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Adriano Espaillat
Rep. Adriano Espaillat 117th Official Photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 13th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded by Charles Rangel
Member of the New York Senate
from the 31st district
In office
January 1, 2011 – December 31, 2016
Preceded by Eric Schneiderman
Succeeded by Marisol Alcantara
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 72nd district
In office
January 1, 1997 – December 31, 2010
Preceded by John Brian Murtaugh
Succeeded by Guillermo Linares
Personal details
Born
Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez

(1954-09-27) September 27, 1954 (age 70)
Santiago, Dominican Republic
Political party Democratic
Spouse
Martha Madera
(m. 1979)
Children 2
Relatives Buenaventura Báez (third-great-grandfather)
Pedro Ignacio Espaillat (second-great-grandfather)
Marcos Antonio Cabral (second-great-grandfather)
Mario Fermín Cabral y Báez (great-grandfather)
Residences Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Education Queens College (BS)

Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez (/ˌɑːdriˈɑːn ˌɛspˈjɑːt/ ah-DREE-ah-NOH-_-ESS-pie; born September 27, 1954) is a Dominican-American politician. He is the U.S. representative for New York's 13th congressional district and the first Dominican American and first formerly Undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress. He previously served in the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly.

Espaillat was a ranking member of the New York Senate Housing, Construction and Community Development Committee and chaired the Senate Latino Caucus. He represented the neighborhoods of Marble Hill, Inwood, Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville, Morningside Heights, East Harlem and the Upper West Side in Manhattan.

Espaillat is a Democrat. He challenged then-Representative Charles Rangel in the Democratic primaries in 2012 and 2014, eventually winning the Democratic nomination in 2016 after Rangel announced his retirement. Espaillat represents one of the most Democratic districts in the country, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+38.

Early life and education

Espaillat was born on September 27, 1954, in Santiago, Dominican Republic, to Melba (née Rodríguez) and Ulises Espaillat. His father is namesake of 19th-century liberal Dominican president Ulises Espaillat.

Espaillat has claimed that Dominican president Ulises Espaillat was his great-grandfather; however, according to Dominican genealogist Edwin Espinal Hernández, a fellow of the Dominican Institute of Genealogy, Espaillat is not a descendant of former President Ulises Espaillat nor is related by him by blood, according to his research Adriano Espaillat is second-great-grandson of the military hero Pedro Ignacio Espaillat, who is descended from black African former slaves of Francisco Espaillat, an 18th-century French slaveholder and governor of the Dominican province of Cibao during the Spanish colony. However, Espaillat is —via his mother— the great-grandson of former Dominican Senate President Mario Fermín Cabral y Báez through an illegitimate daughter, which makes him a descendant of controversial 19th-century Dominican President Buenaventura Báez. He is related via his father to several historical Dominican figures, including senators, congressmen, presidents (such as Antonio Guzmán and Danilo Medina) and military officers of the Dominican Republic.

He and his family moved to the United States in 1964. After overstaying a tourist visa, the Espaillats became lawful permanent residents (Green Card holders) in 1965.

Espaillat grew up in Washington Heights. He graduated from Bishop Dubois High School in 1974 and earned his B.S. degree in political science at Queens College, City University of New York in 1978.

Personal life

Espaillat lives in Inwood, Manhattan. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Espaillat married Martha Madera in 1979. He has two children and is a grandfather. He is a Yankees fan.

Espaillat is a Catholic, but disagrees with the Church on certain issues.

Earlier career

Espaillat served as the Manhattan Court Services Coordinator for the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, a nonprofit organization that provides indigent legal services and works to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention and post-sentence incarceration costs. As a state-certified conflict resolution mediator and volunteer with the Washington Heights Inwood Conflict Resolutions and Mediation Center, Espaillat helped resolve hundreds of conflicts.

He later worked as director of the Washington Heights Victims Services Community Office, an organization offering counseling and other services to families of victims of homicides and other crimes. .....

Before his election to the New York State Assembly, Espaillat was an active voice on Manhattan Community Board 12, and president of the 34th Precinct Community Council. Espaillat also served on Governor Mario Cuomo's Dominican-American Advisory Board from 1991 to 1993.

