Liam McLaughlin

Liam J. McLaughlin
Yonkers City Council President
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2014
Preceded by	Chuck Lesnick
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Debbie McLaughlin
Children	1
Alma mater	Fordham University
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Liam J. McLaughlin (born January 16, 1968) is the Council President of the Yonkers City Council. He is a practicing attorney and partner at McLaughlin & Zerafa, LLP, an estates and trusts firm.

Early career and background

McLaughlin grew up in Yonkers, New York and attended Fordham University where he received a Bachelor's degree in accounting in 1989.^[1] He became an auditor at Ernst and Young and went on to receive a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in 1996.^[2]

Political career

Involved with a local neighborhood association, as well as the Ancient Order of Hibernians, McLaughlin first ran for the City Council in Yonkers, New York's fourth largest city and one of the "Big Five" cities in the State, in a 1997 election for the fourth district council seat. He scored an impressive 38% of the vote as a third-party candidate on the Conservative Party of New York State line.^[3][4] He won the seat outright during the 1999 general election after winning the Republican primary and served from 2000 to 2010, including service as Minority Leader and Majority Leader.^[5][6]

He ran for the New York State Senate in 2010 after being term-limited off the Council against State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, garnering a surprising 45% of the vote in a heavily gerrymandered Democratic district.^[7][8] He then returned to private law practice and served as an adjunct professor at Manhattan College.^[9]

In 2013, he was elected Council President.^[10][11] His first local law gave a school tax exemption to military veterans, which made Yonkers the first major city in New York to offer that benefit to service members.^[12][13]

External links

• Official Biography
• Law Office

Notes

1. Shillinglaw, Greg. "Yonkers council president race focuses on city's ailing economy." Journal News. October 25, 2013.
2. "Floor Statement honoring Liam J. McLaughlin. United States House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Eliot Engel. Official transcript from December 17, 2009.
3. Kilgannon, Corey. "Dublin on the Thruway." New York Times. August 25, 2002.
4. Garcia, Ernie. "State Senate: Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Liam McLaughlin fight to the end in District 35." Journal News. November 1, 2010.
5. Ryser, Rob. "State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, challenger Liam McLaughlin interviewed." Journal News. October 4, 2010.
6. Garcia, Ernie. "Yonkers' McLaughlin to run for City Council president." Journal News. April 19, 2009.
7. Katz, Celeste. "Yonkers Mayor Staying Put!" Daily News. May 20, 2010.
8. De Souza, Danielle. "McLaughlin concedes to Stewart-Cousins." Journal News. November 4, 2010.
9. Maniace, Len. "McLaughlin drops primary bid for Yonkers council president." Journal News. June 5, 2009.
10. Samin, Suzanne. "McLaughlin Leads In Yonkers Council President Race." Yonkers Daily Voice. November 6, 2013.
11. "Liam McLaughlin wins Yonkers City Council president race." News 12 Westchester. November 6, 2013.
12. Matthews, Cara. "Yonkers veterans get school-tax break." Journal News. February 27, 2014.
13. Bruttell, Nathan. "Yonkers City Council Unanimously Expands Tax Break For Veterans." Yonkers Daily Voice. March 3, 2014.