Anna Kaplan

Anna Kaplan
Kaplan speaking at a March for Our Lives demonstration in 2018
Member of the New York Senate
from the 7th district
In office
January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2022
Preceded byElaine Phillips
Succeeded byJack Martins
Personal details
Born
Anna Monahemi

(1965-08-23) August 23, 1965 (age 59)
Tabriz, Iran
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDarren Kaplan
Children2
EducationYeshiva University (BS, JD)

Anna Kaplan (née Monahemi) (born August 23, 1965) is an Iranian-American politician from Great Neck, New York. A Democrat, she was a member of the New York State Senate, representing New York's 7th State Senate district, which runs from the North Shore to roughly the central part of Western Nassau County on Long Island. She was a member of the so-called "Long Island Six," a group of six Democrats who represent Long Island in the New York State Senate and often vote as a block.[1] She was elected in 2018 as part of a wave of Democrats who defeated Republican incumbents and brought control of the New York Senate to the Democrats for only the third time since World War II.[2] She lost re-election in 2022 to Jack Martins.

Kaplan is the first Iranian-American to be elected to either of New York state's legislative chambers[3] and she is the first former political refugee to serve in the New York Senate.[4]

  1. ^ Timothy Bolger (December 17, 2018). "Long Island Upsets Usher In State Senate Firsts". longislandpress. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  2. ^ "Big LI wins help Democrats take control of NY Senate". Newsday. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Cortellessa, Eric. "Once a refugee from Iran, a Jewish state senator ascends in New York politics". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  4. ^ c. "About Anna M. Kaplan". www.nysenate.gov. Retrieved April 29, 2019.