Rebecca Seawright represents the 76th Assembly District, which includes
Manhattan's Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island. Rebecca, a
resident of the Upper East Side for more than two decades, is an
attorney, parent-teacher association member, activist, and former member
of Community Planning Board 8. Rebecca is a former Assistant District
Attorney in the Brooklyn DA’s office and legal counselor to
small-business owners and entrepreneurs. She is also Chair of the Board
of Directors of the Feminist Press and Chair of the Board of Visitors of
CUNY School of Law.
With her experience in law, policy making, and community services,
Rebecca will advocate for fair funding of public schools, improvements
to local transportation, and affordable housing on the East Side and
Roosevelt Island.
Rebecca has extensive experience as a public school parent. Rebecca’s
daughter is a sophomore at a public high school and her son is a
sophomore at SUNY Albany. She is a member of the Parent Teacher’s
Association at her daughter’s school and understands issues like school
overcrowding and underfunding. She will work to make sure that our
neighborhoods get their fair share of educational resources and pre-K
seats.
Originally from Texas, Rebecca was the state director of the National
Women’s Political Caucus, and served for five years as the chief of
staff for central-Texas legislator Bob Melton. She has held positions in
the Washington, D.C. offices of the former United States Senator Lloyd
Bensten, the late Congressmember Marvin Leath and Congressmember Charles
Stenholm. Rebecca later became a fundraiser for former Texas Governor
Ann Richards when she was the Texas State Treasurer running for
governor, which is what eventually brought her to New York and, later,
to become a CUNY Law School graduate.
She is married to Jay Hershenson, Senior Vice Chancellor for University
Relations and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of City University of
New York.