Jerry Nadler
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (/ˈnædlər/; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2023 has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 12th congressional district, which includes central Manhattan. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to Congress in 1992 to represent the state's 17th congressional district, which was renumbered as the 8th district from 1993 to 2013 and as the 10th from 2013 to 2023. Nadler chaired the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023. In his 17th term in Congress, Nadler is the dean of New York's U.S. House delegation. Before his election to Congress, he served eight terms as a New York State Assemblyman.[1]
Jerrold Nadler
17th district (1992–1993)
8th district (1993–2013)
10th district (2013–2023)
12th district (2023–present)
69th district (1977–1982)
67th district (1983–1992)
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Early life, education, and early political career[edit]
Nadler was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the son of Miriam (née Schreiber) and Emanuel "Max" Nadler.[2][3] Nadler described his father as a "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" who lost his poultry farm in New Jersey when the younger Nadler was seven.[4] In his youth, he attended Crown Heights Yeshiva; he is the only member of Congress with a yeshiva education.[5][6] He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1965[7] (where his debate team partner was the future philosopher of science Alexander Rosenberg, and Dick Morris managed his successful campaign for student government president).[8]
Nadler received his B.A. in 1969 from Columbia University,[9] where he became a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi.[10] After graduating from Columbia, Nadler worked as a legal assistant and clerk, first with Corporation Trust Company in 1970, then the Morris, Levin and Shein law firm in 1971.[11] In 1972, Nadler was a legislative assistant in the New York State Assembly before becoming shift manager at the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation, a position he held until becoming a law clerk with Morgan, Finnegan, Pine, Foley and Lee in 1976.[11]
While attending evening courses at the Fordham University School of Law, Nadler was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1976. He completed his J.D. at Fordham in 1978.[4]
New York State Assembly[edit]
Nadler was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 1992, sitting in the 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th and 189th New York State Legislatures.
In 1985, Nadler ran for Manhattan Borough President. He lost the Democratic primary to David Dinkins.[12] In the general election, he ran as the New York Liberal Party nominee, and again lost to Dinkins.[13]
In 1989, he ran for New York City Comptroller, but lost to Kings County D.A. and former U.S. representative Elizabeth Holtzman in the Democratic primary.
Nadler founded and chaired the Assembly Subcommittee on Mass Transit and Rail Freight.
U.S. House of Representatives[edit]
Elections[edit]
In 1992, Democratic representative Ted Weiss was expected to run for reelection in the 8th district, which had been renumbered from the 17th after the 1990 U.S. Census. However, Weiss died a day before the primary election, and Nadler was nominated to replace Weiss. He ran in two elections on Election Day– a special election to serve the rest of Weiss's eighth term in the old 17th district, and a regular election for a full two-year term in the new 8th district. He won both handily, and has been reelected 15 times with very little opposition. In 2020, Nadler faced a primary challenge from activist Lindsey Boylan; the election was the first time in his tenure that Nadler received less than 75% of the vote.[14] The district was renumbered the 10th district after the 2010 Census. A Republican has not represented this district or its predecessors in over a century.[15]
From 2013 to 2023, Nadler's 10th district included Manhattan's west side from the Upper West Side down to Battery Park, including the World Trade Center; the Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Greenwich Village; and parts of Brooklyn, such as Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Bay Ridge. It includes many of New York City's most popular tourist attractions, including the Statue of Liberty, New York Stock Exchange, Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park.[16][17]
In 2022, Nadler defeated his longtime House colleague Carolyn Maloney in a three-way Democratic primary with 56% of the vote after he and Maloney were both drawn into the newly-drawn 12th district during redistricting.[18]
Political positions[edit]
Surveillance[edit]
Nadler was unhappy with the passage of the surveillance-reform compromise bill, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, saying it "abandons the Constitution's protections and insulates lawless behavior from legal scrutiny".[35]
Income taxes[edit]
Nadler compared Obama's acceptance of Republican demands to extend Bush-era tax cuts at the highest income levels to someone's being roughed up by the mob, asserting that the Republicans would allow the middle class tax cut only if millionaires and billionaires receive a long-term tax cut as well.[36]
Nadler has proposed changing the income tax brackets to reflect different regions and their costs of living, which would have lowered the tax rate for New Yorkers.[37][38] He has opposed tax breaks for high-income earners, saying that the country cannot afford it.[36]
Personal life[edit]
Nadler and Josephine Langsdorr "Joyce" Miller wed in 1976.[58] As of 2013, they lived in Lincoln Square.[59]
In 2002 and 2003, Nadler had laparoscopic duodenal switch surgery, helping him lose more than 100 pounds (45 kg).[60][61][62]