Elizabeth Holtzman
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician
, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative (youngest woman), two term District Attorney
of Kings County (Brooklyn
) (first woman), and New York City Comptroller
(first woman).
Her role on the House Judiciary Committee
during the Watergate scandal
drew national attention.
, New York
, the daughter of attorney Sidney Holtzman and Filia Holtzman (a college professor). She is a graduate of Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School (1958), Radcliffe College
(magna cum laude 1962), and Harvard Law School
(1965). She was admitted to the bar
in New York State (1966).
, she upset Judiciary Committee
chairman Emanuel Celler
, the fifty-year incumbent
and the House's longest serving member at that time. Celler was 53 years older than Holtzman and had already been serving in the House for 18 years when Holtzman was born.
She served on the House Judiciary Committee
. In the summer of 1974 it held impeachment hearings
on President
Richard Nixon's activities.
She was a member of the House Budget Committee and Chairwoman of the House Immigration Subcommittee.
In 1978 she secured an extension of the deadline for state legislatures to ratify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
to the United States Constitution
. (House Joint Resolution No. 638 was approved by the 95th Congress
.)
Rep. Holtzman helped pass legislation in 1978 to expel more Nazi war criminals who had immigrated to the United States. It established the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
within the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
to investigate and bring legal action to denaturalize or deport them. The Immigration and Naturalization Service
had kept a list of suspects but had not pursued them.
in 1980. In her party's primary she defeated former Miss America
Bess Myerson
, former New York City
Mayor
John V. Lindsay, and Queens
District Attorney
John Santucci. Myerson had been the initial favorite, with endorsements from Mayor of New York Ed Koch
, Governor of New York
Hugh Carey
and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
.
In the general election, Holtzman faced Republican challenger Al D'Amato
and incumbent Senator Jacob Javits. Despite his loss to D'Amato in the Republican primary, Javits ran in the general election on the Liberal Party
ticket. He retained his union endorsements and drew liberal
and Jewish voters away from Holtzman. A theme of D'Amato's campaign was that Holtzman had never voted for a Department of Defense
appropriation bill
in Congress.
She lost by a margin of 1%, or 81,000 votes.
in Kings County (Brooklyn
), a post to which she was reelected in 1985. While district attorney, she formed new bureaus to focus on sex crimes and domestic violence, along with children's issues. She argued — and won — New York v. Burger, , a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that warrantless administrative inspections can support criminal convictions in "closely regulated" industries.
She won citywide office when she was elected New York City Comptroller
in 1989. She has said that she first considered a race for Mayor of New York in 1989 before deciding to seek the comptroller's post instead. Holtzman viewed the comptroller's post as an extension of her work in Congress and as district attorney.
Anita Hill
controversy, Holtzman sought the Democratic nomination for Senator to challenge Republican D'Amato again.
The Democrats seeking the nomination (Holtzman, Geraldine Ferraro
, New York State Attorney General
Robert Abrams
, Representative
Robert J. Mrazek
and Rev. Al Sharpton) split the feminists. Emily's List
endorsed Ferraro, and raised money for her. Much of the leadership of National Organization for Women
was in Holtzman's camp. Former Democratic Party National Organizer Anne F. Lewis had suggested women split their campaign donations between the two women. Betty Friedan
endorsed Holtzman.
She lost a bitter primary, with rancorous debates. Both Abrams and Holtzman exploited Ferraro's tax problems, and the legal problems of her husband
and son, even suggesting a Mafia
connection to the family. Holtzman was vulnerable for an August loan to her campaign from Fleet Bank. In August 1992 Holtzman borrowed $450,000 to pay for television ads against Ferraro. (These charges came back to haunt her in her unsuccessful 1993 bid for a second term as Comptroller, although she was later cleared of all charges. Democrats blamed her for the expensive and brutal Senate primary that left nominee Abrams too weakened to defeat vulnerable incumbent D'Amato.)
She finished with 13%, last behind New York Attorney General Robert Abrams
, former Representative and 1984 vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro
, and Al Sharpton
.
Holtzman did not endorse Abrams, her party's candidate in the general election
.
Senator D'Amato, the Republican incumbent, won re-election in November 49% to 48%.
Alan Hevesi
and former Congressman Herman Badillo
in the Democratic primary. Badillo was also the Republican nominee for comptroller on a fusion ticket with mayoral nominee Rudolph Giuliani.
Ferraro, upset over Holtzman's ethics accusation from the 1992 Senate primary, encouraged Hevesi to oppose Holtzman. (Hevesi and Ferraro would later become estranged.) Service Employees International Union
Local 1199 (a politically powerful health care union led by Jennifer Cunningham), endorsed Hevesi. While initial polls showed Holtzman an easy winner for reelection, the Fleet Bank loan from the Senate race was made an issue by Hevesi and Badillo during the NY1
debate and led to Holtzman losing support.
Holtzman's office in March 1993 included a Fleet entity on a list of recommended underwriters for the city's municipal bond
sales. Her campaign still owed Fleet $255,000 on loan from the 1992 campaign, and had missed two payment deadlines.
In the primary, Holtzman finished second and was forced into a runoff with Hevesi. Hevesi crushed Holtzman in the runoff primary election
, 67% - 33% and went on to defeat Badillo in the general election.
and author
on politics. Since 2006, as a book author and blog
ger, she has advocated the impeachment
of President George W. Bush.
Holtzman entered the private practice of law in New York City.
She published a memoir in 1996, Who said it would be easy: one woman's life in the political arena (Cynthia L. Cooper, coauthor).
Miss Holtzman was a public member of the long running Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group
(IWG), a commission
established by a 1998 act of Congress to locate, identify, inventory, and recommend for declassification, currently classified U.S. records relating to Nazi and Imperial Japanese
war crimes. Along with other public members, she had some sharp and public disagreements with the Central Intelligence Agency
's interpretation of the law. On 2007-09-28, the Archivist of the United States
presented to Congress, the Administration, and the American people the final report of the IWG.
On January 11, 2006, The Nation published her essay calling for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush
for authorizing
"the wiretapping
of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." She expanded on her arguments for impeaching President Bush in a 2006 book coauthored with Cynthia L. Cooper, The impeachment of George W. Bush: a practical guide for concerned citizens.
In June 2008, Holtzman published a commentary on the action of U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich
(D-Ohio
) in introducing articles of impeachment against President Bush on June 9, 2008.
She was weighing a bid for New York State Attorney General
in the 2010 election, but announced on May 25, 2010, that she had decided not to run.
Holtzman was mentioned as a frontrunner for the special election
to fill the congressional seat left vacant by the resignation of Anthony Weiner, but in the end she was not the chosen nominee.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative (youngest woman), two term District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
of Kings County (Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
) (first woman), and New York City Comptroller
New York City Comptroller
The Office of Comptroller of New York City is the chief fiscal officer and chief auditing officer of the city. The comptroller is elected, citywide, to a four-year term and can hold office for three consecutive terms. The current comptroller is Democrat John Liu, formerly a member of the New York...
(first woman).
Her role on the House Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
during the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
drew national attention.
Early life
She was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the daughter of attorney Sidney Holtzman and Filia Holtzman (a college professor). She is a graduate of Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School (1958), Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
(magna cum laude 1962), and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
(1965). She was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in New York State (1966).
House of Representatives 1973-1981
In the 1972 primary electionPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
, she upset Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
chairman Emanuel Celler
Emanuel Celler
Emanuel Celler was an American politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives for almost 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. He was a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:...
, the fifty-year incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
and the House's longest serving member at that time. Celler was 53 years older than Holtzman and had already been serving in the House for 18 years when Holtzman was born.
She served on the House Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
. In the summer of 1974 it held impeachment hearings
Congressional hearing
Congressional hearings are the principal formal method by which committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings — a procedure unique to the Senate — legislative, oversight, investigative, or a combination of these, all...
on President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon's activities.
She was a member of the House Budget Committee and Chairwoman of the House Immigration Subcommittee.
In 1978 she secured an extension of the deadline for state legislatures to ratify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. (House Joint Resolution No. 638 was approved by the 95th Congress
95th United States Congress
The Ninety-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977 to January 3, 1979, during the first two years...
.)
Rep. Holtzman helped pass legislation in 1978 to expel more Nazi war criminals who had immigrated to the United States. It established the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
The Office of Special Investigations was a unit within the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Its purpose was to detect and investigate individuals who took part in state sponsored acts committed in violation of public international law, such as crimes against humanity.In...
within the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States, except those specifically assigned to other divisions. Criminal Division attorneys prosecute many nationally significant cases and formulate and...
to investigate and bring legal action to denaturalize or deport them. The Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
had kept a list of suspects but had not pursued them.
1980 Senate candidacy
Holtzman was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1980. In her party's primary she defeated former Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
Bess Myerson
Bess Myerson
Bess Myerson became the first Jewish woman to win the Miss America pageant in 1945. She appeared on various television shows in the 1950s and 1960s...
, former New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
John V. Lindsay, and Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
John Santucci. Myerson had been the initial favorite, with endorsements from Mayor of New York Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
, Governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
Hugh Carey
Hugh Carey
Hugh Leo Carey was an American attorney, the 51st Governor of New York from 1975 to 1982, and a seven-term United States Representative .- Early life :...
and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
.
In the general election, Holtzman faced Republican challenger Al D'Amato
Al D'Amato
Alfonse Marcello "Al" D'Amato is an American lawyer and former New York politician. A Republican, he served as United States Senator from New York from 1981 to 1999.-Early life and family:...
and incumbent Senator Jacob Javits. Despite his loss to D'Amato in the Republican primary, Javits ran in the general election on the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a minor American political party that has been active only in the state of New York. Its platform supports a standard set of social liberal policies: it supports right to abortion, increased spending on education, and universal health care.As of 2007, the Liberal...
ticket. He retained his union endorsements and drew liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and Jewish voters away from Holtzman. A theme of D'Amato's campaign was that Holtzman had never voted for a Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
appropriation bill
Appropriation bill
An appropriation bill or running bill is a legislative motion which authorizes the government to spend money. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending...
in Congress.
She lost by a margin of 1%, or 81,000 votes.
New York University
She taught at New York University Law School and its Graduate School of Public Administration, 1981-1982.1981-1994 Municipal offices
In 1981, Holtzman made a comeback, winning election as District AttorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
in Kings County (Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
), a post to which she was reelected in 1985. While district attorney, she formed new bureaus to focus on sex crimes and domestic violence, along with children's issues. She argued — and won — New York v. Burger, , a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that warrantless administrative inspections can support criminal convictions in "closely regulated" industries.
She won citywide office when she was elected New York City Comptroller
New York City Comptroller
The Office of Comptroller of New York City is the chief fiscal officer and chief auditing officer of the city. The comptroller is elected, citywide, to a four-year term and can hold office for three consecutive terms. The current comptroller is Democrat John Liu, formerly a member of the New York...
in 1989. She has said that she first considered a race for Mayor of New York in 1989 before deciding to seek the comptroller's post instead. Holtzman viewed the comptroller's post as an extension of her work in Congress and as district attorney.
1992 Senate candidacy
In 1992, after the Clarence ThomasClarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
Anita Hill
Anita Hill
Anita Faye Hill is an American attorney and academic—presently a professor of social policy, law and women's studies at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she alleged that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had...
controversy, Holtzman sought the Democratic nomination for Senator to challenge Republican D'Amato again.
The Democrats seeking the nomination (Holtzman, Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro was an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party....
, New York State Attorney General
New York State Attorney General
The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New York.The current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman...
Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams is an American lawyer and politician.-Life and career:He graduated from Columbia College and the New York University School of Law. He is considered a member of the reform wing of the Democratic Party.Abrams was a member of the New York State Assembly representing the Bronx from 1966...
, Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Robert J. Mrazek
Robert J. Mrazek
Robert Jan Mrazek was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 3rd congressional district on Long Island for most of the 1980s...
and Rev. Al Sharpton) split the feminists. Emily's List
EMILY's List
EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect female candidates to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984....
endorsed Ferraro, and raised money for her. Much of the leadership of National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
was in Holtzman's camp. Former Democratic Party National Organizer Anne F. Lewis had suggested women split their campaign donations between the two women. Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
endorsed Holtzman.
She lost a bitter primary, with rancorous debates. Both Abrams and Holtzman exploited Ferraro's tax problems, and the legal problems of her husband
John Zaccaro
John Anthony Zaccaro is a real estate developer and owner of P. Zaccaro & Company, which was founded by his father Philip Zaccaro in 1935. The company acts as a landlord for properties in the Little Italy, Chinatown, and East Side areas of Manhattan and in Queens. He is the widower of the late...
and son, even suggesting a Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
connection to the family. Holtzman was vulnerable for an August loan to her campaign from Fleet Bank. In August 1992 Holtzman borrowed $450,000 to pay for television ads against Ferraro. (These charges came back to haunt her in her unsuccessful 1993 bid for a second term as Comptroller, although she was later cleared of all charges. Democrats blamed her for the expensive and brutal Senate primary that left nominee Abrams too weakened to defeat vulnerable incumbent D'Amato.)
She finished with 13%, last behind New York Attorney General Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams is an American lawyer and politician.-Life and career:He graduated from Columbia College and the New York University School of Law. He is considered a member of the reform wing of the Democratic Party.Abrams was a member of the New York State Assembly representing the Bronx from 1966...
, former Representative and 1984 vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro was an American attorney, a Democratic Party politician, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major American political party....
, and Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
.
Holtzman did not endorse Abrams, her party's candidate in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
.
Senator D'Amato, the Republican incumbent, won re-election in November 49% to 48%.
1993 Candidacy for reelection
During Holtzman's 1993 reelection race for city comptroller, she faced AssemblymanNew York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
Alan Hevesi
Alan Hevesi
Alan G. Hevesi is a Democratic politician whoserved as a New York State Assemblyman from 1971 to 1993, as Comptroller of the City of New York from 1994 to 2001, and as State Comptroller for the State of New York from 2003 to 2006...
and former Congressman Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo is a Bronx, New York politician who has been a borough president, United States Representative, and candidate for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental United States.-Early years:Badillo was...
in the Democratic primary. Badillo was also the Republican nominee for comptroller on a fusion ticket with mayoral nominee Rudolph Giuliani.
Ferraro, upset over Holtzman's ethics accusation from the 1992 Senate primary, encouraged Hevesi to oppose Holtzman. (Hevesi and Ferraro would later become estranged.) Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
Local 1199 (a politically powerful health care union led by Jennifer Cunningham), endorsed Hevesi. While initial polls showed Holtzman an easy winner for reelection, the Fleet Bank loan from the Senate race was made an issue by Hevesi and Badillo during the NY1
NY1
NY1, New York One, is a 24-hour cable-news television channel focusing on the five boroughs of New York City. In addition to news and weather forecasts, the channel also features human-interest segments such as the "New Yorker of the Week" and the "Scholar Athlete of the Week", and specialty...
debate and led to Holtzman losing support.
Holtzman's office in March 1993 included a Fleet entity on a list of recommended underwriters for the city's municipal bond
Municipal bond
A municipal bond is a bond issued by a city or other local government, or their agencies. Potential issuers of municipal bonds includes cities, counties, redevelopment agencies, special-purpose districts, school districts, public utility districts, publicly owned airports and seaports, and any...
sales. Her campaign still owed Fleet $255,000 on loan from the 1992 campaign, and had missed two payment deadlines.
In the primary, Holtzman finished second and was forced into a runoff with Hevesi. Hevesi crushed Holtzman in the runoff primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
, 67% - 33% and went on to defeat Badillo in the general election.
After elective office
Her last term in elective office ended in 1994. Since then she has been an attorney in private practice. She is now an attorneyLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
on politics. Since 2006, as a book author and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, she has advocated the impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
of President George W. Bush.
Holtzman entered the private practice of law in New York City.
She published a memoir in 1996, Who said it would be easy: one woman's life in the political arena (Cynthia L. Cooper, coauthor).
Miss Holtzman was a public member of the long running Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group
Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group
The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group is a United States government interagency group, which tasked with locating, identifying, inventorying, and recommending for declassification classified U.S. records relating to Nazi and Japanese war crimes.The...
(IWG), a commission
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
established by a 1998 act of Congress to locate, identify, inventory, and recommend for declassification, currently classified U.S. records relating to Nazi and Imperial Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
war crimes. Along with other public members, she had some sharp and public disagreements with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's interpretation of the law. On 2007-09-28, the Archivist of the United States
Archivist of the United States
The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent federal agency by Congress...
presented to Congress, the Administration, and the American people the final report of the IWG.
On January 11, 2006, The Nation published her essay calling for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush
Movement to impeach George W. Bush
During the presidency of George W. Bush, several American politicians sought to either investigate Bush for allegedly impeachable offenses, or to bring actual impeachment charges on the floor of the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee...
for authorizing
"the wiretapping
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation
NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
The NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States during the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." She expanded on her arguments for impeaching President Bush in a 2006 book coauthored with Cynthia L. Cooper, The impeachment of George W. Bush: a practical guide for concerned citizens.
In June 2008, Holtzman published a commentary on the action of U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....
(D-Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) in introducing articles of impeachment against President Bush on June 9, 2008.
She was weighing a bid for New York State Attorney General
New York State Attorney General
The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New York.The current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman...
in the 2010 election, but announced on May 25, 2010, that she had decided not to run.
Holtzman was mentioned as a frontrunner for the special election
New York's 9th congressional district special election, 2011
A 2011 special election in New York's 9th congressional district was held on September 13, 2011 to fill a seat in the U.S. Congress for New York's 9th congressional district, after Representative Anthony Weiner resigned from this seat on June 21, 2011 due to his sexting scandal...
to fill the congressional seat left vacant by the resignation of Anthony Weiner, but in the end she was not the chosen nominee.