Name Christopher Jacobs Role Politician | Party Republican Party | |
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Education American University, University at Buffalo | ||
Christopher L. "Chris" Jacobs (born November 28, 1966) is a former Secretary of State of New York and New York State Senator. Until December 31, 2016, he was the County Clerk of Erie County, New York, having defeated Maria Whyte in the November 2011 elections.
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Career
Jacobs is one of five siblings, members of the prominent Jacobs family in Buffalo, which owns the Delaware North Companies, including the Boston Bruins hockey team. A graduate of Boston College, he holds a master's degree from American University, and a law degree from the University at Buffalo. He served as Deputy Commissioner of Environment and Planning in the administration of Erie County Executive Joel Giambra.
He has been involved in numerous community activities in Buffalo, especially in the area of education. An advocate for the creation of charter schools, he co-founded the BISON Scholarship Fund (Buffalo Inner-city Scholarship Opportunity Network) in 1995. The BISON Fund provides scholarships to City of Buffalo residents to attend private grade schools. His community work includes promoting other educational activities in local income areas of Buffalo. In 2004, he was elected as an at-large member of the Buffalo Board of Education.
In February 2006, he was the Republican nominee in a special election for the State Senate for a seat representing Buffalo and Niagara Falls. He waged a strong campaign in this heavily Democratic district and lost to Democrat Marc Coppola. In 1995, he lost a race for the Erie County Legislature. He serves on the Boards of Buffalo Place and the Freedom Station Coalition and was previously a board member at the Catholic Academy of West Buffalo and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy.
New York Secretary of State
Jacobs was appointed to the secretary of state's office on April 19, 2006, by Governor George Pataki. He was in charge of preserving state records, registering corporations, administering local government policies, working on coastal development programs, regulating professions and boxing, and overseeing state ethics and government policies. He served as the Chairman of the New York State Real Estate Board and as Chairman of the Wireless 911 Emergency System Board.
During his time as secretary of state, Jacobs took an active role in the development of the Niagara River Greenway, which is a new park being developed along the Niagara River. In addition as secretary, he toured the state promoting local government issues and fire safety. He handed out several grants statewide to promote downtowns and coastal development. He continued to served as a member of the Buffalo Board of Education.
2016
On November 8, 2016, he defeated Democrat Amber Small to win the 60th District State Senate seat and become New York State Senator-elect for the Buffalo area. The district was formerly represented by a Democrat (Marc Panepinto), thus adding a seat to the New York State Senate Republicans overall majority.