New York state Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) spoke about her 2018 campaign, working in the Senate and her experiences as a woman in politics at a club meeting for the Syracuse University chapter of Leading Women of Tomorrow.

May was elected to the Senate in November, defeating Republican Janet Burman by more than 20 percentage points. Leading Women of Tomorrow held the conversation with May in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications on Wednesday night.

May kicked off the discussion by talking about herself and what made her decide to run for the Senate. May previously wanted other people to run, but once she had been asked by about 12 people to run, she started thinking about it, she said. Women are less likely to think they can run for office, May added.

“Women have to be asked at least five times before they’re at least willing to consider running for office,” May said, “In my case, it was way more than five times.”

May said a barrier she faced while running for Senate was that she is an introvert. Through her involvement in Toastmasters International, an organization that helps people with public speaking, however, she has been able to improve her public speaking, May said.

This year was the first year that a woman has been the majority leader in a house of the New York State Legislature, May said. She said that it’s the first time a woman has ever been “in the room” in New York. This is in reference to the “three men in the room,” that people usually refer to, which are the governor, the speaker of assembly and the senate majority leader, May said.

“People are ready for women to lead, for women to run for office, for women to be voices in the room,” she said.

May then opened up the room for a question and answer session, where audience members asked about her life as a state senator.

May said that no one supported her run against Dave Valesky, a long-time incumbent, in the Democratic primary for senator. People would come to her and ask her why she was running, she said. The campaign was difficult because Valesky had a lot money she said, but she decided to work more with grassroots movements and go door-to-door.

Last year, a leader of the state’s Democratic Party called her and said, “‘You don’t honestly think you can win an election by just talking to people?’” She said she responded by saying that she was going to try.

While talking about working as a senator, May said the Senate is very busy, that she has to be “at three places at once,” and that Albany is “flat-out nuts.” The legislative session “is this weird kind of play that goes on,” and it took her a long time to figure out all of the parts of session, May said.

May then talked about her experience as a woman in the Senate. She said that while she really likes her colleagues, in many situations men will talk over women. If a woman has a good idea, a man will try to take it and quickly turn it into a bill with their name on it, May said.

“This happens all the time that women speak up and their voices aren’t heard, May said. “This happens a lot. It’s a pattern.”

Another audience member asked how May is helping to improve problems in Syracuse, such as poverty and race. One of the main reasons Syracuse has concentrated poverty is because the city has a law that prohibits landlords from rejecting Section 8 Housing Vouchers, May said.

Vouchers allow low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities to rent houses that are subsidized by public housing agencies. Towns surrounding Syracuse do not, so more individuals using the vouchers live in Syracuse, May said. New York passed legislation that outlawed discrimination based on source of income.

At the end of the night, May talked about what it’s like working in the state legislature without having much experience. The benefit of having people with less experience is that it brings more people to the table that have different perspectives, she said.

May also said that because she’s older and isn’t set on being reelected like most people, she has the ability to take more brave stances on issues.

“There are a lot of people who think of politics as their career, and so the first thing in their minds is, ‘If I do, this will I get elected?’” she said. “If the first thing you’re thinking is, ‘Will I get elected?’ you’re going to make a lot of compromises and you are less likely to follow what your heart tells you.”

Published on April 17, 2019 at 11:15 pm

Contact Sarah: srslavin@syr.edu