Order over chaos: How Andrea Stewart-Cousins fixed the state Senate Democratic conference
The majority leader has presided over growing power and has delivered legislative successes with and without the New York governor’s help.
“When state senators voted to make Stewart-Cousins their leader in December 2012, the Democratic conference was nothing if not chaotic….
“But she did more than simply bring political order to the fractured and chaotic Democratic conference. It didn’t just survive, it has thrived under her leadership. It took a few years, but Democrats won a big majority in 2018, passing long-stalled legislation at the beginning of the new session in 2019. And far from falling apart like a decade earlier, the party grew its majority in 2020.
“Stewart-Cousins, the first woman to lead the state Senate, managed to succeed where her predecessors had failed, not only in the world of electoral politics but in governance as well. Smith said Stewart-Cousins wields “subtle power” in contrast to the long history of men in Albany. It’s a power refined over years of struggle and breaking barriers as well as fighting through the underestimation and prejudice reserved for Black women in particular. When she officially became majority leader at the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, she did so with a smile and carefully picked, soft-spoken words, rarely raising her voice or losing her cool. And so far, that style of wielding power has served her well….”
