Micah Kellner
Encyclopedia
Micah Z. Kellner is an American politician
from the state of New York
. A Democrat
, he serves as a member of the New York State Assembly
from the 65th district, which includes Manhattan
's Upper East Side
and Roosevelt Island
(map).
. He attended the Pingry School
, graduating in the class of 1997.
He graduated from New York University
in 2001 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in film
, television
and radio
. He worked as an aide to Senator Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
and City Controller William C. Thompson before being elected to the assembly.
While serving in Albany
, Kellner is a member of the Committee on Banks, Committee on Cities, Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection and Committee on Environmental Conservation. He has pursued legislatons in the area of affordable housing, fairer government funding formulas for New York City’s public schools, mass transit and a cleaner environment, reproductive freedom and stem cell research, marriage equality for same-sex couples and the rights of persons with disabilities.
He also is keenly interested in animal rights and is the sponsor in the New York State Assembly of A. 9449—A better known as "Oreo’s Law", that would requires the release of a shelter animal to a rescue group upon request of the rescue group prior to euthanasia of the animal. The law is named in memory of Oreo, a dog who became well known after she survived abuse at the hands of her former owner, recovered from her injuries but was then euthanized by the ASPCA in New York City, despite the offer of a No Kill sanctuary to guarantee her lifetime care.
members of the New York Legislature
, alongside Assemblymembers Deborah Glick
, Daniel O'Donnell, Matthew Titone
and Harry Bronson
, as well as Senator Thomas Duane
. His assembly campaign won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
, which provided financial and strategic assistance.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from the state of 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...
. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, he serves as a member of the New York State Assembly
New 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...
from the 65th district, which includes Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
and Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
(map).
Early life and career
An advocate for the disabled, Kellner was born with cerebral palsyCerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
. He attended the Pingry School
Pingry School
The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle and Upper School campus in Martinsville. The school was founded in 1861 by Dr. John F. Pingry.Pingry's...
, graduating in the class of 1997.
He graduated from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 2001 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. He worked as an aide to Senator Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn Bosher Maloney is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, popularly known as the "silk stocking district", includes most of Manhattan's East Side; Astoria and Long Island City in Queens; and Roosevelt Island.-Early life,...
and City Controller William C. Thompson before being elected to the assembly.
New York State Assembly
Following the appointment of Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis as New York State's Environment Commissioner early in 2007, Kellner was selected as the Democratic nominee for the special election held to fill the vacancy. In the election held on June 5, 2007 he received 64% of the vote, comfortably defeating his Republican opponent.While serving in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, Kellner is a member of the Committee on Banks, Committee on Cities, Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection and Committee on Environmental Conservation. He has pursued legislatons in the area of affordable housing, fairer government funding formulas for New York City’s public schools, mass transit and a cleaner environment, reproductive freedom and stem cell research, marriage equality for same-sex couples and the rights of persons with disabilities.
He also is keenly interested in animal rights and is the sponsor in the New York State Assembly of A. 9449—A better known as "Oreo’s Law", that would requires the release of a shelter animal to a rescue group upon request of the rescue group prior to euthanasia of the animal. The law is named in memory of Oreo, a dog who became well known after she survived abuse at the hands of her former owner, recovered from her injuries but was then euthanized by the ASPCA in New York City, despite the offer of a No Kill sanctuary to guarantee her lifetime care.
Personal life
Kellner is openly bisexual and is one of six LGBTLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
members of the New York Legislature
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...
, alongside Assemblymembers Deborah Glick
Deborah Glick
Deborah J. Glick is an American politician from New York and a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing the 66th Assembly District in lower Manhattan....
, Daniel O'Donnell, Matthew Titone
Matthew Titone
Matthew J. Titone is an American politician and lawyer from Staten Island, New York. A Democrat, he serves as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 61st District, on Staten Island's North Shore.-Early life, education, career:...
and Harry Bronson
Harry Bronson
Harry B. Bronson is an attorney and politician from Rochester, New York who serves as a member of the New York State Assembly. A former member of the Monroe County legislature, he was elected to the Assembly in 2010...
, as well as Senator Thomas Duane
Thomas Duane
Thomas K. Duane is an American politician from New York, currently serving in the New York State Senate. He was the nation's first openly HIV-positive person elected to office....
. His assembly campaign won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials in US political life.The Victory Fund was founded in 1991...
, which provided financial and strategic assistance.
Election results
- June 2007 special election, NYS Assembly, 65th AD
Micah Z. Kellner (DEM New York State Democratic CommitteeThe New York State Democratic Committee runs the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of New York. Its headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and it has an office in Albany.-List of chairpersons:...
- WORWorking Families PartyThe Working Families Party is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. There are "sister" parties to the New York WFP in Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon, but there is as yet no national WFP...
)... 4,254 Gregory T. Camp (REP New York Republican State CommitteeThe New York Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New York, headquartered in Albany.-History:...
- INDIndependence Party of New YorkThe Independence Party is an affiliate in the U.S. state of New York of the Independence Party of America. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994...
)... 2,273
- November 2008 general electionGeneral electionIn 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...
, NYS Assembly, 65th ADMicah Z. Kellner (DEM New York State Democratic CommitteeThe New York State Democratic Committee runs the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of New York. Its headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and it has an office in Albany.-List of chairpersons:...
- WORWorking Families PartyThe Working Families Party is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. There are "sister" parties to the New York WFP in Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon, but there is as yet no national WFP...
)... 36,682 Georgiana Viest (REP New York Republican State CommitteeThe New York Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New York, headquartered in Albany.-History:...
)... 11,636
- November 2010 general electionGeneral electionIn 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...
, NYS Assembly, 65th ADMicah Z. Kellner (DEM New York State Democratic CommitteeThe New York State Democratic Committee runs the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of New York. Its headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and it has an office in Albany.-List of chairpersons:...
- WORWorking Families PartyThe Working Families Party is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. There are "sister" parties to the New York WFP in Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon, but there is as yet no national WFP...
)... 22,741 Michael K. Zumbluskus (REP New York Republican State CommitteeThe New York Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in New York, headquartered in Albany.-History:...
)... 7,998