Jonathan D. Rivera is an American politician who is a member of 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 ...

for the 149th district. Elected in 2020, he assumed office on January 1, 2021.

Early life and education

Rivera was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from

Buffalo State College The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

and working on a Master of Science in political management from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Career

Prior to his campaign for

, Rivera worked as an administrator for Erie County Public Works. Rivera also works as a liaison to the Erie County Legislature and was a field representative for Congressman

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

from 2005 to 2007. In December 2019, Rivera declared his candidacy for district 149 in the State Assembly. He placed first in the

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Un ...

and defeated Republican nominee Joseph Totaro in the November general election. In Late 2023, Rivera and his staff picketed with the local UAW workers in his district.

References

, - Politicians from Buffalo, New York People from Erie County, New York Buffalo State College alumni George Washington University alumni Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Living people 1986 births 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature {{NewYork-politician-stub