Samuel D. "Sam" Roberts (born April 3, 1956) is an American politician who served as 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 128th district, which includes a portion of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and the towns of DeWitt,

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capit ...

and Salina. A member of the Democratic Party, he sought the party's nomination for

New York's 22nd Congressional District New York's 22nd congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives currently represented by Democratic John Mannion. Significant cities in the district include Syracuse and Utica; with the newes ...

in the 2022 House of Representatives elections, but finished third in the primary.

Early life and education

Roberts earned an

associate's degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...

from

Onondaga Community College Onondaga Community College (OCC) is a public community college that serves Onondaga County and Central New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. OCC's 280-acre main campus is located in the Town of Onondaga, which ...

and Bachelor of Science from

Empire State College Empire State University (SUNY Empire) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State University is a multi-site institution offering associate degre ...

. He also holds certificates in labor studies from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Career

Roberts is retired from

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

where he worked for 30 years and was a member of the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

. He was elected as recording secretary of UAW Local 465 and Chair of Local 854's Education and Civil Rights Committees. During his employment with General Motors, Roberts also served five terms (1990–2000) as an

Onondaga County Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. The county is part of the Central New York region of the state. Onondaga County is the core of the ...

legislator, representing the county's 19th district.

Personal life

Roberts is also a practitioner of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

, holding a sixth degree black belt in American

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

Karate. According to his autobiography, he was a top ranked competitor prior to retirement from competition.

References

External links

New York State Assembly Member Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Sam 1956 births 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians African-American state legislators in New York (state) Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature