Bill Perkins is an American politician from the state of New York. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served in the New York City Council from the 9th district from 2017 to 2021. The district includes portions of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Perkins formerly represented the same seat from 1998 to 2005, and was a member of the New York State Senate for the 30th District from 2007 to 2017.

Early life and education

Perkins was born and raised in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, and attended

Collegiate School (New York City) Collegiate School is an independent school for boys in New York City. It claims to be the oldest school in the United States. It is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is a member of both the New York Interschool and the Ivy Preparato ...

on a scholarship before receiving a scholarship to Brown University. He graduated from Brown in 1972.

Political career

New York City Council (1998-2005)

In 1997, Perkins was first elected to the New York City Council, winning the seat easily after losing the Democratic nomination for the Council three times previously. On the Council, Perkins served as Deputy Majority Leader, and championed the lead paint laws that required New York City residences to be tested for hazardous conditions.

New York State Senate (2007-2017)

Term-limited from the Council in 2005, Perkins opted to seek election to the New York State Senate in 2006, where he won. He was re-elected five times and served for more ten years before resigning to retake his seat on the New York City Council. Perkins also ran briefly to succeed

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 2016, but later dropped out. In 2015 Perkins, was one of a number of Black activists who met with Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro in Harlem. He was quoted as saying, “We recognize that in the person of Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, we have an exceptional leader!” Perkins was one of the few New York lawmakers who endorsed Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton, in the

2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...

New York City Council (2017-2021)

In 2016, Councilmember

Inez Dickens Inez E. Dickens (born July 15, 1949) is the Assemblymember for the 70th district of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of El Barrio, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, and Morningside Heights in Manhattan. Sh ...

, who had succeeded Perkins on the New York City Council, announced that she would forgo her last year on the Council to run for a vacant seat in the New York State Assembly. After Dickens won the Assembly seat, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called a February 14, 2017 special election to fill her vacated seat on the City Council. Perkins announced that he would be a candidate and won the election with over 33% of the vote. He was sworn into office on March 1, 2017. Perkins won a full four-year term in the November 2017 general election. On January 31, 2019, Perkins was transported to the hospital by authorities "after neighbors called the police on him for acting erratically in his Manhattan home". At the time, the ''Daily News'' reported that Perkins was receiving treatment for colon cancer and that various constituents and colleagues had expressed concern about his health and his continued fitness to hold public office. In June 2021, ''Gothamist'' published a piece on Perkins entitled "As Worries Persist Over Harlem Lawmaker's Health, Elected Leaders Stay Mum". Perkins sought re-election to the City Council in 2021. The June 22, 2021 Democratic primary in Council District 9 was so close that a recount was held. On August 9, 2021, Perkins conceded the primary election to Kristin Richardson Jordan, a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

, and announced that he would retire at the end of the year.

References

External links

New York City Councilmember Bill Perkins (official site)Bill Perkins for City Council (campaign site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Bill Living people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators New York City Council members African-American state legislators in New York (state) Brown University alumni 1950 births 21st-century American politicians David Paterson Collegiate School (New York) alumni African-American New York City Council members