Monica R. Martinez (born August 13, 1977) is a Salvadoran-American, civil servant, educator and politician from the state of New York. A Democrat, she is a member of the New York State Senate representing the 4th district. Martinez has also served in the Suffolk County Legislature, representing the 9th district. She is a former Assistant Principal at East Middle School in Brentwood, NY.
Monica Martinez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New York State Senate | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | New Seat |
| Constituency | 4th District |
| In office January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Croci |
| Succeeded by | Alexis Weik |
| Constituency | 3rd District |
| Member of the Suffolk County Legislature from the 9th district | |
| In office January 2, 2014 – December 31, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Ricardo Montano |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Gonzalez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 13, 1977 El Salvador |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Brentwood, New York |
| Alma mater | Stony Brook University New York University Binghamton University |
| Profession | Educator |
| Website | Official website |
Early life and career
editMartinez was born in El Salvador and moved to the United States at the age of 3.[1][2] She received her bachelor's degree from Binghamton University, and subsequently a masters and administrative degree from New York University and Stony Brook University respectively.[3] Martinez worked as a social studies teacher at Brentwood High School for 10 years before becoming the assistant principal of Brentwood's East Middle School.[4]
In 2013, Martinez defeated incumbent Suffolk County Legislator Ricardo Montano in the Democratic primary and was subsequently elected to represent Suffolk County's 9th Legislative District.[5][6] As a legislator, Martinez was known for taking legislative action on the issues of woman's equality and animal rights.[7][8] Martinez was appointed chairwoman to the Public Safety Committee and pledged to help eradicate the Long Island gang violence epidemic through collaboration with local law enforcement officials.[9]
Martinez resides in Brentwood, New York. She is the younger sister of the Town of Babylon, New York, councilman Antonio Martinez.[10]
New York Senate
editOn June 5, 2018, Martinez announced her intention to seek the New York State Senate seat being vacated by Thomas Croci.[11] On November 6, 2018, Martinez defeated Assemblyman Dean Murray by more than 2,500 votes.[12][13]
Martinez was named chair for the Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare.[14]
Martinez opposed the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, a law that authorized undocumented immigrants to obtain New York driver licenses. Of all Senators voting against the bill, Senator Martinez faced the most criticism; she changed her position on the issue after becoming a New York State Senator.[15] Martinez faced protest[16] and has been accused of flip-flopping on the issue and of betraying her own community of origin.[17][18]
Bills introduced by Martinez that were signed into law include:
- S1719C in the 2019-2020 session, criminalizing revenge porn[19]
- S3852A in the 2019-2020 session, also known as "Shannon's Law", expanding coverage for mammograms under health insurance[20][21]
- S8138 in the 2020-2021 session, a bill to allow municipalities to defer tax payments during a state of emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic occurring at the time.[22]
In November 2020, Martinez lost her re-election bid to Republican Alexis Weik.[23] However, on February 14, 2022, Martinez announced her candidacy to once again represent New York's 3rd Senate District in the 2022 general election.[24] Due to redistricting, Martinez later switched to run in the newly drawn 4th Senate District.[25] She was elected on November 8, 2022, defeating businesswoman Wendy Rodriguez with 49.18% of the vote, compared to Rodriguez's 46.85%.[26]
References
edit- ^ Rohrbacker, Glenn (October 10, 2018). "Monica-Martinez-(D): People over parties". Long Island Advance. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Cortés, Zaira (August 15, 2014). "Salvadorans: the Largest Minority on Long Island". Voices of NY. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Suffolk County Legislator Monica R. Martinez '08". Stony Brook University News. September 1, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "About Monica Martinez". New York State Senate. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Brand, Rick (September 11, 2013). "Monica Martinez defeats Suffolk Legis. Rick Montano". Newsday. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Larocco, Paul (November 6, 2013). "Democrats retain control of Suffolk Legislature". Newsday. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Redding, Kevin (February 15, 2018). "Suffolk legislators pass sexual harassment laws". TBR Newsmedia. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Mahoney, Joe (January 5, 2019). "Proposed law would bar pet stores from selling commercially-bred dogs and cats". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Drier, Hannah (September 28, 2018). "Challenged by Long Island Lawmakers, Police Will Look Into Treatment of Immigrant Families Who Reported Missing Children". Pro Publica. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Cortés, Zaira (August 15, 2014). "Salvadorans: the Largest Minority on Long Island". Voices of NY. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Brand, Rick (June 7, 2018). "Suffolk Legis. Monica Martinez launches state senate campaign". Newsday. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Certified Results from the November 6, 2018 General Election for NYS Senate" (PDF). elections.ny.gov. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ Schwartz, David (November 24, 2018). "Minority turnout boosted Democrat Monica Martinez, hurt Republican Pete King in Suffolk". Newsday. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Senator Monica R. Martinez". NY State Senate. November 13, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
- ^ "Senadora salvadoreña contra licencias para indocumentados". Washington Hispanic. June 21, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "Immigrants call on lawmakers to pass driver's license bill". News 12 Long Island. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Junio 2019, Por: Edwin Martinez | 18 de (June 18, 2019). "Indocumentados cuentan los días para tener licencias en diciembre". El Diario NY (in Spanish). Retrieved July 2, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Salvadoreña entre senadores que no apoyaron la licencia de conducir para indocumentados en Nueva York". elsalvador.com (in Spanish). June 18, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ Mejía, Paula (February 28, 2019). "NY State Legislature Votes Unanimously To Criminalize Revenge Porn". Gothamist. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ "Legislation inspired by Babylon woman expands access to annual mammograms". longisland.news12.com. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ Sager, Stacey (August 7, 2019). "Shannon's Law: Making mammograms affordable to more women in New York". ABC7 New York. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ "NYS Senator Monica Martinez introduces legislation to support residents during pandemic". OnTownMedia and OnSachem. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ "GOP flips LI state Senate seat held by Monica Martinez". Newsday.
- ^ "Monica Martinez announces run for the 3rd State Senate District". Newsday. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ "Ramos, Martinez square off in realigned 4th State Senate District". August 15, 2022.
- ^ "Monica Martinez Declared Winner for 4th District State Senate". November 8, 2022.