Daughter of TWU Local 100 Member is New York’s First Woman to Be Selected Senate Majority Leader
The new leader of the Democratic Majority in the State Senate is a long-time TWU Local 100 friend and supporter, Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
Sen. Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), whose father was a member of TWU Local 100 as a Car Maintainer for more than 20 years, has been the Democratic Minority Leader since 2013. The November elections gave a clear majority (40-23) to the Democrats for the first time in decades. Her selection marks the first time a woman has held this influential post.
Local 100 President Tony Utano hailed Stewart-Cousins ascendency as “a win for all working families in our state, and especially for transit workers. As the daughter of a transit worker, Sen. Stewart-Cousins knows first-hand the kind of sacrifice we all make to deliver New York City’s most important public service. It will be good to have one of our own in one of Albany’s most important positions.”
She was first elected to the State Senate in 2006 where she has been a strong advocate for human rights; quality education; accessible and affordable health care; and making government more efficient, transparent and accountable to all citizens.
Prior to her service in the Senate, she served for a decade as a Westchester County Legislator where she authored and passed landmark legislation, including: Westchester County’s first human rights laws; living wage laws; smoke-free workplace laws; tougher gun laws; laws that prosecute "predatory lenders,” and laws that have provided tax cuts for seniors and veterans.