Letitia James Biography
Letitia Ann James, an American politician and attorney, was born on October 18, 1958. She won the 2018 election to replace appointed AG Barbara Underwood as the current Attorney General of New York (NYAG), and she is a member of the Democratic Party. James is the first woman and African American to hold the job.
James, who was born and reared in Brooklyn, completed her undergraduate studies at Lehman College in The Bronx before enrolling at Howard University in Washington, D.C. to earn her law degree. She had positions as a public defender, staff member of the New York State Assembly, and then assistant attorney general for the state of New York at the Brooklyn regional office.
From 2004 to 2013, James was a member of the New York City Council. She represented the 35th district, which encompasses sections of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant in addition to Clinton Hill and Fort Greene in Brooklyn. James sat on a number of committees, including the committees for economic growth and cleanliness. She served as the New York City Public Advocate from 2013 to 2018, making history as the first African-American woman to be chosen for and hold a citywide position in the Big Apple.
James briefly ran for governor of New York in 2022, but she withdrew her candidacy in December 2021 and decided to instead seek reelection as attorney general.
Letitia James Early life and education
On October 18, 1958, Letitia Ann James was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is one of Nellie James’s eight children (born 1919 in Martinsville, Virginia) and Robert James’s eight children. She attended a public school in New York City. She was raised in Brooklyn’s Park Slope and went to Fort Hamilton High School. She majored in liberal arts with a focus on social work and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Lehman College of the City University of New York in 1981.
James graduated from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., with a Juris Doctor degree in 1987, and she was admitted to practice law in New York State in 1989. James pursued a Master of Public Administration at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York City in 2013.
Letitia James Career
James founded the Urban Network, a collaboration of African-American professional organizations dedicated to offering scholarships to young people, while working as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society.
She participated in the Task Force on Diversity in the Judiciary under former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. She worked as the attorney for Albert Vann, the chief of staff for Roger L. Green in the New York State Assembly, and in Eliot Spitzer’s administration. In 1999, she was chosen to serve as the first Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Brooklyn regional office. James performed a variety of tasks while employed there, with a particular emphasis on consumer complaints including predatory lending and other unethical company activities.
2001 and 2003 city council races
In November 2001, James made his initial bid for the 35th Council district. James lost against Democrat James E. Davis despite receiving 42% of the vote on the Working Families Party line. Only a few months before the subsequent election, in July 2003, Othniel Askew, a former political adversary, killed Davis. After Davis passed away, his brother Geoffrey ran for his vacated council seat on the Democratic Party ticket. However, on election day, November 4, 2003, James, the Working Families Party candidate, defeated Geoffrey A. Davis by a significant majority.[19] James was the first citywide office-holder to run purely on the Working Families Party platform in that 2003 contest, which marked his official membership in the party.
City council tenure
As the first non-majority candidate to be elected to the city council since 1977, James is also the first member of the Working Families Party to gain an office in New York State. Since then, she has rejoined the Democratic party.
Samuel Eric Blackwell, an urban designer at Long Island University and supporter of stadiums, lost to James for the Working Families and Democratic parties’ nominations by a significant margin. On November 8, 2005, she was re-elected on the Democratic ticket with 88.11% of the vote, defeating Republican Anthony Herbert with 6.80% of the vote and Charles B. Billups of the Independence Party with 5.08%.
A terrible fire occurred at the Broken Angel House, a landmark building in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, on October 10, 2006. The New York City Department of Buildings became aware of the fire, which led to multiple infractions of the building code being cited. Arthur Wood, the owner of Broken Angel, was professionally represented by James during his efforts to keep his house. The agency chose to permit Wood to retake possession of Broken Angel under the condition that the top levels be demolished and the core stairwell rebuilt.
She was the first to raise concerns about cost overruns and inconsistencies in the subcontracting work of the new CityTime payroll system that Bloomberg had lauded, which ultimately resulted in many prosecutions, Bloomberg requesting a refund of $600 million from a tech company, and two consultants leaving the country in 2011.
In order to create a parking lot for a projected supermarket that would serve inhabitants of surrounding housing projects, James first argued for the demolition of the Second Empire homes on Admiral’s Row. However, he ultimately supported the preservation of some of the historic homes. James and Bill de Blasio opposed Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s bid to run for a third term in office without a voter referendum in 2008.
James defeated community activist Delia Hunley-Adossa, who got more than $200,000 from Forest City Ratner[31], and financial consultant Medhanie Estiphanos to win the Democratic primary in September 2009. James eventually secured a second term by reelection.
She participated in an Article 78 lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration and Acadia Realty Trust in May 2013 on behalf of a group that included construction unions, community organizations, and other elected officials. The lawsuit called for the termination of the City Point development project and a review of its environmental impact.
Six financial companies, including BB&T, Berkshire Bank, Citizens Financial Group, People’s United Bank, Regions Financial Corporation, and TD Bank, were the targets of James’s lobbying campaign in June 2016 to stop providing financial services to gun manufacturers. SIG Sauer of New Hampshire specifically asked BB&T to close its accounts, but they declined the request.
