Jen Metzger

Metzger was born and raised in New York City.[1] She graduated from Oberlin College in 1987 and earned her Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University in 2004.[2] She is married with three children.[1]

In 1988, Metzger began work as a public affairs coordinator with the United Nations, and later served as an instructor at the Walt Whitman Center for Culture and Politics of Democracy and Rutgers University.[3]

In 2001, Metzger and her husband moved to Rosendale, New York, a hamlet in the Hudson Valley.[4] She later chaired the Rosendale Environmental Commission and served as Deputy Town Supervisor.[5] In 2013, Metzger was elected to the Rosendale Town Council.[6] She was re-elected in 2017.[7]

Metzger founded the nonprofit organization Citizens for Local Power, which organized dozens of town and city councils across the country.[4]

In February 2018, Metzger announced that she would challenge longtime Republican Senator John Bonacic for his seat.[8] Several months later, Bonacic announced that he would retire.[9] In September, Metzger defeated Pramilla Malick in the Democratic primary. She faced Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt in the general election.[10][11] Metzger defeated Rabbitt 52% to 48%.[12]

Metzger was named Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.[1] In 2019, she voted for the Green Light Law, which allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain driver licenses.[13] She also voted for a law that ended cash bail in New York, but later proposed revisions to that law.[14] Metzger was the lead sponsor of the "Boss Bill", a 2019-passed law that bars employers from taking employees' reproductive health choices into account when making employment decisions.[15] She introduced a bill that, if passed, would codify New York's existing ban on hydraulic fracking,[16] as well as a constitutional amendment to bar the inclusion of non-budgetary legislation in the New York state budget.[17] She is a supporter of a single-payer health insurance system.[18]

In 2020, Metzger lost her re-election bid to Republican Mike Martucci.[19][20]

• Jen Metzger at Ballotpedia
• Appearances on C-SPAN