Harry B. Bronson (born May 22, 1959) is an attorney and politician from

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

who serves as a member of the New York State Assembly. A former member of the Monroe County legislature, he was elected to the Assembly in 2010. He is a Democrat. Bronson represents the 138th district, which encompasses parts of the city of Rochester as well as the towns and villages of Chili and

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Background

Bronson grew up on a 200-acre farm outside

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

and became a Rochester resident in 1991. He holds a B.A. from State University of New York at Oswego and a Juris Doctor from

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. He runs a private law practice in Rochester and served as counsel to the state Assembly Labor Committee from 2004 to 2010. From 2001 to 2004, he was a member of the Rochester City Planning Commission and served as Vice Chair in 2004. He also co-owns Equal=Grounds coffee house and serves as an adjunct professor at

Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University (ILR) is an industrial relations school and one of the four New York State contract colleges at Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, United States. 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 ...

Monroe County Legislature

Bronson was first elected to the county legislature in 2005, running on the Democratic,

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and Working Families ballot lines in the 24th district. He outpolled his Republican opponent (also running on the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

line) by 67 percent to 33 percent. Upon taking office, he was immediately elected assistant minority leader by the legislature's Democratic caucus, assuming the post of minority leader in October 2007. He sought re-election in 2009 and, running on the Democratic and Working Families lines, won with 65% of the vote.

NYS Assembly

Within a week of Susan John announcing in January 2010 that she would not seek an eleventh term in the assembly, Bronson declared his candidacy for the newly open 131st district seat. He won the endorsement of the Monroe County Democratic party as well as organized labor. He faced two primary opponents, both members of the Rochester school board. In the primary election held on September 14, 2010, he gained 40 percent of the vote and won by a margin of 244 votes (6.0%). In the general election held on November 2, Bronson (also running on the Working Families Party line) polled 16,318 votes, defeating his Republican opponent by 55% to 45%.

Personal life

Bronson is openly gay. He is the first openly

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

member of the

New York legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official te ...

from

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. Bronson is a co-owner of Equal=Grounds, a coffeehouse noted as an inclusive public meeting place in the South Wedge neighborhood of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

References

External links

New York State Assembly member website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronson, Harry B. 1959 births Gay politicians LGBT state legislators in New York (state) Living people County legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Binghamton, New York State University of New York at Oswego alumni University at Buffalo alumni University at Buffalo Law School alumni 21st-century American politicians Lawyers from Binghamton, New York