New York State Assembly

Espaillat served in the New York State Assembly from 1997 to 2010. He was elected in 1996, defeating 16-year incumbent John Brian Murtaugh in the Democratic primary. Espaillat chaired the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, and committees on small business and children & families.

In the Assembly, Espaillat was a vocal advocate for tenants, consumers, veterans, immigrants and local businesses. He passed laws encouraging the construction and preservation of affordable housing, giving low-income day care workers the right to organize and obtain health care, and sponsored measures to improve hospital translation services. He also established a higher education scholarship fund for relatives of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001. Despite national Republican and conservative criticism, Espaillat strongly supported efforts in 2007 to allow Undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

After a wave of assaults and murders against livery cab drivers in 2000 that left over 10 dead, Espaillat passed legislation strengthening penalties for violent crimes against livery drivers and enabled their families to receive New York State Crime Victims Board funding. Livery cabs work in less affluent neighborhoods of New York that typically lack access to yellow cabs.

Espaillat took legal action against power utility Con Edison after equipment failures led to a two-day blackout in Upper Manhattan in July 1999 that caused financial damage to restaurants, bodegas and other small businesses. Con Edison subsequently agreed to invest an additional $100 million in Upper Manhattan electrical infrastructure at no cost to ratepayers and was required to refund customers billed for expenses related to the blackout.

New York State Senate

Brewer Espaillat 563 Columbus Av 87 St jeh
Office on Columbus Avenue

Elections

2010

Espaillat ran for state senate in 2010 after incumbent Eric Schneiderman announced his campaign for New York Attorney General. Espaillat received more than 50% of the vote in a four-way Democratic party. In 2012, Espaillat defeated then-Assemblyman Guillermo Linares 62% - 38% in the Democratic primary.

2014

After losing to Charles Rangel in the Democratic primary for Congress, Espaillat announced candidacy for reelection to his state senate seat, facing former City Councilman Robert Jackson. He was reelected with 50.3% of the vote to Jackson's 42.7%.

Tenure

Adriano-Espaillat
Adriano Espaillat in 2014.

In 2011, Espaillat led the fight to safeguard and strengthen rent regulation for over 1 million affordable housing apartments that was set to expire that year. While tenant protections had been weakened in the past, the agreement reached that year made it more difficult to convert affordable housing to market rate and created a new Tenant Protection Unit within the state's housing agency.

Espaillat also passed legislation increasing enforcement against businesses that sell alcohol to minors and authored the Notary Public Advertising Act, to crack down on public notaries who prey on vulnerable immigrants by offering fraudulent legal services. He voted in favor of marriage equality legislation in 2011.

State Senate committee assignments

  • Housing, Construction & Community Development (Ranking Member)
  • Environmental Conservation
  • Higher Education
  • Codes
  • Rules
  • Judiciary
  • Finance
  • Insurance

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012

In 2012, Espaillat ran in the Democratic primary for New York's 13th congressional district, in a crowded field that included 42-year incumbent Charles Rangel. The seat had long been a majority-black district, but redistricting after the 2010 census made it a 55% Hispanic-majority district.

In the Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—Rangel beat Espaillat, 44% to 42%, a margin of less than 1,000 votes. Espaillat placed first in the Bronx section of the district and parts of Upper Manhattan.

The election was marked by reports that Spanish-speaking voters were either turned away at the polls or forced to use affidavit ballots. The New York City Board of Elections was also sharply criticized for its poor handling of the election and subsequent legal proceedings.

2014

In 2014, Espaillat ran against Rangel again, losing for the second consecutive time, 47.7% to 43.1%.

2016

In November 2015, Espaillat announced he would give up his state senate seat to run for Congress again. He was running for an open seat; Rangel had announced in 2014 that he would not seek a 22nd term in 2016. In the Democratic primary, he narrowly defeated his nearest challenger, state assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, with 36% of the vote. This made him an overwhelming favorite in the general election, which he won with 89% of the vote.

When Espaillat took office on January 3, 2017, he became only the third person to represent what is now the 13th in 72 years. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. held the district from 1945 to 1971; Rangel had won the seat after defeating Powell in the 1970 primary. The district had been numbered as the 22nd district from 1945 to 1953, the 16th from 1953 to 1963, the 18th from 1963 to 1973, the 19th from 1973 to 1983, the 16th from 1983 to 1993, the 15th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 13th since 2013.

