Nader J. Sayegh ( born August 30, 1952) is a

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian- American politician, attorney, and educator from the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. A Democrat, Sayegh has represented the 90th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, based in

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, since 2019.

Early life and career

Sayegh was born on August 30, 1952, in

Mafraq Mafraq ( ''Al-Mafraq'', local dialects: ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra''; ) is the capital city of Mafraq Governorate in Jordan, located 80 km to the north of the national capital, Amman. It is located at a crossroads, with a road north going to Syr ...

to an

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family. His mother, Jalilah Sayegh (1929-2020), was born in

and moved with his father Jamil M. Sayegh (died 1965) to the United States in 1957. Sayegh was an educator with Yonkers Public Schools from 1973 until 2008, and worked as a school superintendent in 2010 and 2011. Sayegh is also an attorney at law and a captain in the

New York Guard The New York Guard (NYG) is the State Defense Force (SDF) of New York State, and is one of the four branches of the New York Military Forces (NYMF), the other three branches being the New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard ...

New York State Assembly

2018 State Assembly election

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Sayegh announced he would run for the Assembly seat vacated by Shelley Mayer, who had been elected to the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

in a special election. After winning the Democratic primary unopposed, Sayegh defeated Republican Joe Pinion in the general election with 65% of the vote.

Tenure

Sayegh was sworn in on January 9, 2019, and is the first Jordanian-American to ever serve in the Assembly. In June 2019, following the 2019 outbreak of measles in New York, a bill to eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions for vaccinations became deadlocked in the Assembly Health Committee, 13–13. Though he personally opposed the bill, Sayegh switched his vote to allow the bill to come to the Assembly floor, saying that "this is a crucial issue that deserves to be put before the entire Assembly to be debated and decided upon." When the bill came up for a vote from the full Assembly, Sayegh voted against it; the bill passed, 84–61. That October, Sayegh introduced a bill to establish an option for a special driver's license for people with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, in order to prevent potentially dangerous misunderstandings during traffic stops or other interactions with law enforcement. Some advocates voiced concerns over the bill, given that some individuals on the autism spectrum may not want to reveal their status to employers. The bill was referred to the Transportation Committee and has yet to come up for a vote. In 2019 and 2021, Sayegh co-sponsored legislation to make the

National Day of the People's Republic of China National Day ( zh, s=国庆节, t=, p=guóqìng jié, l=national celebration day, links=yes), officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China (), is a public holiday in China celebrated annually on 1 October as the national da ...

a public holiday in the State of New York.

Personal life

Sayegh lives in Yonkers with his wife, Sana. He has five adult daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayegh, Nader Living people Politicians from Westchester County, New York Politicians from Yonkers, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Lehman College alumni Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Fordham University alumni Pace University School of Law alumni American people of Jordanian descent 1952 births 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature