Teresa R. Sayward (born 1944/1945) was a member 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 ...

for

Willsboro Willsboro is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, and lies south of the city of Plattsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,905. The town is named after early landowner William Gilliland. History During the A ...

(the 113th district), first elected in 2002. She is a Republican.

Career

Sayward was a dairy farmer with her husband Ken for 16 years until 1988, when they sold their farm due it becoming unprofitable. She has also worked as a real estate agent, an antiques dealer and as an interior decorator. After leaving dairy farming she stood for election as the Republican candidate for

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

of Willsboro, winning on her second attempt in 1992.

Political history

Sayward served as town supervisor for the Town of Willsboro for 11 years and as chairwoman of the Essex County Board of Supervisors. She was awarded the title of "Outstanding Local Official" for 2002 by the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board. Sayward was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2002, replacing Elizabeth Little (who ran for State Senate that year) in a six-way contest in which she won 52% of the vote. Sayward had narrowly beaten Thomas Scozzafava to the Republican nomination, and he stood against her as a Conservative candidate. Sayward spent $112,000 on the campaign. In 2006 she became the secretary of the Assembly Republican Conference. She ran unopposed, as a Republican with the endorsement of the

Independence Party of New York Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, in the November 2008 and November 2010 general elections. Sayward retired from the Assembly at the end of 2012. In 2012, she supported Democratic President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for re-election.

Positions

Sayward favored lowering health care costs, workers' compensation costs, and local property taxes. She argued for extensive state budget cuts. She supported Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

's 2009 proposal to legalize

same-sex marriage in New York Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in New York since July 24, 2011, under the Marriage Equality Act. The Act does not have a residency restriction, as some similar laws in other U.S. states do. It also allows religious organizations t ...

and gave an emotional speech in the State Assembly that helped pass a bill for legalization. Her elder son Glenn is gay, and she views gay marriage as a civil rights issue; she received significant campaign donations from out of state as a result of her position, but lost the endorsement of the

Conservative Party of New York State The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running only on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to ...

. She campaigned nationally for gay rights and became involved with the

Log Cabin Republicans The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which works to educate the LGBT+ community and Republicans about each other. History Log Cabin Republicans was formed in 1977 in California as a rallying ...

. She supported her friend

Dede Scozzafava Dierdre Kathryn "Dede" Scozzafava ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American politician in New York. She represented District 122 in the New York State Assembly from 1999 to 2010. Scozzafava held office as a member of the Republican Party, but la ...

's 2009 campaign for Congress. She is a member of the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

Family

Sayward and her husband Kenneth have four children: Glenn (b. 1961), Yvonne (b. 1963/1964), Kyle (1969—2007), and Wendy (b. 1972/1973).

References

External links

Assemblywoman Sayward's Official Campaign Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayward, Teresa 1940s births Living people American LGBTQ rights activists Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Willsboro, New York Women state legislators in New York (state) Activists from New York (state) 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature Year of birth missing (living people)