Gail S. Shaffer (born August 1, 1948) is an American politician and activist who served as the 59th

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Walter T. Mosley, a Democrat. Duties The secr ...

under

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

. Shaffer grew up on a family farm in

Blenheim, New York Blenheim is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the southwestern part of Schoharie County, New York, Schoharie County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located east of Oneonta, New York, Oneonta. At the 2020 census ...

. She graduated from Gilboa-Conesville Central School in 1966 as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

. Awarded a full scholarship to

Elmira College Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York, United States. Founded as a Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that ...

, she graduated as class valedictorian in 1970, and a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

member, with a B.A. ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in Political Science. She studied abroad for her junior year at

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

. She also spent a semester of her senior year on a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Career

Shaffer began her career in publishing before entering politics in the 1970s. She served as a

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

for two years and then became special assistant to Peter A. A. Berle. She later served as the Executive Director of the Rural Affairs Council, which was chaired by then-Lieutenant Governor,

. Shaffer was elected in 1980, as a Democrat representing a five-county, predominantly Republican district to 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 ...

serving in 1981 and 1982, In November 1982, she was re-elected with 68% of the vote, but did not take her seat in the

185th New York State Legislature The 185th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5, 1983, to December 31, 1984, during the first and second years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backg ...

. She was instead appointed by Governor

, and took office on January 1, 1983. The longest-tenured Secretary of State in New York history, she served twelve years during Cuomo's three terms as governor January 1, 1983 – January 4, 1995, when she was replaced by Republican Alexander Treadwell. She was a delegate to the 1988, 1992 and 2004

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s. She went into the private sector, serving as national President and CEO of the

Business and Professional Women's Foundation Nevin, Susan B. (January 17, 1967). "Something Doing: Clubwomen to Pioneer in First Crafts ContestFebruary 1 Is the Date" ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. 19. Retrieved June 8, 2023.Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) is an org ...

from 1997 to 2001, focused on economic equity for women, including workplace issues such as pay equity, family leave, fair minimum wage, Social Security, and pension reform. Returning to New York, she served as President and CEO of the Brooklyn Historical Society from 2001 to 2003. She returned to her family farm where she still resides, and became a freelance writer on public policy issues. In September 2015, Shaffer ran for town supervisor of the

. Shaffer was defeated by incumbent attorney Shawn J. Smith in the Democratic Caucus held on September 10, 2015. Although Shaffer remains a Democrat, she was endorsed by the town's Republican party for Supervisor. She was narrowly defeated by Smith (by 10 votes) in the general election. Shaffer remains an active Democrat, as a member of the Schoharie County Democratic Committee, and continues as an activist on issues including government reform, environmental quality, women's rights, civil rights, consumer rights and economic equity.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaffer, Gail S 1948 births Living people Town supervisors in New York (state) Members of the New York State Assembly Secretaries of state of New York (state) Women state legislators in New York (state) 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians New York (state) Democrats New York (state) Republicans 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 21st-century New York (state) politicians