Letitia James

Letitia Ann "Tish" James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer, activist, and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and is the Attorney General of New York having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed attorney general Barbara Underwood. She is the first African-American and first woman to be elected to the position.[1]

Letitia James
67th Attorney General of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2019
Governor	Andrew Cuomo
Preceded by	Barbara Underwood
4th New York City Public Advocate
In office January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2018
Preceded by	Bill de Blasio
Succeeded by	Corey Johnson (acting) Jumaane Williams
Member of the New York City Council from the 35th district
In office January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2013
Preceded by	James E. Davis
Succeeded by	Laurie Cumbo
Personal details
Born	(1958-10-18) October 18, 1958 New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Working Families Party
Education	Lehman College (BA) Howard University (JD) Columbia University (MPA)
Website	Government website

James previously served for a decade as a member of the New York City Council. She represented the 35th Council District, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, parts of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant. James chaired the Economic Development and Sanitation Committees, and served on several other committees. She was later elected the New York City Public Advocate in 2013.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, James obtained her J.D. degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C., after graduating from Lehman College in The Bronx. She worked as a public defender, then on staff in the New York State Assembly, and later as an Assistant Attorney General. She first ran for city council and won on the Working Families Party ballot line.

Early life and education

Letitia Ann James[2] was born on October 18, 1958,[3] in Brooklyn,[4] the daughter of Nellie and Robert James. She attended New York City public schools and received her B.A. from the City University of New York's Lehman College in 1981.[5]

She received her J.D. degree from the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.,[6] and was admitted to practice law in New York state in 1989.[7] In 2013, she was attending Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs for a degree in Master of Public Administration.[8]

Career

James served as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society[9] and established the Urban Network, a coalition of African American professional organizations aimed at providing scholarships for young people.[10][11] In 1994, she promoted the Primary Health Care Development Bill in the City Council, which expanded day care resources for working families across the city. In 1996, James negotiated the Welfare Reform Act on behalf of the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.

She served on former New York Governor Mario Cuomo's Task Force on Diversity in the Judiciary. She served as counsel for Albert Vann, Chief of Staff for Roger L. Green in the New York State Assembly, and in the administration of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. She was appointed the first Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Brooklyn regional office in 1999. While working in that position, James worked in many capacities but notably focused on consumer complaints involving predatory lending and other unlawful business practices.[9]

2001 and 2003 City Council races

James' first run for the 35th Council District was in November 2001. In a close race, James received 42% of the vote on the Working Families Party line but lost to James E. Davis, a Democrat. In July 2003, just months before the next election, Davis was assassinated by Othniel Askew, a former political rival. Following Davis's death, his brother Geoffrey ran for his vacant Council seat on the Democratic Party ticket, but on election day, November 4, 2003, Geoffrey Davis lost by a large margin to James as the Working Families Party nominee.[12] In that 2003 race James officially became a member of the Working Families Party, and was the first citywide office-holder to run solely on the WFP line.[13][14][15]

City Council tenure

James speaking at City Hall, 2008

James is the first member of the Working Families Party to win office in New York State, and the first third-party member to be elected to the city council since 1977.[16] She has since changed back to the Democratic party.[13] In 2005, James became involved in advocating against the proposed Brooklyn Nets Arena in her district, a case that put her against her Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Borough President Marty Markowitz and developer Bruce Ratner. James opposed the use of eminent domain to evict her constituents, selling the MTA's Atlantic Yards property below its market value, and keeping the planning of the project away from the New York City Council.

James again won the Working Families and the Democratic parties' nominations by a large margin over Samuel Eric Blackwell, an urban planner at Long Island University and pro-stadium advocate. She was re-elected on the Democratic line on November 8, 2005, with 88.11% of the vote, compared to 6.80% for Republican Anthony Herbert, and 5.08% for Independence Party candidate Charles B. Billups.[17]

On October 10, 2006, there was a devastating fire at the Broken Angel House, an architectural icon in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The fire attracted attention from the New York City Department of Buildings, which resulted in the citation of numerous building code violations. James represented Broken Angel's owner, Arthur Wood, pro bono in his negotiations to keep his home. The agency decided to allow Wood to re-occupy Broken Angel provided the upper levels were taken down and the central stairwell reconstructed.[18]

James was the sponsor of New York law 2007/29, which addressed the Alternative Enforcement Program by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and violations of the housing maintenance code and multiple dwelling law; and 2008/004, which addressed the availability of Child Health Plus laws in day cares.

She was the first to question cost overruns and irregularities in the subcontracting work of the new CityTime payroll system much touted by Bloomberg which eventually led to several indictments, Bloomberg asking a tech giant for $600 million back, and two consultants fleeing the country in 2011.[19][20]

James originally advocated for the demolition of the Second Empire houses on Admiral's Row in order to build a parking lot for a proposed supermarket to serve residents in nearby housing developments, but later supported preserving some of the historic housing.[21] In 2008, James, with Bill de Blasio, advocated against Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempts to seek a third term without a voter referendum.[22]

James won the Democratic primary in September 2009 against her opponents, community organizer Delia Hunley-Adossa,[23] who received more than $200,000 from Forest City Ratner[24] and Medhanie Estiphanos, a financial consultant.[24] James went on to win re-election for a second term.

With New York State Senator Eric Adams, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and NY city councilman Jumaane Williams, James called upon Mayor Bloomberg to investigate systemic corruption in the NYPD in November 2011.[25] She was also one of four councilmembers to sue the NYPD over its treatment of protesters at Occupy Wall Street.

In May 2013, with a group that included construction unions, community groups and other elected officials, she was a part of an Article 78 lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration and Acadia Realty Trust seeking the shut-down of the City Point real estate project and a reassessment of its environmental impact.[26]

In June 2016, James attempted to pressure six financial institutions, including BB&T, Berkshire Bank, Citizens Financial Group, People's United Bank, Regions Financial Corporation and TD Bank, into ending its practice of providing financial services to gun manufacturers.[27] BB&T was specifically requested to drop the accounts of SIG Sauer of New Hampshire, but denied the request.[28]

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[6][29]

Public Advocate

Main article: 2013 New York City Public Advocate election

Letitia James at the 2018 NYC March For Our Lives rally.

In 2013, James ran for New York City Public Advocate and received 36% of the vote in the first Democratic primary, under the 40% threshold that would have avoided a runoff election.[30] James won the runoff election on October 1, 2013, against Daniel Squadron, 59%–41%, becoming the party's nominee for the city's elected watchdog position in November.

In the 2013 election campaign for Public Advocate, James was endorsed by many of the city's important labor unions, NOW, Planned Parenthood, Democracy for NYC, League of Conservation Voters, Amsterdam News and El Diario. James accomplished her first-place finish in spite of her campaign trailing Daniel Squadron's and Reshma Saujani's, in fundraising.[31] on October 1, 2013, becoming the party's nominee for the city's elected watchdog position in November. She was endorsed by third-place finisher Saujani in September[32] James won the Democratic runoff election.[30] Without a Republican opponent, she won the general election with over 83% of the vote.[33]

In 2017, James won the Democratic primary for her position with 77% of the vote, over closest competitor David Eisenbach’s 23%.[34]

New York State Attorney General

Election

Main article: 2018 New York Attorney General election

In May 2018, James, who initially planned to run for Mayor of New York City in 2021 [35], declared her candidacy for Attorney General of New York and won the Democratic primary on September 13, 2018 with 40.6% of the vote; she defeated Zephyr Teachout (31%) and two other candidates.[36][37] On November 6, 2018, she was elected attorney general, defeating Republican Keith Wofford.[38]

Tenure

James marching in June 2019 at Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019

James was sworn in as attorney general on January 1, 2019, succeeding Barbara Underwood, who was first appointed after the resignation of Eric Schneiderman.[39]

State civil suit against the NRA

On 6 August 2020, in a televised broadcast, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a state civil lawsuit filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court against the National Rifle Association (NRA), including against four of its department heads.[40]

Electoral history

New York City Council

2001 New York City Council's 35th District Democratic Primary[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James E. Davis	6,691	37.37%
	Democratic	Letitia James	5,746	32.09%
	Democratic	Peter Williams	1,823	10.18%
	Democratic	Abraham E. Wasserman	1,754	9.80%
	Democratic	William J. Saunders	875	4.89%
	Democratic	Sidique Wai	556	3.10%
	Democratic	Robert A. Hunter	556	3.10%
Total votes			17,907	100%

2001 New York City Council's 35th District General Election[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James E. Davis	13,129	55.64%
	Working Families	Letitia James	9,762	41.37%
	Independence	Sidique Wai	497	2.11%
	Liberal	Sidique Wai	210	0.89%
	Total	Sidique Wai	707	3.00%
Total votes			23,598	100%
	Democratic hold

2003 New York City Council's 35th District General Election[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Working Families	Letitia James	14,166	76.70%
	Democratic	Geoffrey A. Davis	3,077	16.66%
	Independence	Geoffrey A. Davis	497	1.71%
	Total	Geoffrey A. Davis	3,392	18.36%
	Republican	Anthony Herbert	549	2.97%
	Conservative	Abraham E. Wasserman	363	1.97%
Total votes			18,470	100%
	Working Families gain from Democratic

2005 New York City Council's 35th District Democratic Primary[44]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James (incumbent)	8,667	84.92%
	Democratic	Samuel Eric Blackwell	1,539	15.08%
Total votes			10,206	100%

2005 New York City Council's 35th District General Election[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	16,447	77.61%
	Working Families	Letitia James	2,275	10.74%
	Total	Letitia James (incumbent)	18,722	88.35%
	Republican	Anthony Herbert	1,309	6.18%
	Conservative	Anthony Herbert	181	0.85%
	Total	Anthony Herbert	1,490	7.03%
	Independence	Charles B. Billups	979	4.62%
Total votes			21,191	100%
	Democratic gain from Working Families

2009 New York City Council's 35th District Democratic Primary[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James (incumbent)	8,027	81.15%
	Democratic	Delia M. Hunley-Adossa	1,539	13.92%
	Democratic	Medhanie Estiphanos	488	4.93%
Total votes			9,893	100%

2009 New York City Council's 35th District General Election[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James (incumbent)	19,873	92.29%
	Republican	Stuart A. Balberg	1,355	6.29%
	Conservative	Stuart A. Balberg	306	1.42%
	Total	Stuart A. Balberg	1,661	7.71%
Total votes			21,534	100%
	Democratic hold

New York City Public Advocate

2013 New York City Public Advocate Democratic Primary[48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	191,347	36.11%
	Democratic	Daniel Squadron	178,151	33.62%
	Democratic	Reshma Saujani	76,983	14.53%
	Democratic	Cathy Guerriero	69,025	13.03%
	Democratic	Sidique Wai	14,409	2.72%
Total votes			529,915	100%

2013 New York City Public Advocate Democratic Primary Runoff[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	119,604	59.02%
	Democratic	Daniel Squadron	83,043	40.98%
Total votes			202,647	100%

2013 New York City Public Advocate General Election[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	761,058	77.87%
	Working Families	Letitia James	53,821	5.51%
	Total	Letitia James	814,879	83.37%
	Conservative	Robert Maresca	119,768	12.25%
	Green	James Lane	16,974	1.74%
	Libertarian	Alex Merced	10,419	1.07%
	Socialist Workers	Deborah O. Liatos	5,114	0.52%
	War Veterans	Irene Estrada	4,216	0.43%
	Students First	Mollina G. Fabricant	2,391	0.24%
	Freedom Party	Michael K. Lloyd	1,799	0.18
Total votes			975,560	100%
	Democratic hold

2013 New York City Public Advocate Democratic Primary[51]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James (incumbent)	300,301	76.50%
	Democratic	David Eisenbach	92,246	23.50%
Total votes			392,547	100%

2017 New York City Public Advocate General Election[52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	186,916	73.10%
	Working Families	Letitia James	16,586	6.49%
	Total	Letitia James (incumbent)	203,502	79.58%
	Republican	Juan Carlos Polanco	31,206	12.20%
	Reform	Juan Carlos Polanco	1,704	0.67%
	Stop De Blasio	Juan Carlos Polcano	988	0.39%
	Total	Juan Carlos Polcano	33,898	13.26%
	Conservative	Michael A. O'Reilly	9,868	3.86%
	Green	James C. Lane	6,160	2.41%
	Libertarian	Devin Balkin	2,276	0.89%
Total votes			255,704	100%
	Democratic hold

New York Attorney General

2018 New York Attorney General Democratic Primary[53]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	608,308	38.53%
	Democratic	Zephyr Teachout	468,083	29.65%
	Democratic	Sean Patrick Maloney	379,099	24.02%
	Democratic	Leecia Eve	52,367	3.32%
Total votes			1,578,588	100%

2018 New York Attorney General General Election[54]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Letitia James	3,497,213	58.38%
	Working Families	Letitia James	152,350	2.54%
	Independence	Letitia James	89,676	1.50%
	Total	Letitia James	3,739,239	62.42%
	Republican	Keith Wofford	1,851,510	30.91%
	Conservative	Keith Wofford	257,090	4.29%
	Total	Keith Wofford	2,108,600	35.20%
	Green	Michael Sussman	72,512	1.21%
	Libertarian	Christopher Garvey	43,767	0.73
	Reform	Nancy Sliwa	26,441	0.44%
Total votes			5,990,559	100%
	Democratic hold

