35 Facts About Letitia James

Letitia Ann James was born on October 18,1958 and is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 67th attorney general of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed Barbara Underwood.

Letitia James served as a member of the New York City Council from 2004 to 2013.

Letitia James chaired the committees on economic development and sanitation and served on several others.

Letitia James was briefly a candidate in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, but suspended her campaign in December 2021, opting to instead run for reelection as Attorney General.

Letitia Ann James was born on October 18,1958, in Brooklyn, New York.

Letitia James received her Bachelor of Arts from the City University of New York's Lehman College in 1981, majoring in liberal arts with an emphasis in social work.

Letitia James received her Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC in 1987, and was admitted to practice law in New York State in 1989.

Letitia James served as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society and established the Urban Network, a coalition of African-American professional organizations aimed at providing scholarships for inner city youth.

Letitia James served on former New York Governor Mario Cuomo's Task Force on Diversity in the Judiciary.

Letitia James served as counsel for Albert Vann, Chief of Staff for Roger L Green in the New York State Assembly, and in the administration of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Letitia James was appointed the first Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Brooklyn regional office in 1999.

Letitia James's first run for the 35th Council district was in November 2001.

In that 2003 race, Letitia James officially became a member of the Working Families Party, and was the first citywide office-holder to run solely on the WFP line.

Letitia James is the first member of the Working Families Party to win office in New York State, and the first third-party member to be elected to the city council since 1977.

Letitia James has since changed back to the Democratic party.

Letitia James again won the Working Families and the Democratic parties' nominations by a large margin over Samuel Eric Blackwell, an urban planner at Long Island University and pro-stadium advocate.

Letitia James represented Broken Angel's owner, Arthur Wood, pro bono in his negotiations to keep his home.

Letitia James was the first to question cost overruns and irregularities in the subcontracting work of the new CityTime payroll system much touted by Bloomberg which eventually led to several indictments, Bloomberg asking a tech giant for $600 million back, and two consultants fleeing the country in 2011.

Letitia James originally advocated for the demolition of the Second Empire houses on Admiral's Row in order to build a parking lot for a proposed supermarket to serve residents in nearby housing developments, but later supported preserving some of the historic housing.

Letitia James won the Democratic primary in September 2009 against her opponents, community organizer Delia Hunley-Adossa, who received more than $200,000 from Forest City Ratner and Medhanie Estiphanos, a financial consultant.

Letitia James went on to win re-election for a second term.

On October 1,2013, Letitia James achieved a Democratic primary win in spite of her campaign fundraising trailing Daniel Squadron's and Reshma Saujani, to become the Democratic Party's nominee for New York City's elected watchdog position.

Letitia James made history by becoming the first woman and African American to be elected as attorney general in New York and serve in that role.

Letitia James was sworn in as attorney general on January 1,2019, succeeding Barbara Underwood, who was first appointed after the resignation of Eric Schneiderman.

In September 2019, Letitia James filed suit against the officials of Queens's All Faiths Cemetery, alleging financial misconduct.

The NRA filed a countersuit against Letitia James, citing statements she made during her 2018 campaign.

In February 2024, a lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General's Office under Letitia James found that the NRA mismanaged charitable funds when it failed to stop top executives, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, from diverting millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures.

Letitia James said investigations into 20 separate nursing homes "whose reported conduct during the first wave of the pandemic presented particular concern" would continue for the foreseeable future.

On October 29,2021, Letitia James stated her intention to run for the office of Governor of New York in the 2022 Democratic primary but withdrew from the race in December, after consistently polling behind incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul, with Letitia James instead choosing to seek reelection as Attorney General.

On November 8,2022, Letitia James was reelected Attorney General, defeating Republican Michael Henry in the general election.

In 2022, in her capacity as New York Attorney General, Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization and worked alongside the Manhattan district attorney's office in its criminal investigation of the organization.

Trump argued that previous comments by Letitia James, including referring to him as an "illegitimate president" during her campaign for attorney general, prove that she has a political vendetta against him.

Letitia James's office dismissed the action, stating it had no impact on her work.

Letitia James lives in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn and is a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church.

At a May 2022 rally, Letitia James stated that she had received an abortion early in her tenure as a member of the New York City Council.