Letitia James Committee assignments
- Committee on Economic Development (chair)
- Committee on Sanitation (chair)
- Committee on Parks & Recreation
- Committee on Small Business
- Committee on Technology in Government
- Committee on Veteran Affairs
- Committee on Women’s Issues
Letitia James Public Advocate
James ran for New York City Public Advocate in 2013 but fell short of the 40% cutoff point with 36% of the vote in the initial Democratic primary. This resulted in a runoff election.[36] James defeated Daniel Squadron in a runoff election on October 1, 2013, winning 59% to 41%. As a result, James was nominated by the party to run for the elected watchdog position in the city in November.
Many of the city’s significant labor unions, NOW, Planned Parenthood, Democracy for NYC, the League of Conservation Voters, Amsterdam News, and El Diario all supported James in his 2013 campaign for Public Advocate. James won the Democratic primary for the elected watchdog position in New York City on October 1, 2013, despite having raised less money for her campaign than Reshma Saujani and Daniel Squadron. In September, third-place finisher Saujani gave her his support. The Democratic runoff election was won by James.[36] She won the general election with more than 83% of the vote without facing a Republican challenger.
2017 Democratic primary winner James received 77% of the vote, beating out closest rival David Eisenbach’s 23%.
Letitia James New York State Attorney General
2018 election
James announced her candidacy for New York Attorney General (NYAG) in May 2018. Originally planning to run for mayor of New York City in 2021, James won the Democratic primary on September 13, 2018, with 40.6% of the vote, defeating Zephyr Teachout (31%) and two other contenders. On November 6, 2018, she defeated Republican Keith Wofford to win the AG election.[45] She created history when she was the first woman and African American to be elected and fill the position of attorney general in New York.
Letitia James Tenure
On January 1, 2019, James was sworn in as attorney general, succeeding Barbara Underwood, who had been chosen initially following the departure of Eric Schneiderman.
Letitia James Suit against All Faiths Cemetery
James filed a lawsuit in September 2019 alleging financial fraud against the administrators of Queens’ All Faiths Cemetery.
Letitia James State civil suit against the NRA
James filed a civil complaint in the New York Supreme Court in August 2020 against the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), accusing the group of financial mismanagement and corruption and demanding that it be disbanded. In a countersuit against James, the NRA cited remarks she made throughout her 2018 campaign.
Letitia James Investigation into state COVID-19 response
Early in the month of March 2020, the attorney general’s office started to “investigate allegations of COVID-19-related neglect of residents in nursing homes.” Through November 16, the agency requested and subsequently received 953 complaints about patient maltreatment from the patients’ families. On January 28, 2021, the investigation’s initial report on nursing homes and the state Department of Health (DOH) was made public. It found that the department’s publicly available data undercounted nursing home mortality by as much as 50%. The Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) technique involved comparing COVID deaths reported to the DOH and those reported to OAG. The medical review of the cases is not included in the OAG press release.
According to James, investigations into 20 different nursing facilities “whose reported conduct during the first wave of the pandemic presented particular concern” will likely last for some time. After a two-year partnership in opposition to President Donald Trump, some in Albany hailed the report as a “declaration of independence” from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Three weeks following the publication of the study, the Albany Times-Union reported that the FBI and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York were cooperating in an ongoing investigation into the contribution of Governor Cuomo’s coronavirus task group to the COVID-19 response in nursing facilities. On March 18, 2021, The City discovered that the FBI’s purview extended to a last-minute amendment to the state’s 2020 budget that gave long-term care organizations more immunity. A “draft” of “some ideas to be included” had been given to the governor’s office, according to the executive director of the Greater New York Hospital Association, who testified at a New York State Senate hearing in August 2020.
Letitia James Report on Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment
Cuomo was found to have committed numerous instances of sexual harassment, according to a report published on August 3, 2021 by James’ office.
2022 Democratic primary for governor
James made her plan to run for governor of New York in the 2022 Democratic primary public on October 29, 2021.[58][59] James would have been the first Black woman to lead any state as governor. After regularly behind outgoing Governor Kathy Hochul in the polls, she withdrew from the contest in December, and James decided to run for reelection as attorney general.
Letitia James Trump lawsuit in New York
James has joined the Manhattan district attorney’s office in its criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and launched a civil action against the company in her capacity as the New York AG.
Letitia James 2022 election
All of the previous Democratic contenders removed their names from consideration after James declared her intention to run for reelection. James won reelection as attorney general on November 8, 2022, defeating Michael Henry, a Republican.
Letitia James NFL investigation
The National Football League’s hiring practices at its New York City and Los Angeles offices are under investigation, James and her California counterpart Rob Bonta announced on May 4, 2023. They cited a New York Times report that detailed complaints of harassment and discrimination made by former female employees.
Personal life
James attends the Emmanuel Baptist Church and resides in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill district.
Where is Letitia James parents from?
On October 18, 1958, Letitia Ann James was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is one of Nellie James’s eight children with Robert James (born 1919 in Martinsville, Virginia). She attended a public school in New York City.
Who is NY City Attorney General?
The 67th Attorney General of the State of New York is Letitia “Tish” James.
Who is the Attorney General of Newburgh NY?
The 67th attorney general of the state of New York is Letitia James.
