Peter Harckham (born September 16, 1960) is an American businessman and 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 ...

, Harckham represents Senate District 40 in 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 ...

. He was first elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Terrence Murphy. The 40th district includes parts of Rockland, Putnam and Westchester counties in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

. Before serving in the Senate, Harckham was a member of the

Westchester County Board of Legislators The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative, policy-making branch of Westchester County, New York. The powers of the Board are enumerated in the county's charter. A key power of the Board concerns finances: appropriating funds ...

and served in the administration of

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, ...

Background

Harckham grew up in the

, residing in

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

for most of his childhood. He attended Clarkstown High School North, before attending

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

, where he graduated in English. Harckham began his career in the advertising sector, working on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

in the 1980s. Today he continues to work in media and advertising, and owns his own business based in the Hudson Valley. Prior to elected office, Harckham served as President for a not for profit housing corporation that builds affordable housing in northern Westchester County. Prior to that, Harckham served as Vice Chair of the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, a San Francisco-based private foundation that supports the sustainable management of natural resources. In 2007, Harckham was first elected to the

, winning again in 2009, 2011, and 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for 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 ...

in a 2010 special election. He served for four terms as a county legislator, including two terms as Democratic Majority Leader. As County Legislator, he created tax breaks for first responders, lowered county taxes, and approved term limits for county legislators. In 2012 he was a pledged elector for president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

. In 2015 he left the legislature to work in the administration of New York Governor

as assistant director of the Office of Community Renewal. In that position he helped administer grants in the lower Hudson Valley.

New York Senate

In 2018, Harckham was recruited to run against incumbent Republican state Senator Terrence Murphy. Murphy had represented Senate District 40 since 2015. While the district was competitive, Murphy was believed to be a formidable candidate who was less vulnerable than some of his GOP colleagues. However, in an overwhelmingly Democratic election year, Harckham defeated Murphy, 51% to 49%. Harckham was sworn in on January 1, 2019, by Governor

. In the Senate, he is serving as Chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee. Harckham was reelected to the Senate in 2020 in a race against former Westchester County Executive

Rob Astorino Robert Patrick Astorino (born May 3, 1967) is an American politician, radio producer, and television host who was the county executive of Westchester County, New York from 2010 to 2017. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2 ...

. Astorino conceded three weeks after election day. The count was delayed due to an increase in mail-in voting due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

as well as a lawsuit filed by Astorino prior to election day challenging the security of the election. Harckham serves on the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and the Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids, Addiction & Overdose Prevention. He is also a member of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee. In the Senate, he has authored several environmental bills including Save the Huson to clean up the Huson River, and the protection of wetlands and drinking water supplies in New York.

Electoral history

Westchester County Legislature

New York State Assembly

New York State Senate

Notes

External links

Harckham's campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harckham, Peter Living people New York (state) Democrats Politicians from Westchester County, New York 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature Legislators from Westchester County, New York 1960 births People from Clarkstown, New York Dickinson College alumni