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Jenifer Rajkumar

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Jenifer Rajkumar
File:Jenifer rajkumar.jpg
Jenifer Rajkumar in 2020.
District Leader of New York State Assembly District 65, Part C
In office
2011–2017
Personal details
Born1982 (age 41–42)
New York City
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania (B.A.)
Stanford Law School (J.D.)
WebsiteCampaign website

Jenifer Rajkumar (born 1982) is an American politician, community leader and human rights lawyer. Rajkumar is a Democrat in New York City.[1]

Early life and education

Rajkumar was born and raised in New York. She is the daughter of immigrants from India who came to the United States with just $300 and a suitcase, first settling in Queens.[2]

Rajkumar is a graduate of Stanford Law School with pro bono distinction and the University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. At Penn, she received the Alice Paul Award for exceptional community service to women and families.[3]

Career

2011 District Leader race

In 2011, Rajkumar became the first Indian-American elected as the District Leader of the 65th District of the New York State Assembly[4], beating out a 28-year incumbent with over 70% of the vote.[5][6] She has since been re-elected to that office two more times, in 2013 and 2015.[7] As district leader, Rajkumar led the effort to bring M9 bus service back to Battery Park City and has worked closely with Democracy for Battery Park City, an organisation which seeks representation for residents of the neighborhood on the board of the Battery Park City Authority.[8][9][10][11]

2013 City Council race

In 2013, Rajkumar ran for the New York City Council in the Democratic primary in New York City's first Council district, losing to incumbent Margaret Chin.[12] During the campaign, Rajkumar came under fire by the New York Post for falsifying a non-profit organization she claimed to be the head of to burnish her political resume.[13]

2016 State Assembly race

She ran for the New York State Assembly in the 65th District,[14] as the seat was occupied by Alice Cancel, who won a special election on April 19, 2016, to replace Sheldon Silver, who was convicted of corruption and expelled from the Assembly in 2015 (Silver's conviction was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on July 13, 2017).[15][16][17][18]

Rajkumar finished second in a six-way Democratic primary, the winner, Yuh-Line Niou, went on to win in the general election in November.[19]

Administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

On February 6, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Rajkumar as the Director of Immigration Affairs and Special Counsel for the New York Department of State.[20] Rajkumar also served as a state-wide surrogate for Governor Cuomo.[21] In her tenure, Rajkumar led the New York State Liberty Defense Project, to ensure immigrants in New York have access to counsel.

2020 State Assembly race

Rajkumar is running for the 38th Assembly District in Queens, which includes portions of the Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven neighborhoods, against incumbent Democrat Michael G. Miller and challenger Joey De Jesus.[22]

Following Sen. Ro Khanna's endorsement of Rajkumar in February 2020, the campaign came under fire for it percieved right-leaning political stance, especially concerning anti-homeless policies she had proposed.[23]

In April 2020, City & State reported that Rajkumar set up a 24/7 COVID-19 Response hotline to help South Queens neighbors with Coronavirus related issues. The hotline operated in seven languages: English, Spanish, Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi, Albanian, and Polish. Rajkumar’s political opponents claimed she was campaigning mid-Pandemic. Rajkumar said in response that her team had helped over 100 families, delivering food to the hungry and connecting them to government resources for the long term.[24]

In May that same year, City & State criticized Rajkumar alongside a slate of other candidates for district-hopping across multiple primaries and elections.[25]

New York Department of State

On February 6, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Rajkumar as the director of immigration affairs and special counsel for the New York Department of State.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ "Coalition of Women Back Rajkumar For Silver's Seat". TWC News: NY State of Politics. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  2. ^ "Not Just Jenny From the Block". The New York Times Blog. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  3. ^ "About Jenifer". Jenifer For NYC. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. ^ Dutt, By Ela. "Indian American Jenifer Rajkumar appointed Director of Immigration Affairs of New York state | News India Times | Page 25433". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  5. ^ "You Should Run: Advancing Social Justice by Running for Office". Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  6. ^ Dutt, Ela. "NY State Assembly District 38 in Queens has been overlooked too long: Indian-American candidate Jenifer Rajkumar | News India Times". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  7. ^ "Manhattan Democrats District Leaders". Manhattan Democratic Party. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  8. ^ "District Leader Rajkumar Kicks Off Campaign for Assembly Seat". The Broadsheet. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  9. ^ "Indian American attorney Jenifer Rajkumar at the center of a $100 million lawsuit in New York". American Bazaar Online. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  10. ^ "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  11. ^ Dutt, By Ela. "South Asians Must Take Advantage Of "NaturalizeNY": Rajkumar | News India Times". Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  12. ^ "Downtown Democratic Council Primary Results". DNA Info. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  13. ^ https://nypost.com/2013/05/28/this-over-achieving-beauty-is-running-for-city-council-as-head-of-non-profit-thats-only-skin-deep/
  14. ^ "Rajkumar Announces Campaign for Assembly". Bowery Boogie. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  15. ^ Weiser, Benjamin (13 July 2017). "Sheldon Silver's 2015 Corruption Conviction Is Overturned". Retrieved 28 December 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
  16. ^ "Democrat Alice Cancel Wins Sheldon Silver's Old NYS Assembly Seat". CBS New York. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  17. ^ "Alice Cancel, Sheldon Silver's Chosen Successor, Takes His Assembly Seat". Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  18. ^ "Silver crony Alice Cancel wins his state Assembly seat". The New York Post. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  19. ^ "Niou set to be new Assemblymember for Downtown – DOWNTOWN EXPRESS". www.downtownexpress.com. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  20. ^ "Human Rights Attorney Jenifer Rajkumar Named to New Post in New York Department of State". India West. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  21. ^ "A lawyer and Gov. Cuomo appointee tells Moneyish the upside of being underestimated". MarketWatch.
  22. ^ https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/campaigns-elections/nyc-assembly-primary-challengers-who-are-raising-big-money.html
  23. ^ https://qns.com/story/2020/02/07/california-congressman-ro-khanna-endorses-jenifer-rajkumar-for-assembly-district-38/
  24. ^ https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/campaigns-elections/if-they-cant-knock-doors-how-do-candidates-get-face-time.html
  25. ^ https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/campaigns-elections/carpetbaggers-2020-primaries.html
  26. ^ "Human Rights Attorney Jenifer Rajkumar Named to New Post in New York Department of State". Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  27. ^ "Jenifer Rajkumar: Director of Immigration Affairs & Special Counsel, New York Department of State". Retrieved 2017-08-30.
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