PROGRESSIVE WOMEN OF NEW YORK SUPPORT LEA WEBB FOR NYS SENATE IN JUNE PRIMARY
NEW YORK -- In its first New York State Senate endorsement of the 2022 election cycle, Progressive Women of New York today chose a candidate whose depth of experience, commitment to service, and integrity set her apart, and whose unimpeachable record establishes her as the true progressive in this race.
PWNY announced its support of Lea Webb of Binghamton, who, last month, launched her run in the Democratic primary for the NYS Senate for a new district that based on any of the proposed maps will include large portions of Broome, Tioga, and Tompkins counties.
“Special thanks to PWNY for their endorsement of my candidacy,” said Webb. “It is an honor to work alongside this powerful and dynamic organization of women and non-binary people dedicated to address central issues affecting residents of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. The Southern Tier is my home and I've proudly served this area over the course of my career. Together, we will continue to address the needs of our communities, especially those who are historically underrepresented, across the state.”
Webb, who currently works as a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at Binghamton University, was the first and youngest Black person to ever win a seat on the Binghamton City council where she served two terms (the council is term-limited). In her first race she beat the incumbent Democrat, who was at the time the Council Chair, defeating him by 12 points. Prior to that, she was an organizer with Citizen Action.
During her time on city council, she was a tireless champion for positive change, in the key areas of housing, jobs, climate and environment. She led the fight for the city’s local fracking ban, assisted the establishment of a city-wide climate action plan, established community gardens and urban farms, and tackled and fixed a food desert in her community - for which she received special recognition from Oprah Winfrey.
Webb has repeatedly gone to bat for small businesses and organized labor. While on City Council, she led the fight to pass Equal Pay for Women Legislation in Binghamton, supported project labor agreements for city projects, worked to stop cuts to vital bus routes and prevent the privatization of the county nursing homes. She supported union strikes, walking the picket lines with CWA for health care benefits and other union protests. She served on the Binghamton Local Development Corporation, which provides grants and loans to startup and existing businesses, helped to increase investment in Binghamton by attracting major residential development projects through the Commission on Downtown Binghamton Development, and worked with the Broome Tioga NAACP to establish an employment preparation program for our youth so that they are ready to seek jobs and careers for their economic advancement. In Albany she will fight for to close the
Healthcare reform and affordable housing are two of her top issues. Passing the New York Health Act, a measure which she has long advocated for, will be at the top of her priorities when she gets to the State Senate. When in Albany, she will strongly advocate to close the prevailing wage loophole so that all projects that receive public funding to be required to pay prevailing wage. While on the Binghamton City Council, she led the fight to create quality affordable housing, championing rehabilitation programs such as Restore NY and working with non-profit housing developers to build new housing.
“Lea Webb is exactly the kind of person we want to see representing us in Albany,'' said Lisa Marshall, a member of the PWNY steering committee from the Southern Tier region. “Since the age of 15 Lea has walked the walk in service to the community, first as an organizer, then as an elected official and currently as an educator. Many folks talk about racial and economic justice, Lea has lived in the fight every single day. It’s high time that the wealthy and privileged who have run things for so long, make room at the decision table for the Lea Webbs of this world.”
Formed in 2017, Progressive Women of New York is a statewide political activism and social justice organization with more than 1,700 female and non-binary members who share a commitment to upholding progressive values and human rights at every level of government.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2022
progressivewomenofny@gmail.com