(Image source from: Red Thread Strategies)

Jeremy Cooney, experienced upstate political operative is one of the two Indian American Democrats running for New York State Senate this November. Kevin Thomas, is another candidate, challenging the New York 6th district incumbent Sen. Kemp Hannon, a New York state lawmaker since January 1977.

Similar to Thomas, Cooney as well fetching on an Albany "lifer," said Sen. Joseph Robach, who was first elected to the state assembly in 1991.

Cooney's astounding life story began with his adoption from an Indian orphanage by the late Anne Cooney, who worked as an English professor for more than three decades at Monroe Community College in New York.

Jeremy graduated from the liberal arts Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, with a major in public policy and acquired a Juris Doctor form Albany Law School.

Being served as an adjutant to number of officials at all levels, reckoning as a Downtown Community Relations official for Gov. Andre Cuomo (2016-2017), as chief of staff to Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren (2014-2016) and as staff assistant to United States Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, (2004-2005), the lawyer and Eagle Scout is no stranger to local and state politics of New York.

"I’ve spent the past few weeks meeting with people who are looking for change and for a representative that votes correctly on issues important to them, such as raising the minimum wage, common-sense gun safety, long-overdue bail reform, and providing educational opportunities for immigrant families," Cooney said about his run from the 56th district in a press release.

He added, "For the past 15 years, we've been dealt short-term tax relief that's no substitute for real economic growth — the type of growth that creates stable, good-paying jobs that give people the confidence to buy a house, start a family, and continue to call upstate New York home."

The 56th district reckons the County of Monroe and parts of the city Rochester.

By Sowmya Sangam