Incumbent State Senator Lea Webb (D-N.Y.) will face off against Republican Mike Sigler in November to maintain her position in New York’s 52nd district.
Born and raised in Binghamton, Webb has been a lifelong resident of the Southern Tier. After graduating from a public high school, Webb became a first-generation student of SUNY Broome Community College and later Binghamton University.
After graduation, Webb worked as an educator for Binghamton University. There, she developed diversity and inclusion training-based programs for students, faculty and staff.
Webb was eventually elected into Binghamton’s City Council in 2007, making her the first Black person to have served on the council. During her two-term run, which ended in 2015, Webb worked to strengthen her community by redeveloping blighted properties into homes for the community.
Webb also passed legislation supporting equal pay for women, creating a city-based human rights commission, establishing a city-wide climate action plan and supporting small business development and job creation.
In 2022, Lea Webb was elected to represent the then-newly redrawn 52nd State District. Once she was sworn in in January 2023, she officially became part of a historic class of 18 incoming Democratic senators made up entirely of women for the first time in the 245-year history of the New York State Senate.
Leaderboard 2
During her campaign for reelection to the State Senate, Webb has been dedicated to tackling a variety of issues relevant to both New York and across the nation.
“When reelected to a second term in the N.Y. Senate, I will continue to fight to improve equitable access to resources for working families,” Webb said. “I will ensure women’s reproductive rights are always protected in New York.”
Tackling issues regarding women’s reproductive rights has always been a priority for Webb, who plans on continuing the fight if reelected.
Newsletter Signup
“I was elected in a post-Roe v. Wade world, where reproductive rights and freedoms that had long been settled as a civil right, continue to come under attack,” Webb said. “There are consistent efforts to roll back this important healthcare right, including legislative actions to criminalize doctors providing care to their patients and more. I ran with the resolve that if the Supreme Court wouldn’t protect a woman’s right to choose, I would as a state senator.”
This past year, Webb sponsored a unanimously passed a maternal health care bill, which requires that the Department of Health summons a workgroup to study and evaluate the development of various reproductive developments and issues.
Webb has also been able to make advancements in combating a variety of other concerns regarding reproductive health.
As chair of the NYS Senate Committee on Women’s Issues, Webb dedicated her time to passing legislation on issues impacting women such as menstrual product accessibility, protection against fibroids and ovarian cancer and measures to prevent human trafficking.
“We’ve made tremendous strides in New York to fully protect reproductive rights,” Webb said. “But there’s still work to be done.”
Webb believes that Sigler’s silence regarding issues of abortion on reproductive rights is representative of his views.
“I think he is hoping that no one will notice that he’s an anti-choice extremist on this issue,” Webb said.
Sigler stated that he has “always been pro life” and believes that more emphasis should be put on prosecuting the rapists, if they are responsible for the pregnancy, than on the abortion itself in a WRFI interview in 2022.
Webb also plans to tackle issues regarding affordability, specifically regarding working families across New York.
“It is critical that we do everything we can in Albany to ensure a prosperous future for working families and small businesses,” Webb said. “Especially when it comes to necessities, including child care, housing costs and utilities.”
Webb recognizes that colleges and universities play a pivotal role in advancing communities, especially Ithaca, but wants to ease the financial burden that students and their families endure. To do so, she expanded access to the Tuition Assistance Program, which helps New York residents pay tuition at approved schools.
“My bill that was passed increases the TAP award from $500 to $1,000,” Webb said. “Additionally, in this legislative session, we expanded the TAP program income eligibility levels.”
One of Webb’s first votes as a freshman senator was on the second passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which guarantees equal rights for all regardless of sex. While first proposed in 1923, it was finally ratified in January of 2020.
“When New Yorkers go to the polls to vote this coming November, they will have the opportunity to protect the right to abortion in our state constitution,” Webb said. “In addition to codifying the right to abortion in our state constitution, passing the ERA will ensure equal protection from discrimination to women, LGBTQI+ individuals and many more New Yorkers.”