Andrea Stewart-Cousins | |
|---|---|
_NYS_Senate_Majority_Leader_Andrea_Stewart-Cousins_(cropped).jpg) Stewart-Cousins in 2020 | |
| Temporary President and Majority Leader of the New York State Senate | |
| Assumed office January 9, 2019 | |
| Deputy | Michael Gianaris |
| Governor | Andrew Cuomo Kathy Hochul |
| Preceded by | John J. Flanagan |
| Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York | |
| In office April 12, 2022 – May 25, 2022 | |
| Governor | Kathy Hochul |
| Preceded by | Brian Benjamin |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Delgado |
| In office August 24, 2021 – September 9, 2021 | |
| Governor | Kathy Hochul |
| Preceded by | Kathy Hochul |
| Succeeded by | Brian Benjamin |
| Minority Leader of the New York State Senate | |
| In office December 17, 2012 – January 9, 2019 | |
| Deputy | Michael Gianaris Jeffrey D. Klein |
| Preceded by | John L. Sampson |
| Succeeded by | John J. Flanagan |
| Member of the New York State Senate from the 35th district | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Spano |
| Member of the Westchester County Board of Legislators from the 16th district | |
| In office 1996–2007 | |
| Preceded by | Herman Keith |
| Succeeded by | Ken Jenkins |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Andrea Alice Stewart September 2, 1950 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Thomas Cousins
(m. 1979; died 2007) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Pace University (BA, MPA) Lehman College (GrCert) |
| Website | Official website |
Andrea Alice Stewart-Cousins[1] (née Stewart; born September 2, 1950) is an American politician and educator from Yonkers, New York. A member of the Democratic Party, Stewart-Cousins has represented District 35 in the New York State Senate since 2007 and served as Majority Leader and Temporary President of that body since 2019. She has served twice as acting lieutenant governor of New York under Governor Kathy Hochul, for 16 days in 2021 and between April and May 2022. Stewart-Cousins is the first Black woman to serve as New York's lieutenant governor, although in an acting capacity. She is the first woman in New York State history to lead a conference in the New York State Legislature and the first female Senate Majority Leader in New York history.
Stewart-Cousins was first elected to the New York State Senate in 2006. She served as a Westchester County Legislator from 1996 to 2006. In 2012, she was chosen by her colleagues to lead the Senate Democratic Conference. After the Democratic Party won a Senate majority in the 2018 elections, Stewart-Cousins became majority leader in January 2019. She became acting lieutenant governor on August 24, 2021, when Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul acceded to the governorship. Hochul announced she would appoint a lieutenant governor, following the precedent set in 2009 by Governor David Paterson's appointment of Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch. Hochul selected Brian Benjamin, who took office on September 9, 2021. Benjamin resigned on April 12, 2022, after being arrested in a corruption scandal. This caused Stewart-Cousins to once again assume the role of acting lieutenant governor.[2]
- ^ New York, U.S., Episcopal Diocese of New York Church Records, 1767-1970 - Ancestry.com contains the baptismal record for Andrea Alice Stewart born on 02 Sep 1950, and baptized on 10 Dec 1950 at St. Cyprians Episcopal Church in Manhattan, now part of Calvary and St. Cyprians in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
- ^ "NY lieutenant governor resigns after arrest in federal probe". AP NEWS. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.