Jenifer Rajkumar
Rajkumar in 2023
Member of theNew York State Assembly from the38th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2021
Preceded by	Michael G. Miller
Personal details
Born	(1982-09-01)September 1, 1982 (age 42) Tarrytown,New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	University of Pennsylvania (BA) Stanford University (JD)
Signature
Website	Campaign website State Assembly website

Jenifer Rajkumar (born September 1, 1982) is an American politician serving as a member of theNew York State Assembly from the38th district. ADemocrat, she represents theQueens neighborhoods ofGlendale,Ozone Park,Richmond Hill,Ridgewood, andWoodhaven. She is a close ally toEric Adams, known for frequently appearing alongside the mayor in red attire at press conferences and considered one of his closest ally in theNew York State Legislature.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Rajkumar was born and raised inTarrytown inWestchester County.^[8] Her parents are doctors who immigrated fromIndia and first settled inQueens.^[9] She is a graduate ofHackley School. Rajkumar earned aBachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Pennsylvania and aJuris Doctor fromStanford Law School.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}.

Rajkumar previously practiced law as a civil rights attorney and worked as anadjunct professor ofpolitical science atCUNY'sLehman College inthe Bronx.^{[when?][10][11]}

On February 6, 2017, GovernorAndrew Cuomo appointed Rajkumar as the Director of Immigration Affairs and Special Counsel for theNew York Department of State.^[12]

In December 2021, Mayor-Elect Eric Adams appointed Rajkumar as a Senior Advisor on his Transition Team.^[13]

In 2011, was elected as the District Leader of the65th District of theNew York State Assembly,^[14] defeating a 28-year incumbent with over 70% of the vote.^[15][16] She was re-elected to that office two more times, in 2013 and 2015.^[17] As district leader, Rajkumar led the effort to bringM9 bus service back toBattery Park City inLower Manhattan and has worked closely with Democracy for Battery Park City, an organization which seeks representation for residents of the neighborhood on the board of theBattery Park City Authority.^{[18][19][20][21]}

In 2013, Rajkumar ran for theNew York City Council in the Democratic primary in the1st district inLower Manhattan, losing to incumbentMargaret Chin.^[22] Rajkumar won 41.5% of the vote.^[23][24] Rajkumar's campaign championed affordable housing and community-friendly development. She was endorsed by various organizations and unions, such as TheSierra Club, and local AlliedCraftworkers andIronworkers groups.^[25]

She ran for theNew York State Assembly in the 65th District,^[26] as the seat was occupied byAlice Cancel, the winner of a special election on April 19, 2016, to replaceSheldon Silver, who was convicted of corruption and expelled from the Assembly in 2015.^{[27][28][29][30][31]}

Rajkumar finished second in a six-way Democratic primary; the winner,Yuh-Line Niou, went on to win in the general election in November.^[32]

Rajkumar ran in the primary for the38thNew York State Assembly district in Queens, which includes portions of the Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven neighborhoods, against incumbent DemocratMichael G. Miller and challengerJoey De Jesus.^[33] Rajkumar was endorsed by California CongressmanRo Khanna in February 2020.^[34] In May 2020,City & Statecriticized Rajkumar alongside a slate of other candidates forcarpetbagging across multiple primaries and elections.^[35]

Rajkumar defeated Miller and De Jesus in the June 2020 Democratic primary and won over Giovanni Perna in the November general election.^[36]

On August 12, 2024, Rajkumar announced her campaign forNew York City Comptroller in2025.^[8]

On January 27, 2025, she pivoted her campaign toPublic Advocate, challenging incumbentJumaane Williams in the Democraticprimary.^[37]

Rajkumar is currently a member of theNew York State Assembly from the38th district, representingQueens neighborhoods ofGlendale,Ozone Park,Richmond Hill,Ridgewood, andWoodhaven. In 2020, Rajkumar became the firstIndian-American woman ever elected to the New York State Legislature.^[38]

Rajkumar was appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity in Law.^[39] She also serves on the following Assembly Committees: Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Committee on Aging, Consumer Affairs, and Small Business.^[40]

In her first term, Rajkumar passed a legislative package for domestic workers, securing them the full protections of the state human rights law, and expanding their paid family leave benefits.^[41] Governor Hochul signed Rajkumar's legislative package into law in December 2021.^[42] Rajkumar also passed a bill expanding benefits for victims of crime, which the Governor signed into law in June 2022.^[43]

2025

2024

2022

2020

Rajkumar is a practicingHindu.^[47]

• Indian Americans in New York City
• Indian American politicians

• Official website

• 1982 births
• Living people
• Politicians from Queens, New York
• University of Pennsylvania alumni
• Stanford Law School alumni
• American politicians of Indian descent
• Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly
• Women state legislators in New York (state)
• 21st-century American women politicians
• Asian-American state legislators in New York (state)
• American Hindus
• People from Battery Park City
• 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from August 2023
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
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• Vague or ambiguous time from July 2022