Kevin Thomas (politician)

Born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thomas immigrated to the United States as a ten-year-old boy. He received his J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

After his election in 2018, he became the first Indian-American to serve in the New York Senate.[1]

Prior to elected office, Thomas was an attorney and an appointee of the US Commission on Civil Rights to the New York State Advisory Committee, a federal agency tasked with civil rights oversight. He currently lives in Levittown with his family.

In an upset victory, Thomas defeated incumbent Senator Kemp Hannon 50.8%–49.1% in the 2018 New York State Senate elections.[2][3][4]

Thomas was sworn in for his first term on January 1, 2019, and is serving as Chair of the Consumer Protection committee.[5] As the chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, Thomas is currently working on a data bill entitled the “New York Privacy Act,” which would require companies to allow consumers to obtain the names of all entities with whom their information is shared and give those consumers the power to stop the company from sharing that data if they do not want it distributed.[6]

In October 2020, Thomas secured a second term after defeating Republican challenger Dennis Dunne. Although the initial count favored Dunne, the historically large number of absentee ballots cast in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic swung the race in favor of the incumbent.[7]

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