Barbara S. Lifton (born November 26, 1950) is a former Democratic 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 ...

representing Assembly District 125, which includes

Tompkins County Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice Preside ...

in its entirety, as well as the City of Cortland and towns of Cortlandville and

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

Cortland County Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The county seat is Cortland. The county is named after Pierre Van Cortlandt, president of the convention ...

. She attended SUNY College at Geneseo, receiving a B.A. in English a teacher certification in 1973, and an M.A. in English in 1985. Lifton was an English teacher in the Geneseo Central School from 1976 to 1982, then in the

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

public school system from 1985 to 1988. For fourteen years before entering the Assembly she served as the Chief of Staff to former Assemblyman Marty Luster. She also served for two years on the

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

/Community Waste Management Committee. Lifton was first elected to the State Assembly in November 2002. She ran uncontested in the November 2008

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

and won the November 2010 general election with 62 percent of the vote. Fellow assemblyman Joseph Morelle, the chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Party, attempted to recruit Lifton, among other candidates, in an effort to run against Republican

Tom Reed Thomas or Tom Reed may refer to: Politicians and military * Thomas Buck Reed (1787–1829), senator from Mississippi * Thomas Reed (British Army officer) (1796–1883), British general * Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902), Speaker of the House of R ...

for the vacant congressional seat formerly held by

Eric Massa Eric James Joseph Massa (born September 16, 1959) is a former American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for the 29th Congressional District of New York. A Democrat, he served in Congress from January 2009 until his resignation in ...

, who resigned in disgrace from the United States Congress, although Lifton lived outside the boundaries of that district. She had stated that she considered the overture, as she had long wanted to have a say in global issues, but ultimately chose not to run. She continued in the state Assembly until announcing she would not seek re-election in 2020. Lifton resides in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

. She has two children and three grandchildren.

References

External links

New York Assembly Member Website

Victim of the veto

Pataki signs law on pollution notification
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifton, Barbara 1950s births Living people People from Geneseo, New York Politicians from Ithaca, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) State University of New York at Geneseo alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians