Alessandra Biaggi
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Alessandra Rose Biaggi (born May 20, 1986) is an American politician from the state of New York. Biaggi is the granddaughter of former U.S. Congressman Mario Biaggi. A progressive Democrat, Biaggi served as a member of the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
from 2019 to 2022, representing the 34th district. The district included portions of
Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
and Westchester Counties. Biaggi was first elected to the State Senate in 2018 after she upset longtime Senator Jeffrey D. Klein in the Democratic primary. She chaired the New York State Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance. Biaggi is notable for her advocacy for survivors of sexual misconduct. In 2022, Biaggi ran for Congress in
New York's 17th congressional district New York's 17th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York (state), New York. It includes all of Rockland County, New York, Rockland County and Putnam County, N ...
, where she was defeated by incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in the Democratic primary.


Early life and education

Biaggi was born in
Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Moun ...
, and is
Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
. Her great-grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Italy, and she is the fourth generation of her family to live in her district. Biaggi's grandfather, Mario Biaggi, served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York from 1969 to 1988. She grew up first in
Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...
, and when she was eight years old she moved with her family to
Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census.United States Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Pelham to ...
. When she was a child, she was
sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...
for over a year. Biaggi graduated from Pelham Memorial High School ('04), where she was a cheerleader. In 2008, she graduated from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
's
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as NYU Steinhardt) is the education school of New York University. The school was founded as the School of Pedagogy in 1890. Prior to ...
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications. Biaggi then attended St. John's University School of Law. She subsequently graduated from
Fordham Law School Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...
in 2012; while there, she was a member of the ''
Fordham Law Review The ''Fordham Law Review'' is a student-run law review, law journal associated with the Fordham University School of Law that covers a wide range of legal scholarship. Overview In 2017, the ''Fordham Law Review'' was the seventh-most cited law ...
''. She was the first woman from her family to graduate from law school. In 2014, Biaggi attended the Women's Campaign School at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.


Career


Early years

Biaggi interned in the office of U.S. Congressman Joseph Crowley after college, and while in law school with the
Brooklyn District Attorney The Kings County District Attorney's Office, also known as the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, is the district attorney's office for Kings County, coterminous with the Borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The office is responsible for th ...
Rackets Bureau and the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
Public Corruption and Appellate Bureaus. She then worked from 2014 to 2015 at her first job as a lawyer, as Assistant General Counsel for New York State Governor
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
’s Office of Storm Recovery. From May 2015 to December 2016, during the campaign for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Biaggi served as Deputy National Operations Director for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. She oversaw a staff of 200 and a budget of $500 million. She said: "Everything was urgent in the moment. It was total chaos and I loved it. We played very hard, and it was very hard to lose." For a seven-month period in 2017, Biaggi worked in the executive chamber under Governor Andrew Cuomo.


New York State Senate (2019–2022)

Biaggi served as chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance. Combating sexual abuse was one of Biaggi's policy issues. She led the first public hearings in the New York State Senate on workplace sexual harassment in 27 years, and fought for tougher
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
laws. Susan Kang, Associate Professor of political science at
John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...
, said: "She is definitely making a name for herself as someone who is an advocate for victims of sexual violence." Biaggi also focused on institutional reform of Congress, of the Supreme Court, and institutions. Specifically, Biaggi also focused on banning trading stocks among members.


Campaigns

Biaggi ran in 2018 in the primary for the Democratic nomination for
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
in District 34. She ran against powerful longtime incumbent Jeffrey D. Klein, the number two Democrat in the NY Senate and the leader of the
Independent Democratic Conference The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a caucus consisting of several New York State Democratic Committee, Democratic members of the New York State Senate that existed from 2011 to 2018. The IDC is notable for having formed a power-shar ...
. Klein had held the seat for 14 years. Klein outspent Biaggi by a rate of 9-to-1, spending $2.7 million to her $333,000. Biaggi said: "The more people told me I couldn’t win, the more obsessed I became." In a major upset, Biaggi defeated Klein in the primary, 54%-46%. She remarked: "It was a tough fight. And, I should also say, we should thank enator Kleinfor his service. But his time is up." Biaggi's victory was attributed by some to anger with the former members of the Independent Democratic Conference. As New York's
electoral fusion Electoral fusion in the United States is an arrangement where two or more United States political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, allowing that candidate to receive votes on multiple party lines in the same election. Electoral fus ...
laws allow candidates to appear on multiple ballot lines in an election, Klein still appeared in the November 6, 2018, general election on the third-party
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 ...
ballot line. On November 6, 2018, Biaggi defeated Klein and Republican Richard Ribustello and was elected to the New York State Senate. At 32 years of age, she became one of the youngest women ever elected to the New York State Senate.Claire Wasserman (2021)
''Ladies Get Paid; The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Barriers, Owning Your Worth, and Taking Command of Your Career''
/ref> In 2020, Biaggi was re-elected to the Senate with 74% of the vote.


