Edward August Rath III is an American politician who 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 the 61st district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on January 6, 2021.

Early life and education

Rath was born in

Amherst, New York Amherst () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. ...

. His mother,

Mary Lou Rath Mary Lou Rath (née Schmitt) (born June 17, 1934) is an American politician who served as a member of New York State Senate from 1993 to 2008. A Republican, she represented the state's 61st district, which consisted of parts of Erie County and ...

, served as a member of the

from 1993 to 2008. His grandfather, Edward A. Rath, was the first county executive of Erie County. Rath's father, Edward Rath Jr., was a justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

. After graduating from the

Nichols School Nichols School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational college-University-preparatory school, preparatory day school in Buffalo, New York, United States. The average enrollment is 565 students with an average Upper School grade/class s ...

, Rath earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

and a Master of Business Administration from

Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

Career

From 2001 to 2003, Rath worked as a consultant for ProLiance Energy. He was later a consultant at the NOCO Energy Corporation and a sales manager for Gateway Energy. From 2012 to 2014, Rath was a manager at APG&E. In 2008, he was elected to the Erie County Legislature, representing the sixth district. During his tenure in the legislature, he served as a member of the Public Safety Committee and drafted legislation to create a Property Tax Stabilization Fund. Rath was elected to the

in November 2020 and assumed office on January 6, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, Edward Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Amherst, New York Syracuse University alumni Canisius University alumni County legislators in New York (state) Republican Party New York (state) state senators 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature