Elizabeth O'Connor Little (born September 28, 1940) is a former

New York State Senator 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 ...

. A member of the Republican Party, she was first elected in 2002. She served in the 45th Senate District, which includes all or part of

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

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Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

and

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Counties.

Background

Little was born in

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,830 at the 2020 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...

on September 28, 1940. She graduated from the

College of Saint Rose The College of Saint Rose was a private college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a Catholic women's college, and it became fully co-educational in the 1969–1970 academic year. The foll ...

with an education degree. She has worked as both teacher and a realtor. Little has six children and seventeen grandchildren. She is divorced.

Political career

Little first entered public service as a member and later Chair of the Town of Queensbury Recreation Commission. In 1986 she was elected to serve as an At-Large Supervisor to the Warren County Board of Supervisors for the Town of Queensbury, where she served on numerous boards and committees and as County Budget Officer in 1990 and 1991. In 1995, Little won a special election to serve in 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 ...

, and would serve in the Assembly until winning election to the Senate in 2002.

New York Senate

In 2002, incumbent Republican Senator Ronald B. Stafford decided not to seek another term. Little announced that she would run to replace him. Despite the district being competitive on paper, Little easily won election to her first term in the Senate against Democrat Boyce Sherwin, 77% to 23%. Since her initial election, Little has never faced serious opposition. She was unopposed in 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. She faced the closest election of her career in 2018, but still won 64% to 36%. After the appointment of

Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in January 2009, Little expressed interest in running for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

New York's 20th congressional district New York's 20th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York's Capital District. It includes all of Albany, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties, and portions of Montgomery an ...

and announced her intention to seek the Republican nomination for the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the seat. The nomination went instead to Assembly Minority Leader

Jim Tedisco James Nicholas Tedisco (born July 15, 1950) is an American politician. He became the New York State Senator for New York's 44th State Senate district in 2023. A Republican, Tedisco served in the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 2017. He w ...

. Before the Republicans lost the Senate majority in the 2018 elections, Little served as Chair of the Housing, Construction and Community Development Committee. In December 2019, Little announced that she would not seek re-election the following year.

Political positions

Abortion

Little is pro-life. She voted against the

Reproductive Health Act The Reproductive Health Act is a New York (state), New York law enacted on January 22, 2019, that protects reproductive rights, decriminalized abortion, and eliminated several restrictions on voluntary abortions in the state. The RHA repealed §41 ...

in 2018 in the Senate Health Committee.

Healthcare

Little has said she believes universal health care should be passed at the federal level to avoid unduly burdening the state.

Same-sex marriage

Little voted "No" on same-sex marriage legislation in December 2009 and the bill received no Republican Senate support. Little has said she supports

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s. In 2011, Little voted against the Marriage Equality Act, which the Senate passed 33-29. The 2011 bill became law.

References

External links

New York State Senate: Betty Little

State Senate Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Betty Living people College of Saint Rose alumni Politicians from Glens Falls, New York Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Republican Party New York (state) state senators Women state legislators in New York (state) Town supervisors in New York (state) 1940 births People from Queensbury, New York 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century American women politicians