Tenure

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Espaillat with President Joe Biden and Tom Suozzi in 2021

Espaillat serves as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Committee on Small Business. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and was appointed chair of the CHC Task Force for Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing.

In August 2017, after the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Espaillat and Pennsylvania Representative Dwight E. Evans introduced legislation banning Confederate monuments on federal property.

Espaillat has been critical of Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro. In March 2019 he and 29 other Democratic lawmakers wrote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a letter that read in part, "Since the election of far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro as president, we have been particularly alarmed by the threat Bolsonaro's agenda poses to the LGBTQ+ community and other minority communities, women, labor activists, and political dissidents in Brazil."

In January 2023, Espaillat introduced a resolution (H.Res.28) condemning the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and ... v. Casey as well as committing to advancing reproductive justice and judicial reform.

On February 1, 2023, Espaillat was named Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

In February 2023, Espaillat introduced a bill (H.R 1124) which would abolish the death penalty under Federal law.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Appropriations
    • Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch (Ranking Member)
    • Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
  • Committee on the Budget

Caucus leadership

  • Congressional Hispanic Caucus, deputy chair
  • Latino-Jewish Caucus, co-chair

Caucus memberships

  • Congressional Progressive Caucus
  • Labor Caucus
  • Foster Youth Caucus
  • LGBT Equality Caucus
  • Black Maternal Health Caucus
  • New Americans Caucus
  • Expand Social Security Caucus
  • Tri-Caucus
  • Steel Caucus
  • Wine Caucus
  • Medicare for All Caucus
  • Friends of the Dominican Republic Caucus
  • Friends of Ecuador Caucus

Political positions

Guns

In March 2021, Espaillat and Representative Brad Schneider proposed legislation to regulate privately made firearms. This was pitched as an effort to curb gun violence.

Immigration

Espaillat visited an immigration detention facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, vowing that the U.S. needs to do a better job of connecting migrant children detained at the southern border with their families. The first former Undocumented immigrant in Congress, Espaillat claimed he overstayed a tourist visa in the 1960s and is a staunch supporter of the American Dream and Promise Act.

Israel

Espaillat supports Israel's right to defend itself. In 2019, Espaillat supported the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, an effort that called for criminal penalties of up to $1 million for companies that support the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement against Israel. In August 2019, he released a statement condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to deny Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar entry into Israel. In 2023, he voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Syria

In 2023, Espaillat was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Espaillat was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

Electoral history

New York City Council

1991 New York City Council District 10 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Guillermo Linares 1,843 30.06
Democratic María A. Luna 1,585 25.85
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 1,550 25.28
Democratic Harry C. Fotopoulos 860 14.03
Democratic Raynard Edwards 294 4.80
Total votes 6,132 100.00
General election
Democratic Guillermo Linares 4,901 84.79
Conservative Apolinar Trinidad 460 7.96
Liberal Adriano Espaillat 419 7.25
Total votes 5,780 100.00
Democratic hold

New York State Assembly

1996 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 3,604 52.95
Democratic John Brian Murtaugh (incumbent) 3,203 47.05
Total votes 6,807 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 15,098 81.01
Liberal John Brian Murtaugh (incumbent) 2,216 11.89
Republican Hector Ramirez 1,174 6.30
Independence Theo Maltas 150 0.81
Total votes 18,638 100.00
Democratic hold
1998 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 4,323 64.66
Democratic Isabel Evangelista 2,363 35.34
Total votes 6,686 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 12,387 92.16
Republican Faisal M. Sipra 793 5.90
Independence Elizabeth Elliotte 261 1.94
Total votes 13,441 100.00
Democratic hold
2000 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 20,724 92.05
Republican Nilda Luz Rexach 1,610 7.15
Conservative David J. Brache 179 0.80
Total votes 22,513 100.00
Democratic hold
2002 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 5,652 79.85
Democratic Rubén Dario Vargas 1,426 20.15
Total votes 7,078 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 8,820 85.03
Republican Nilda Luz Rexach 1,320 12.73
Independence Jose Reyes 233 2.25
Total votes 10,373 100.00
Democratic hold
2004 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 22,230 91.85
Republican Martin Chicon 1,973 8.15
Total votes 24,203 100.00
Democratic hold
2006 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 3,975 68.15
Democratic Francesca Castellanos 1,156 19.82
Democratic Miguel Estrella 702 12.04
Total votes 5,833 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 14,176 90.02
Republican Martin Chicon 1,109 7.04
Coalition Francesca Castellanos 463 2.94
Total votes 15,748 100.00
Democratic hold
2008 New York State Assembly District 72 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 4,542 54.06
Democratic Miguel Martinez 3,860 45.94
Total votes 8,402 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 26,712 94.15
Republican Bill Buran 1,661 5.85
Total votes 28,373 100.00
Democratic hold

