James Nicholas Tedisco
(born July 15, 1950) is an American politician. Since 2023, he has been the
New York State Senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan comp ...
for
New York's 44th State Senate district.
A Republican, Tedisco served 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 Assem ...
from 1983 to 2017. He was the Assembly
Minority Leader from November 2005 until his resignation from that post in April 2009. In 2009, Tedisco was the Republican nominee in a
special election for the 20th US Congressional District to fill the seat vacated by
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...
following Gillibrand's appointment to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
; he was defeated by Democrat
Scott Murphy.
Early life, education, early career, and family life
Jim Tedisco graduated from
Bishop Gibbons High School in 1968, and received his B.A. in Psychology from
Union College
Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, ...
.
While at Union, he played varsity basketball for three years where he set 15 scoring and assist records, and left as Union's all-time leading scorer with 1,632 points. Tedisco earned multiple athletic awards during his college career, and was inducted into the Union Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1997, he was given the <