NEW YORK STATE SENATE — Westchester County - District 37 — Shelley Mayer (D) Westchester

Born and raised in Yonkers, Shelley Mayer earned B.A. at University of California, Los Angeles, and later her J.D. at the University at Buffalo Law School.

Prior to her election to public office, Mayer was a Senior Counsel at the National State Attorney General Program at Columbia University, where she focused on health care and labor law rights.

From 2007 until early 2011, Shelley worked as Chief Counsel to the New York State Senate Conference in Albany.

For over seven years, she served as Vice President of Government and Community Affairs at Continuum Health Partners in New York City.

From 1982 to 1994, Mayer served as an Assistant Attorney General in the office of New York Attorney General Bob Abrams.

In 2006, Mayer made her first run for public office, losing a bid for the New York State Assembly to incumbent Republican Mike Spano, who later became the mayor of Yonkers.

Mayer was first elected to the New York State Assembly on March 20, 2012, in a special election to succeed Mike Spano, and was re-elected three times.

Mayer was elected to the State Senate in a special election held on April 24, 2018 after the office was vacated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Mayer appeared on the Democratic, Working Families, and Women’s Equality Party lines and won by a margin of 57% to 43%.

Mayer lives in Yonkers with her husband, Lee Smith, with whom she has three adult children.

In 2018, despite the district being deemed competitive by pundits, Mayer was unopposed for a full-term. With Democrats retaking the majority.

The state Senate’s 37th District had long been a target of state Republicans, who’ve spent big in consecutive elections trying to pry the seat from Democrats

Active registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 83,194 to 52,544 in the district.

The 37th District includes parts of Yonkers, White Plains and New Rochelle as well as Bedford, North Castle, Harrison, Rye and Mamaroneck.