New York State Senate

2010 New York State Senate District 31 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 13,499 52.57
Democratic Mark Levine 9,696 37.76
Democratic Anna R. Lewis 1,942 7.56
Democratic Miosotis Munoz 541 2.11
Total votes 25,678 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 50,007 83.88
Republican Stylo A. Sapaskis 6,388 10.72
Green Ann J. Roos 2,158 3.62
Conservative Raphael M. Klapper 964 1.62
independent (politician) Mark Levine (write-in) 59 0.10
Write-in 44 0.07
Total votes 59,620 100.00
Democratic hold
2012 New York State Senate District 31 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 11,138 61.29
Democratic Guillermo Linares 6,927 38.12
Write-in 107 0.59
Total votes 18,172 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 84,944 91.11
Republican Martin Chicon 8,184 8.78
Write-in 106 0.11
Total votes 93,234 100.00
Democratic hold
2014 New York State Senate District 31 election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 10,439 49.89
Democratic Robert Jackson 9,019 43.10
Democratic Luis M. Tejada 1,466 7.01
Total votes 20,924 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 37,089 99.19
Write-in 301 0.81
Total votes 37,390 100.00
Democratic hold

U.S. House of Representatives

2012 New York's 13th congressional district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles Rangel (incumbent) 19,187 44.45
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 18,101 41.93
Democratic Clyde Edward Williams Jr. 4,266 9.88
Democratic Joyce S. Johnson 1,018 2.36
Democratic Craig Schley 598 1.39
Total votes 43,170 100.00
2014 New York's 13th congressional district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles Rangel (incumbent) 23,799 47.76
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 21,477 43.10
Democratic Michael A. Walrond Jr. 3,954 7.94
Democratic Yolanda Garcia 597 1.20
Total votes 49,827 100.00
2016 New York's 13th congressional district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 16,377 35.87
Democratic Keith L. T. Wright 15,528 34.01
Democratic Clyde Edward Williams Jr. 5,003 10.96
Democratic Adam Clayton Powell IV 2,986 6.54
Democratic Guillermo Linares 2,504 5.49
Democratic Suzan Johnson Cook 2,341 5.13
Democratic Michael Gallagher 435 0.95
Democratic Sam Sloan 227 0.50
Democratic Yohanny Caceres 116 0.25
Write-in 138 0.30
Total votes 45,655 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 207,194 88.64
Republican Robert A. Evans Jr. 13,129 5.62
Independence Robert A. Evans Jr. 2,960 1.27
Total Robert A. Evans Jr. 16,089 6.88
Green Daniel Vila Rivera 8,248 3.53
independent (politician) Scott L. Fenstermaker 1,877 0.80
Write-in 329 0.14
Total votes 233,737 100.00
Democratic hold
2018 New York's 13th congressional district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 171,341 89.85
Working Families Adriano Espaillat 8,694 4.56
Total Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 180,035 94.41
Republican Jineea Butler 9,535 5.00
Reform Jineea Butler 733 0.38
Total Jineea Butler 10,268 5.38
Write-in 385 0.20
Total votes 190,688 100.00
Democratic hold
2020 New York's 13th congressional district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 46,066 58.94
Democratic James Felton Keith 19,799 25.33
Democratic Ramon Rodriguez 11,859 15.17
Write-in 434 0.56
Total votes 78,158 100.00
General election
Democratic Adriano Espaillat 202,916 79.46
Working Families Adriano Espaillat 28,925 11.33
Total Adriano Espaillat (incumbent) 231,841 90.79
Republican Lovelynn "Love" Gwinn 19,829 7.77
Conservative Christopher Morris-Perry 3,295 1.29
Write-in 405 0.16
Total votes 255,370 100.00
Democratic hold

See also

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