Tenure

In June 2019, the New York legislature passed sweeping anti-sexual-harassment legislation that Biaggi had sponsored. Among other things, the bills reduced employers' ability to avoid liability for their employees' behavior, provided for attorney fees and punitive damages, and lengthened the time frame within which to file complaints. In her first six months in office, Biaggi introduced 80 bills, 17 of which were passed. In February 2021, Biaggi wrote on Twitter: "@NYGovCuomo, you are a monster, and it is time for you to go. Now." At the time, her call for his resignation was what ''The New York Times'' described as: "something of an outlier in the Democrat-controlled Legislature." On August 10, 2021, Governor
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
announced his resignation. In May 2021 journalist Matthew Kassel opined: "Biaggi ... has gained a reputation, on her own merits, as an upstate force — an influential lawmaker with a growing list of legislative accomplishments who has carved out a space for herself as an outspoken and independent voice in Albany’s cutthroat political sphere." On September 24, 2021, Biaggi co-wrote a letter to US Senator Maria Cantwell with eight other New York State Senators, requesting that the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation engage in oversight of the United States Center for SafeSport, and step in to ensure that SafeSport is adequately conducting investigations. They referred to what they called SafeSport's failure to carry out impartial and thorough investigations, and ensure the safety of athletes it is charged with protecting. They highlighted the fact that despite serious outstanding allegations of
sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...
, sexual coercion, and other violent behaviors by former friends, peers, and current teammates, and an ongoing investigation, fencer Alen Hadzic was allowed to travel to Tokyo as an alternate for the 2021 Team USA Olympic fencing team. Biaggi was a vocal advocate for defunding the police. In 2022, Biaggi received criticism over her treatment of her staff.


2022 congressional campaign

In February 2022, Biaggi announced her candidacy for
New York's 3rd congressional district New York's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in the New York (state), State of New York. It is represented by Democratic Party (Un ...
after incumbent Democratic Rep. Thomas Suozzi announced his candidacy for governor of New York. After court-ordered redistricting removed Westchester County and the Bronx from the 3rd congressional district, Biaggi ended her candidacy there. On June 7, 2022, Biaggi announced that she would be running for
New York's 17th congressional district New York's 17th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York (state), New York. It includes all of Rockland County, New York, Rockland County and Putnam County, N ...
in a primary challenge against DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney. Upon her announcement, she was endorsed by
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...
. On August 23, 2022, Biaggi lost to Maloney in the primary election.


Recognition

In 2019, ''
Crain's New York Business Crain Communications Inc. is an American publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 foreign subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman "G.D." Crain Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain Jr.; 1885–1973), previously the ci ...
'' named Biaggi to its annual "40 Under 40" list. In June 2021, she was named to the
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
New York City Food Policy Center annual 40 Under 40: The Rising Stars in NYC Food Policy. She was noted for working "to transform and improve the food system." In November 2021, Biaggi was named to the '' City & State New York'' "Women 100", as one of the prominent women wielding power in New York State. She was noted especially for having long pushed for legislation addressing
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
and
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
.


Personal life

On July 22, 2019, in
Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...
, Biaggi married Nathaniel Koloc. He is a management consultant whom she met in 2015, and who also worked on the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.


See also

* List of New York state senators


References


External links

*
New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biaggi, Alessandra 1986 births American people of Italian descent Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Child sexual abuse in the United States Fordham University School of Law alumni Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Lawyers from New York City Legislators from Westchester County, New York Living people People from Fort Lee, New Jersey People from Pelham, New York Politicians from Mount Vernon, New York Politicians from the Bronx Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature