a Hindu and has advocated for making Diwali a school holiday.[38]

See also

References
  1. "Jenifer Rajkumar - Assembly District 38 |Assembly Member Directory | New York State Assembly". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
  2. "Not Just Jenny From the Block". The New York Times Blog. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  3. "About Jenifer". Jenifer For NYC. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. "Lehman Professor Makes History as First South Asian Woman Elected to State Assembly". www.lehman.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  5. Dutt, Ela. "Indian American Jenifer Rajkumar appointed Director of Immigration Affairs of New York state | News India Times | Page 25433". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  6. "You Should Run: Advancing Social Justice by Running for Office". Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  7. Dutt, Ela. "NY State Assembly District 38 in Queens has been overlooked too long: Indian-American candidate Jenifer Rajkumar | News India Times". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  8. "Manhattan Democrats District Leaders". Manhattan Democratic Party. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  9. "District Leader Rajkumar Kicks Off Campaign for Assembly Seat". The Broadsheet. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  10. "Indian American attorney Jenifer Rajkumar at the center of a $100 million lawsuit in New York". American Bazaar Online. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  11. Goldman, Henry (23 January 2020). "New Generation of NYC Insurgents Seeks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fervor". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  12. Dutt, Ela. "South Asians Must Take Advantage Of "NaturalizeNY": Rajkumar | News India Times". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  13. "Downtown Democratic Council Primary Results". DNA Info. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  14. "2013 New York City Primary Results". The New York Times.
  15. "Jenifer Rajkumar Loses in Bid for Manhattan City Council". India West. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016.
  16. "Your guide to Manhattan Council District 1 — Lower Manhattan". nydailynews.com.
  17. Perler, Elie (25 April 2016). "Rajkumar Announces Campaign for Assembly". Bowery Boogie. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  18. Weiser, Benjamin (13 July 2017). "Sheldon Silver's 2015 Corruption Conviction Is Overturned". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  19. "Democrat Alice Cancel Wins Sheldon Silver's Old NYS Assembly Seat". CBS New York. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  20. "Alice Cancel, Sheldon Silver's Chosen Successor, Takes His Assembly Seat". Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  21. "Silver crony Alice Cancel wins his state Assembly seat". The New York Post. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  22. McKinley, J. & Weiner, B. (20 July 2020)"Sheldon Silver, Former N.Y. Assembly Speaker, Will Finally Go to Prison". New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  23. "Niou set to be new Assemblymember for Downtown – DOWNTOWN EXPRESS". www.downtownexpress.com. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  24. "Human Rights Attorney Jenifer Rajkumar Named to New Post in New York Department of State". India West. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  25. "A lawyer and Gov. Cuomo appointee tells Moneyish the upside of being underestimated". MarketWatch.
  26. "Assembly primary challengers who are raising big money". CSNY. January 17, 2020.
  27. "California Congressman Ro Khanna endorses Jenifer Rajkumar for Assembly District 38". QNS.com.
  28. "The carpetbaggers in the 2020 primaries". CSNY. May 21, 2020.
  29. Parrott, Max. "More insurgents claim primary wins". Queens Chronicle.
  30. Sarkar, Shankhyaneel (2020-11-04). "Indian-American lawyer Jenifer Rajkumar becomes first South Asian woman to be elected to New York State Assembly". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2020-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. "Jenifer Rajkumar - Assembly District 38 |Assembly Member Directory | New York State Assembly". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  32. "Jenifer Rajkumar - Assembly District 38 |Assembly Member Directory | New York State Assembly". nyassembly.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  33. Editor, by Deirdre Bardolf, Associate. "New laws to protect domestic workers". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-07-29. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  34. Editor, by Deirdre Bardolf, Associate. "New laws to protect domestic workers". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-07-29. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  35. Mohamed, Carlotta (2022-07-06). "Governor signs Queens lawmaker's bill into law to support and empower victims of crimes – QNS.com". qns.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  36. "CYCLE OF RAGE: Supposedly Progressive Assembly Member in Queens Wants More Cars in Her District". 31 August 2021.
  37. Kaye, Jacob. "Adams announces transition committee members". Queens Daily Eagle. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  38. "New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar Introduces Legislation to Establish Diwali as Official Holiday". IndiaWest. May 15, 2021.
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