Eric Schneiderman

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Eric T. Schneiderman represents District 31, which comprises Manhattan's Upper West Side, as well as Morningside Heights, West Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill, in addition to part of Riverdale in The Bronx, in the New York State Senate.

Schneiderman is a former Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. This post has served as a source of irritation to some of his colleagues within the Senate Republican leadership, prompting the redrawing of Senator Schneiderman's district in 2002 in order to include Washington Heights. This in turn prompted former City Councilman Guillermo Linares-the first Dominican elected official within New York City-to run against him in the Democratic primary in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for office.

He served from 2003 to 2007 as the Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate. In this role he was the chief floor leader for the caucus and chief deputy to Minority Leader David Paterson. He lost a bid for Minority Leader in 2006 to Sen. Malcolm Smith, who replaced him as deputy minority leader. He currently serves as the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Codes Committee.

First elected to the State Senate in 1998, Eric Schneiderman has served as a "public interest" lawyer, an occupation that he still pursues, serving as lead counsel to the Straphangers Campaign's lawsuit against New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, as well as joining The Campaign For Fiscal Equity's lawsuit seeking additional funding for public schools within New York City.

Schneiderman's career began when he served for two years as Deputy Sheriff in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He also clerked for two years within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, subsequent to which he became a partner at the law firm of Kirkpatrick and Lockhart. Schneiderman served for over a decade as counsel to the West Side Crime Prevention program.

Schneiderman takes responsibility for founding the NY Attorney General's Anti-Crime Advocates Program.

A graduate of Amherst College with a B.A. in English and Asian Studies, Eric T. Schneiderman would go on to graduate with honors from Harvard Law School.

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Preceded by
Franz Leichter		 New York State Senate, 30th District
1999–2002		 Succeeded by
David Paterson
Preceded by
Efrain Gonzalez		 New York State Senate, 31st District
2003 – present		 Incumbent