1. Elizabeth Holtzman was born on August 11,1941 and is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party from 1973 to 1981.
68 Facts About Elizabeth Holtzman
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Elizabeth Holtzman then served as district attorney of Kings County from 1982 to 1989, and as the 40th Comptroller of New York City from 1990 to 1993.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was born alongside her twin brother in Brooklyn, New York, on August 11,1941, to Russian immigrants Sidney Holtzman, a lawyer, and Filia Ravitz, who had a doctorate from Columbia University and later headed the Russia department at Hunter College.
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Elizabeth Holtzman's family is Jewish, and she attended Hebrew school.
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Elizabeth Holtzman attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and Abraham Lincoln High School.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was elected vice president of the student government in 1958, while her brother was its president.
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Elizabeth Holtzman worked on civil rights cases in Alabama and Georgia and for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers in 1976, and worked at New York University School of Law from 1981 to 1982.
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In 1984, a delegation, including Elizabeth Holtzman, went to Paraguay to search for Josef Mengele.
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Elizabeth Holtzman said that Ken Starr "overstepped his jurisdiction" by not conducting his report in a similar manner to Leon Jaworski, the special counsel for Nixon's impeachment.
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Elizabeth Holtzman worked on Adlai Stevenson II's and Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaigns.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was a liaison officer in the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Administration from 1967 to 1970, during John Lindsay's mayoralty.
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Elizabeth Holtzman left her position as a liaison officer to run for the New York State Democratic Committee from Flatbush, Brooklyn.
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In 1970, Elizabeth Holtzman filed suit against a law that placed incumbents at the top of the ballot line; the New York Court of Appeals ruled in her favor, five to two.
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On March 28,1972, Elizabeth Holtzman announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district.
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Elizabeth Holtzman believed that Celler was vulnerable as he had no district office, his residency was under question, and he largely went unmentioned in his district's political circles.
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Elizabeth Holtzman raised around $32,000 and borrowed $4,000 during the primary, though she was told she needed $100,000 to run her campaign.
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Elizabeth Holtzman defeated Celler and Robert O'Donnell in the primary.
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Elizabeth Holtzman defeated Republican and United Taxpayers nominee Larry Penner and Conservative nominee John H Fox in the 1978 election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman left the House after four terms in order to run for the Senate.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was the first female member of the Democratic Party to serve on the Budget Committee.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was one of the 15 founding members of the Congresswomen's Caucus and co-chaired it with Margaret Heckler.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was one of only four Democrats to vote in support of Wilson's challenge.
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Elizabeth Holtzman supported George McGovern in the 1972 Democratic presidential primaries and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
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Elizabeth Holtzman endorsed Herman Badillo for the Democratic nomination during the 1973 New York City mayoral election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman endorsed Ramsey Clark's New York senatorial campaign during the 1974 election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman supported Governor Hugh Carey in the 1978 gubernatorial election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman received two delegate votes for the vice-presidential nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was one of the first members of the Judiciary Committee to support starting impeachment proceedings against Nixon, in 1973.
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Elizabeth Holtzman voted in favor of an attempt by Representative John Conyers to have Nixon cited for contempt of Congress that failed, 32 to 5.
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Elizabeth Holtzman wrote Article IV of the impeachment charges, which charged Nixon with the violation of the War Powers Clause, and it was introduced by Conyers.
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Elizabeth Holtzman voted against advancing Gerald Ford's vice presidential confirmation in the Judiciary Committee and at the final vote.
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Elizabeth Holtzman asked Ford whether he had made a deal with Nixon to pardon him.
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Elizabeth Holtzman asked if the pardon and an agreement that the tapes belonged to Nixon was in order to prevent the release of conversations between him and Nixon.
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Elizabeth Holtzman asked Attorney General Edward H Levi to investigate claims of perjury and alleged a cover-up after he declined to investigate.
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Elizabeth Holtzman made a motion in the Judiciary Committee to launch a probe into the pardon, but it failed, four to three.
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Elizabeth Holtzman said that she was "testing the voters" for a senatorial campaign on May 5,1979.
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Elizabeth Holtzman attempted to gain the Liberal nomination, but the party selected incumbent Senator Jacob Javits.
