Letitia A. James

Credit: James Escher

James, 68, of Brooklyn, is a registered Democrat and is running on the Democratic and Working Families party lines in the general election. She is seeking a third term as state attorney general, a role she was first elected to in 2018, becoming the first Black person and first woman elected to the job.
She has made a name for herself taking on President Donald Trump, bringing more than 80 lawsuits against the Trump administration that range from the halt of New York’s offshore wind projects to his efforts to overturn birthright citizenship. James served as New York City public advocate from 2014 to 2018, a City councilmember from 2004 to 2013 and was a public defender for the Legal Aid Society.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Lehman College in the Bronx, a Juris Doctor degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University.

James highlighted her work as attorney general breaking up gun and drug trafficking rings as well as ghost gun operations that brought weapons and fentanyl into the state. She also cited efforts to take on social media companies to protect children’s mental health. “Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority,” she said.
She said she would continue to work to lower costs for New Yorkers, by, for example, going after price gouging and protecting workers from wage theft.
James said she will “`keep fighting to hold the powerful to account, whether in Albany, Wall Street or Washington."

Saritha Komatireddy