How Did She Get Into the Room Where it Happens in Albany?
By Dan Murphy
The swearing-in ceremony of State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins to become the next State Senate majority leader and the first female majority leader was covered across the country. Stewart-Cousins, who has represented the 35th District of Westchester since 2006 and the City of Yonkers, both as a senator and county legislator for 20 years, broke the glass ceiling with this election by her democratic peers in the State Senate to lead their conference for the eighth year, giving her the right to enter “the room where it happens in Albany” and the annual budget negotiations between the governor, Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader, all reserved for men before her inclusion.
“It took 242 years, but – finally – a woman is in charge of the New York State Senate. And – in the newly-elected NYS Senate, now 20 of the 63-member body are women (still not an accurate reflection of the state’s gender make-up but a heck of a lot better),” wrote Choice Matters. “The changing demographics of New York State are more clearly reflected by this Senate body than any before it. Among the newly-elected senators are the first Muslim, first Iranian-American, first Chinese-America, first Salvadoran-American, first Costa Rican-American, first Indian-American and two Colombian-Americans.”
How did Stewart-Cousins achieve this historic leadership role in the Empire State, and what can we learn from her life’s journey? Several factors brought Stewart-Cousins to the forefront of New York politics.
First, Stewart-Cousins brings unique leadership traits to the table. Her patience, her ability to listen, and her unquestioned ethical standards were all mentioned by her democratic colleagues as the reason she remains democratic Senate leader for eight years.
“My being here is not a natural progression,” she said in an interview. “I think people have underestimated me over the course of my political career.”
Stewart-Cousins’ Westchester journey started in Yonkers, where she raised her three children, who joined her Jan. 9 for her historic swearing-in, along with her grandchildren. More than 30 years ago, Yonkers was in the midst of a crisis over housing and school desegregation. Stewart-Cousins began attending meetings of the Yonkers NAACP, began to get involved, and the rest is history.
Her father served with valor in World War II, receiving the Bronx Star, but the family was denied a veterans’ home loan so they moved into public housing in the Bronx and Harlem. “I learned that government could impact your possibilities,” she said. “It could put obstacles in front of you achieving your full potential, or it could remove obstacles to your reaching your full potential. I’m going to try and remove those barriers.”
Andrea and Thomas Stewart-Cousins moved to Yonkers in 1979, and one of her first jobs in Westchester was for Gannett newspapers as a journalist after working for New York Telephone in sales and marketing. Her work for Yonkers City Councilwoman Symra Brandon on her campaign helped Stewart-Cousins get a position in the administration of Mayor Terrence Zaleski as director of community affairs.
In 1995, Stewart-Cousins won a seat on the Westchester Board of Legislators, where she served for 11 years. In 2004, she ran for State Senate against the then powerful Sen. Nick Spano. Very few people gave Stewart-Cousins a chance at beating Spano that year. While the final tally had Stewart-Cousins losing to Spano by 18 votes, many believe she had actually won.
Two years later, in 2006, Stewart-Cousins defeated Spano and six years later, in 2012, State Senate democrats elected her as their conference leader. The last time Democrats controlled the senate in New York was in 2010, and two Senate democratic majority leaders, Sens. Malcolm Smith and John Sampson’s tenures were marred by corruption and state budget deficits, and the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Stewart-Cousins took control of the Democratic Senate Conference in 2012, becoming a stable voice and advocate for democratic ideals. But shortly after taking over leadership, several democratic state senators formed their own caucus, the Independent Democratic Conference, and joined with republican state senators to give the republican a majority.
Initially, Stewart-Cousins was blamed for the defection of IDC democrats, led by State Sen. Jeff Klein, and long reported, with the quiet assertion of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The State Senate elections of 2013 and 2015 were held without any democratic punishment for IDC senators, who were re-elected, and Klein was permitted into the room where it happened, with Stewart-Cousins remaining cool but vocal, never storming the discussions of seeking to grab a headline. “My conference represents half of New York,” she said. “I think it’s important we be included in the discussion.”
In early 2017, IDC membership peaked, as Stewart-Cousins continued to calmly make the case for why they should rejoin their fellow democrats. Also in early 2017, a backlash in New York and across the country against President Donald Trump began.