See also

• List of lawsuits involving Donald Trump
• Progressivism in the United States

References

1. Westerman, Ashley (January 1, 2019). "N.Y. Swears In New Attorney General After A Tumultuous Year For The Office". NPR. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
2. https://www.martindale.com/new-york/new-york/letitia-ann-james-448146-a/
3. Kravitz, Derek (August 22, 2013). "Candidate's Age Often Listed Incorrectly". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
4. Phillips, Kristine (December 19, 2018). "New York's next attorney general targeted slumlords. Now she's going after Trump". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
5. "Distinguished CUNY Alumnae". The City University of New York. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
6. "District 35". Laurie A. Cumbo. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
7. "NYS Attorney Registration".
8. "About Tish". Letitia James 2013. Archived from the original on September 15, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
9. "2003 General Election Voter Guide: 35th City Council District". NYC Campaign Finance Board.
10. "April 23 – Lunch with Legislators: Council Member Letitia James". Women's City Club of New York. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
11. "Candidates for Public Advocate: Democratic Primary". NYC Campaign Finance Board.
12. Hu, Winnie (November 5, 2003). "THE 2003 ELECTION: CITY COUNCIL; Letitia James Wins Seat That Slain Man's Brother Felt Was Rightfully His". Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
13. Nahmias, Laura; Pazmino, Gloria. "The rise of Tish James". Politico PRO. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
14. "WFP Gives Seal of Approval to Both Tish James and Zephyr Teachout for Attorney General". Working Families. May 19, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
15. Richardson, Lynda (November 19, 2003). "PUBLIC LIVES; Only the Party Is Minor, Not Its Councilwoman". Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
16. Richardson, Lynda (November 19, 2003). "Public Lives; Only the Party Is Minor, Not Its Councilwoman". New York Times.
17. "Election 2005". NY1. Archived from the original on March 28, 2006. Retrieved November 9, 2005.
18. Rubinstein, Dana (January 6, 2007). "'Angel' on the market: Clinton Hill amalgam is yours for $1.5 mil". The Brooklyn Papers.
19. "CityTime Payroll Manager Fired Over Pay Scandal". WNYC.
20. "$450 million Fraud: CityTime husband and wife team flee country leaving 200 employees in the lurch". New York Daily News.
21. McLaughlin, Mike (July 15, 2008). "James gets in middle of 'Row'". The Brooklyn Paper.
22. Hicks, Jonathan P. (October 16, 2008). "Councilman Balks at Procedure to Change Term Limits". City Blogs. New York Times.
23. "James, in a landslide" Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Newman, Andy (September 15, 2009) The Local
24. "The Day: Hunley-Adossa Group Got More than 200G from Ratner". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
25. "Senator Eric Adams, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, Councilmember Letitia James and Councilmember Jumaane Williams call on Mayor Bloomberg to appoint Commission to Investigate Systemic Corruption in the NYPD". nysenate.gov.
26. "Pols James, Mosley Lend Support To City Point Lawsuit". City & State. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
27. "PA James Calls on Six Banks to Terminate Financial Backing of Sig Sauer, Maker of Gun Used in Orlando Massacre". Public Advocate for the City of New York.
28. "BB&T doesn't agree to drop Sig Sauer firearm accounts". Winston-Salem Journal.
29. . Gross, Courtney. (January 22, 2010) "Stated Meeting: The Council's New Order"
30. "Election 2013: Other Races".
31. "Shunning Squadron, the Brooklyn Democratic organization backs Letitia James". Capital.
32. "Reshma Saujani endorses Letitia James". Letitia James campaign.
33. "Letitia James wins NYC Public Advocate Democratic runoff". WABC TV. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
34. Max, Ben. "2017 New York City Primary Election Results". Retrieved September 13, 2017.
35. "Tish James On Her Run for Attorney General, Boosting Our Communities, And Speaking Truth To Power". Retrieved April 24, 2020.
36. "No Need to Flash-Forward to 2021: Mayoral Hopefuls Already Engaged". Retrieved September 20, 2018.
37. "Letitia James Makes History by Winning Attorney General Primary in New York". Retrieved September 15, 2018.
38. "Breaking Barriers, Letitia James Is Elected New York Attorney General". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
39. "James Sworn In As NY Attorney General". WAMC. The Associated Press. January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
40. PBS News Hour, New York Attorney General Letitia James files lawsuit to dissolve NRA on YouTube, 6 August 2020
41. "F0202 2001 PRIMARY ELECTION October 11, 2001" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
42. "2001 GENERAL ELECTION November 28, 2001" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
43. "Microsoft Word - MnFront.doc" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
44. "P2005KingsDem.pdf" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
45. "Kings City Council 35 Recap.pdf" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
46. "1.57KingsDemCouncil35Recap.pdf" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
47. "6.18KingsCouncil35Recap.pdf" (PDF). vote.nyc. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
48. "Staten Island, New York City Primary Night returns". slive.com. September 11, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
49. "NYC Public Advocate Runoff Results". October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
50. "Statement and Return Report for Certification" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2020.
51. "Citywide Democratic Public Advocate Citywide Recap.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2020.
52. "Citywide Public Advocate Citywide Recap.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2020.
53. "New York primary election results 2018: Governor and Attorney General races". Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
54. "Certified Results from the November 6, 2018 General Election for Attorney General" (PDF). elections.ny.gov. New York State Board of Elections. Retrieved June 11, 2020.

External links

• Government website
• Campaign website
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• Profile at Vote Smart

Political offices
Preceded by James Davis	Member of the New York City Council from the 35th district 2004–2013	Succeeded by Laurie Cumbo
Preceded by Bill de Blasio	Public Advocate of New York City 2014–2018	Succeeded by Corey Johnson Acting
Party political offices
Preceded by Eric Schneiderman	Democratic nominee for Attorney General of New York 2018	Most recent
Legal offices
Preceded by Barbara Underwood	Attorney General of New York 2019–present	Incumbent