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Letitia James

Letitia James
James in 2020
67th Attorney General of New York
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
GovernorAndrew Cuomo
Kathy Hochul
Preceded byBarbara Underwood
4th New York City Public Advocate
In office
January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2018
Preceded byBill de Blasio
Succeeded byCorey Johnson
Jumaane Williams (acting)
Member of the New York City Council
from the 35th district
In office
January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2013
Preceded byJames E. Davis
Succeeded byLaurie Cumbo
Personal details
Born (1958-10-18) October 18, 1958 (age 66)
New York City, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationLehman College (BA)
Howard University (JD)
Columbia University (MPA)

Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the attorney general of New York (NYAG), having won the 2018 election to succeed Barbara Underwood. A member of the Democratic Party, James is the first African American and first woman to be elected New York Attorney General.[1][2]

Born and raised in Brooklyn, James graduated from Lehman College in the Bronx before obtaining her Juris Doctor degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She worked as a public defender, then on staff in the New York State Assembly, and later as a New York State Assistant Attorney General in the Brooklyn regional office.

James served as a member of the New York City Council from 2004 to 2013. She represented the 35th district, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, parts of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Bedford–Stuyvesant. James chaired the committees on economic development and sanitation and served on several others. From 2013 to 2018, she was the New York City Public Advocate, making her the first African-American woman to be elected to and hold citywide office in New York City.[3]

James was briefly a candidate in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, but suspended her campaign in December 2021, opting to instead run for reelection as Attorney General.

  1. ^ Westerman, Ashley (January 1, 2019). "N.Y. Swears In New Attorney General After A Tumultuous Year For The Office". NPR. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  2. ^ Larson, Erik (February 4, 2021). "New York Versus the World: Letitia James Is Picking Big Fights". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  3. ^ "Alumna Letitia James Elected NYC Public Advocate, First African-American Woman to Hold Citywide Office". Retrieved April 13, 2022.

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