Elijah Reichlin-Melnick (born June 2, 1984) is a former American politician who served as a member of the New York State Senate for the 38th district, which includes most of Rockland County and parts of Westchester County. He succeeded David Carlucci.
Reichlin-Melnick was born and raised in Nyack, New York. He attended Nyack High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Cornell University in 2006. He later earned a master's degree in city and regional planning, with a concentration in housing and real estate, from Rutgers University in 2015.
After receiving his bachelor's degree, he spent two years as an elementary school teacher at Dwight Elementary School in New Haven, Connecticut. He later served on the Nyack Village Planning Board and was elected vice president of the Rockland County Young Democrats and chairman of the Nyack Democratic Committee. He was an active member of the Nyack NAACP and the Nyack Tree Committee. After leaving Dwight Elementary School, Reichlin-Melnick began working as a constituent service specialist and district representative for Congressman Eliot Engel and Congresswoman Nita Lowey until 2013. After working in Congress, Reichlin-Melnick completed his master's degree, he worked as the executive assistant for Orangetown, New York Town Supervisor Andy Stewart. He later worked as the legislative director for New York State Senator James Skoufis. [1]
In April 2017, Reichlin-Melnick was appointed to the Nyack Village Board to fill a vacancy left by Doug Foster. On November 7, 2017, Reichlin-Melnick was elected to a two-year term on the Village Board and was subsequently re-elected on November 3, 2019.
On December 17, 2019, Reichlin-Melnick announced his candidacy for district 38 in the New York State Senate. [2] On June 23, 2020, Reichlin-Melnick defeated Clarkstown Town Clerk Justin Sweet and Spring Valley Trustee Eudson Francois in the Democratic primary election. [3] On November 3, 2020, he defeated Republican nominee Bill Weber. [4] On November 8, 2022, Weber defeated Reichlin-Melnick in a rematch. [5]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Elijah Reichlin-Melnick | 12,542 | 45.6 | |
Democratic | Justin Sweet | 10,042 | 36.5 | |
Democratic | Eudson Francois | 4,902 | 17.8 | |
Total votes | 27,486 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Elijah Reichlin-Melnick | 65,707 | 49.87 | |
Working Families | Elijah Reichlin-Melnick | 5,102 | 3.87 | |
Total | Elijah Reichlin-Melnick | 70,809 | 53.74 | |
Republican | William Weber Jr. | 59,654 | 45.27 | |
SAM | William Weber Jr. | 1,301 | 0.99 | |
Total | William Weber Jr. | 60,955 | 46.26 | |
Total valid votes | 131,764 | 90.91 | ||
Rejected ballots | 13,172 | 9.09 | ||
Total votes | 144,936 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold |
Reichlin-Melnick's brother, Aaron, is an immigration policy expert and senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. [6]
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's third-most densely populated county outside New York City after Nassau and neighboring Westchester Counties. The county seat and largest hamlet is New City. Rockland County is accessible via both the New York State Thruway, which crosses the Hudson River to Westchester via the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Tappan Zee, ten exits up from the NYC border; and the Palisades Parkway, four exits up, via the George Washington Bridge. The county's name derives from "rocky land", as the area has been aptly described, largely due to the Hudson River Palisades. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.
Clarkstown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. The town is on the eastern border of the county, located north of the town of Orangetown, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Haverstraw, and west of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 86,855. The hamlet of New City, the county seat of Rockland County, is also the seat of town government and of the Clarkstown Police Department, the county sheriff's office, and the county correctional facility. New City makes up about 41.47% of the town's population.
Nyack is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. The village had a population of 7,265 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of the Manhattan boundary near the west bank of the Hudson River, situated north of South Nyack, east of Central Nyack, south of Upper Nyack, and southeast of Valley Cottage.
Ramapo is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It was originally formed as New Hampstead, in 1791, and became Ramapo in 1828. It shares its name with the Ramapo River. As of the 2020 census, Ramapo had a total population of 148,919, making it the most populous town in New York outside of Long Island. If all towns in New York were cities, Ramapo would be the 12th-largest city in the state of New York.
Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in Rockland County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the SUNY system. The college offers 51 programs and offers associate degrees and certificates. Additionally, students can earn other degrees, including Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts in the arts and sciences, Doctoral Program in Executive Leadership (EdD), technology, and health professions while attending classes at Rockland through articulation programs with four-year schools. The current enrollment is 6,859 students.
The Journal News is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett.
New York State Assembly, District 99 is located in the southern part of the State of New York in the United States. District 99 is north of New York City and is composed of parts of Orange and Rockland Counties. It is encompassed by New York's 40th State Senate district and New York's 42nd State Senate district, as well as New York's 17th congressional district and New York's 18th congressional district since redistricting in 2022.
Thomas P. Morahan was a member of the New York State Senate, for the 38th district covering all of Rockland County and parts of Orange County, New York. He was first elected in a special election in 1999.
Nyack High School is a secondary school in Nyack, New York, which serves parts of Orangetown and Clarkstown, New York. The original Nyack High School building is now part of BOCES. Since 1990, Nyack High School has been located less than a mile north of the old facility, at the corner of Christian Herald Road and Highland Avenue-(U.S. Route 9W).
David S. Carlucci is an American politician in Rockland County, New York. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the state senator for the 38th district, which includes most of Rockland County and parts of Westchester County until December 2020. Carlucci was one of the youngest senators elected to the New York State Senate in 2010 at just 29 years old.[3] Carlucci served as the chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
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The 2018 New York State Senate elections were held on November 6, 2018, to elect representatives from all 63 State Senate districts in the U.S. state of New York. Primary elections were held on September 13, 2018.
Peter Harckham is an American businessman and politician from the State of New York. A Democrat, Harckham represents Senate District 40 in the New York State Senate. He was first elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Terrence Murphy. The 40th district includes parts of Rockland, Putnam and Westchester counties in the Hudson Valley.
New York's 38th State Senate district is one of 63 districts in the New York State Senate. It is currently represented by Republican Bill Weber since 2023. It was previously represented Democrat Elijah Reichlin-Melnick since 2021, succeeding fellow Democrat and former IDC member David Carlucci, who waged an unsuccessful run for Congress.
Mondaire Lamar Jones is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones was the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.
The Westchester County Democratic Committee is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of New York. Its headquarters is in White Plains, New York.
Michael Vincent Lawler is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly from the 97th district in Rockland County.
William J. Weber Jr. is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate from the 38th District since 2023. Weber, a Republican, defeated incumbent Democrat Elijah Reichlin-Melnick in the 2022 election.