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Elizabeth Holtzman won the Democratic primary, making her the first woman to win a major-party US Senate nomination in New York.
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Elizabeth Holtzman raised $1,869,183 and spent $2,003,548 during the campaign.
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Elizabeth Holtzman attributed her defeat to a lack of financial support from the Democratic Party and President Jimmy Carter's unpopularity.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was included in polling as a possible challenger to Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the 1982 US Senate election.
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On February 6,1992, Elizabeth Holtzman announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 US Senate election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman filed a complaint against D'Amato to the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics, accusing him of illegally using his franking privilege, worth $461,000, to send a letter to three million New Yorkers stating that there was not enough evidence to charge him in 1991, but the committee dismissed the complaint.
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Elizabeth Holtzman focused on negative advertising against Ferraro, saying that it was "a legitimate and valid way of showing the voters the differences", as Ferraro was declining to attend debates at the time.
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Elizabeth Holtzman placed last of the four candidates in the Democratic primary, after having raised $3,037,868 and spent $2,929,109, and was accused of costing Ferraro the primary.
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Ferraro said that Elizabeth Holtzman's negative campaigning hurt Democratic nominee Robert Abrams in the general election and allowed D'Amato to win reelection.
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Elizabeth Holtzman's election made her first female district attorney in New York City and the second in New York State.
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Elizabeth Holtzman was an opponent of Meade Esposito, the chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and its political machine, during her political career and reduced his control over the district attorney's office.
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Elizabeth Holtzman announced her campaign to succeed him on July 16,1989.
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Sheila Levin, the chief fundraiser for the Re-Elect Liz Elizabeth Holtzman Committee, was investigated by the New York City Department of Investigation and New York County District Attorney for providing false information on the bank application.
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Elizabeth Holtzman placed second in the primary and lost the runoff to Hevesi, with the controversy around her campaign loan being blamed for her defeat.
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Elizabeth Holtzman considered running to succeed Andrew Cuomo as attorney general of New York in the 2010 election and running in the special election to replace Anthony Weiner as the representative from New York's 9th congressional district after Weiner resigned in 2011.
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Elizabeth Holtzman ran for the Democratic nomination in New York's 10th congressional district in the 2022 election.
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Elizabeth Holtzman supported the Equal Rights Amendment and was the leading sponsor of legislation to extend its deadline.
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Elizabeth Holtzman criticized Celler during the 1972 election for opposing the legislation and preventing its passage by the Judiciary Committee.
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Elizabeth Holtzman called for George Scratchley Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be removed from his position after he claimed that Jews controlled the banking system and newspapers.
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Elizabeth Holtzman voted against the War Powers Resolution, saying that the "actual effect would be to sanction for 123 days combat operations initiated solely by the President".
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Elizabeth Holtzman supported the Nuclear Freeze campaign and ending the testing of nuclear weapons.
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Elizabeth Holtzman traveled to Egypt and Israel on December 20,1977, and met with President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
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Elizabeth Holtzman criticized President Jimmy Carter for offering to sell fighter planes to Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
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Elizabeth Holtzman opposed Carter's decision to reinstitute the Selective Service System registration requirement.
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Elizabeth Holtzman called for Carter to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Billy Carter's connections with Libya.
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Elizabeth Holtzman criticized the Immigration and Naturalization Service in April 1974 for allowing around 50 alleged Nazi war criminals to live in the US In 1977, she and 42 other representatives introduced legislation calling for the deportation of all aliens who had engaged in Nazi war crimes.
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Elizabeth Holtzman asked for Austrian President Kurt Waldheim not to be allowed inside the US due to his involvement with the Nazis.
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Elizabeth Holtzman sent a list of South Vietnamese people, including Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Ngoc Loan, to the INS for investigation of their involvement in war crimes.
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In 1975, Holtzman voted against legislation to give Robert E Lee his citizenship back and unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to extend the citizenship return to draft dodgers and protesters who renounced their citizenship in protest of the Vietnam War.
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Elizabeth Holtzman asked the INS to investigate Sun Myung Moon, asking whether he could be deported for inducing or assisting the entry of illegal immigrants or for failing to report his criminal record.