Mary Lou Rath (née Schmitt) (born June 17, 1934) is an American politician who served as a member of

New York State Senate 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 com ...

from 1993 to 2008. A Republican, she represented the state's 61st district, which consisted of parts of Erie County and all of Genesee County.

Early life and education

Rath was born in Kenmore, New York to Aloysius Casper "Lloyd" Schmitt and Margaret M. Cassidy. Her parents divorced and Rath's mother remarried to George Louis Whetzle. She attended the University at Buffalo before earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the Buffalo State Teacher's College (now Buffalo State College).

Career

She was elected to the Senate in 1993 after serving as a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1978 to 1993. During her final four years in the County Legislature, she served as the Minority Leader of the Legislature. In January 2007, she was appointed to the post of deputy majority leader for state/federal relations, making her the only woman in the Senate Republican leadership. She announced her retirement in 2008 and was succeeded by Erie County Legislator Michael Ranzenhofer. Ranzenhofer had also succeeded Senator Rath as Minority Leader of the Erie County Legislature when Senator Rath stepped down to become a state senator. During her service in the Senate, Rath served at different times as chairwoman of the Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development Committee, chairwoman of the Children and Families Committee and as chairwoman of the Local Government Committee. In 1998, she was reportedly considered by Governor George Pataki as his running mate for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. Pataki choose Judge Mary Donohue instead.

Personal life

Rath married her late husband, Edward Rath, Jr. (1930-2003), on January 10, 1959 in Buffalo, New York. Edward Rath, Jr. was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court and her father-in-law,

Edward A. Rath Edward August Rath (April 17, 1907 – October 28, 1968) was an American politician who served as the first county executive of Erie County, New York. Career Following the transition from the board of supervisors form of government for Erie ...

, was the first county executive of Erie County. Her son,

Edward Rath III Edward August Rath III is an American politician who served as a member of the New York State Senate from the 61st district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on January 6, 2021. Early life and education Rath was born in Amherst, N ...

, won his election for the Erie County Legislature for her former seat and in 2020 was elected in her seat for

. She is a resident of the Village of Williamsville, and has two other children, Allison and Melinda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, Mary Lou Living people Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from Kenmore, New York People from Williamsville, New York County legislators in New York (state) Women state legislators in New York (state) Buffalo State College alumni University at Buffalo alumni 1937 births