Jeremy Cooney (born August 1, 1981) is an American politician from the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, Cooney represents the 56th district 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 ...

, covering parts of the City of Rochester, the Town of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, and the western suburbs of Monroe County. His term of office began on January 1, 2021.

Early life and education

Cooney was adopted from an orphanage in

Kolkata, India Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, by a single mother in upstate New York. He was raised in Rochester and attended schools in the

Rochester City School District The Rochester City School District is a public school district that serves approximately 21,000 students in the city of Rochester, New York. The Rochester City School District (RCSD) spends approximately $30,972 per student in the 2024-2025 sch ...

, graduating from School of the Arts. Cooney earned his B.A. from Hobart College and his J.D. from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

, where he served as executive editor of the

Albany Law Review The ''Albany Law Review'' is a law review edited by students at Albany Law School. The ''Albany Law Review'' is one of three student-edited law journals published by the school.Albany Law School"Journals & Publications" History The ''Albany La ...

Political career

Prior to running for elected office, Cooney served as an aide to U.S. Congresswoman

Louise Slaughter Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. Slaughter was born in Lynch, ...

, a law clerk to New York Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

, worked for

Empire State Development Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). ...

under

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, ...

, and was the first chief of staff to Mayor

Lovely A. Warren Lovely Ann Warren (born July 1, 1977) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 69th mayor of Rochester, New York, from 2014 until her resignation in 2021. She was previously the President of the Rochester City Council. She was the ...

of the City of Rochester.

New York State Senate

Elections

Cooney ran for the 56th Senate District in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and lost to 20-year incumbent

Joseph Robach Joseph E. Robach (born February 22, 1958) is an American politician who was a member of the New York Senate, representing the 56th district from 2003 until 2020. The district includes portions of Rochester, New York and the surrounding commun ...

. He ran again in 2020 and won a 3-way primary election before winning the 2020 general election by a margin of 12.6%. He is the first Asian to be elected to state office from upstate New York. In November 2022, he defeated Republican Jim VanBrederode and was re-elected to a second term. Senator Cooney was re-elected to a third term after defeating Jim VanBrederode once again in 2024.

Tenure

Cooney serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation. In this role, he has advocated for record funding for public transit systems, worker safety, and policies supporting advanced aviation technology and high speed rail. He also serves as Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis where he has championed social equity programs for those impacted by the failed War on Drugs, worked to crack down on illicit stores, and to support New York’s medical cannabis industry. Senator Cooney is also a member of the committees on Civil Service and Pensions, Codes, Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks And Recreation, Ethics And Internal Governance, Finance, Insurance, Judiciary, and the Select Majority Task Force on Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises. In 2022, Cooney sponsored the Green CHIPS Act, legislation that provides state tax incentives to attract

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

and high-tech chip manufacturers to New York. The bill was signed into law by Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...

in August 2022.

Personal life

Cooney lives in the City of Rochester with his wife, Diane Lu, a urological surgeon at the

University of Rochester Medical Center The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), now known as UR Medicine, is located in Rochester, New York, is a medical complex on the main campus of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, resea ...

Election Results

2018

2020

2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooney, Jeremy 1981 births 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature Albany Law School alumni American adoptees American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American state legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Indian emigrants to the United States Living people People from Brighton, Monroe County, New York Politicians from Kolkata