In Albany, that outcry against Trump also pointed the finger at IDC members who were betraying their progressive democratic colleagues, and denying Stewart-Cousins her right to become majority leader. Cuomo was also questioned for his role, or lack thereof, in disbanding the IDC.
In 2018, progressive democrats stepped forward to challenge IDC members, most notably Sen.-elect Alessandra Biaggi, who defeated Klein. The IDC was quickly disbanded and now Stewart-Cousins had a comfortable majority. Even as campaign financial records show Klein making a donation to Virginia Perez, who challenged Stewart-Cousins in a democratic primary, the leader of the Senate Democrats remained above the fray.
“We’re at a time when people really feel they have to stand up for their ideal for America,” she said in an interview. “Obviously, people are always concerned about building our economy and building opportunity while we educate our children, but there’s a broader conversation now about what America is.”
Stewart-Cousins has also been able to balance the interests of her progressive caucus with some of the concerns of her Westchester constituents and homeowners who pay the highest property taxes in the nation. Making the property tax cap permanent and support for property tax rebate checks has been a part of her priorities as leader of the State Senate democrats.
And in a time in our nation’s politics when grandstanding might score points, and in Albany’s history of cutthroat politics was the norm, it is Stewart-Cousins’ ability to listen to her democratic colleagues that has kept her in power. “I know each and every one of my members and I know what’s important to them,” she said.
Working together with her democratic colleagues has also scored her points, and loyalty. “I will always want to hear what the conference cares about before making a deal,” said Stewart-Cousins.
Her Senate colleagues described Stewart-Cousins as “making sure people are heard,” “a steady hand,” “ethically approachable” and “without criticism.”
Leader Stewart-Cousins said: “I appreciate the fact that people, over the years, have given me more and more responsibility, and I also believe that part of that is because I act responsibly with the power I get. So people trust me with more.”
An interesting give-and-take between Cuomo and Stewart-Cousins last year occurred when Cuomo suggested that the Senate Democrats’ problem was that they only understood New York City voters. “You look at me, Mr. Governor, but you don’t see me,” she said. “You see my black skin and a woman, but you don’t realize I am a suburban legislator.”
County Legislator Christopher Johnson, who served as Stewart-Cousins’ chief of staff, said: “She’s incredibly patient. She doesn’t go searching for attention or notoriety, and she allows for the body of work that she has built to speak for itself”
Johnson met Stewart-Cousins at a volunteer event for her 2006 State Senate campaign, “and I asked to work for her and she hired me after that,” he said. Johnson added that he is not surprised by Stewart-Cousins’ rise to majority leader. “I think the politics makes sense; she’s not a New York City legislator and the first woman and she is a person of color,” he said. “All of those boxes are checked but after Sen. Smith and Sen. Sampson, you needed someone who was politically clean but who was also a calming voice. She listens and likes to see the lay of the land before she makes a move.”
Longtime friend, supporter, and founder of the Yonkers Chapter-Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus, Cheryl Brannan, who attended the swearing-in, which she called “a momentous and historic occasion,” said: “Having known Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins since before she started out as the community liaison for Mayor Zaleski, she has always been exemplary in everything she has done… Sen. Stewart-Cousins is smart, and very ethical and has an effective leadership style.
She is not the loudest person in the room but certainly builds bridges and gets the job done. Many of us from Yonkers who have been friends and confidants are all so very proud of her.” Brannan pointed to the first election that Stewart-Cousins ran for, challenging incumbent Democrat Herman Keith for the County Board. “That was a big deal and a big challenge, but with all due respect to Herman Keith, she was quite impressive, and it’s unusual to have that level of success the first time you run. She ran a great race and won,” said Brannan. “Then having lost the Senate race by 18 votes, that loss strengthened her and made her realize, even more so, that every vote counts. She has never taken an election for granted and even the last campaign (against Virginia Perez) she hit the ground running.
“When you put all of those experiences together, the triumphs and the loss, and you look at her success on the County Board, passing historic human rights legislation, and so much more. It’s easy to see that she’s paid her dues and is a class act. In fact, last week during her swearing in she asked all of the women to stand up and be recognized – democrats and republicans. Of course, she also recognized her full delegation. She will serve both Yonkers and our state well.”
