Background
Peter Benson Harckham [1] grew up in the Hudson Valley,residing in Rockland County for most of his childhood. [2] He attended Clarkstown High School North,before attending Dickinson College,where he graduated in English. [3]
Harckham began his career in the advertising sector,working on Madison Avenue in the 1980s. [4] Today he continues to work in media and advertising,and owns his own business based in the Hudson Valley. [5]
Prior to elected office,Harckham served as President for a not for profit housing corporation that builds affordable housing in northern Westchester County. [6] Prior to that,Harckham served as Vice Chair of the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation,a San Francisco-based private foundation that supports the sustainable management of natural resources.
In 2007,Harckham was first elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators,winning again in 2009,2011,and 2013. [7] He ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Assembly in a 2010 special election. [8] He served for four terms as a county legislator,including two terms as Democratic Majority Leader. As County Legislator,he created tax breaks for first responders,lowered county taxes,and approved term limits for county legislators. [9] [10]
In 2012 he was a pledged elector for president Barack Obama in the electoral college. [3] In 2015 he left the legislature to work in the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as assistant director of the Office of Community Renewal. In that position he helped administer grants in the lower Hudson Valley. [6] [11]
New York Senate
In 2018,Harckham was recruited to run against incumbent Republican state Senator Terrence Murphy. Murphy had represented Senate District 40 since 2015. [12] While the district was competitive,Murphy was believed to be a formidable candidate who was less vulnerable than some of his GOP colleagues. [12] However,in an overwhelmingly Democratic election year,Harckham defeated Murphy,51% to 49%. [13] [14]
Harckham was sworn in on January 1,2019,by Governor Andrew Cuomo. [15] In the Senate,he is serving as Chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee. [16] [17]
Harckham was reelected to the Senate in 2020 in a race against former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. [18] Astorino conceded three weeks after election day. [18] The count was delayed due to an increase in mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a lawsuit filed by Astorino prior to election day challenging the security of the election. [19]
Harckham serves on the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and the Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids,Addiction &Overdose Prevention. [20] He is also a member of the Veterans,Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee. In the Senate,he has authored several environmental bills including Save the Huson to clean up the Huson River,and the protection of wetlands and drinking water supplies in New York. [21]
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