http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_HoltzmanElizabeth Holtzman
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Elizabeth Holtzman (born August 11, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Democratic politician.
A graduate of Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School, she was the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress, elected at the age of 31. In 1972, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for New York's 16th Congressional District, defeating—in the Democratic primary—Judiciary Committee chairman Emanuel Celler, a fifty-year incumbent and the House's longest serving member at that time. Later victorious in the November general election, she served from January of 1973 until January of 1981. During her tenure, Holtzman was considered a staunch liberal. She served on the House's Judiciary Committee during the impeachment hearings on the activities of President Richard Nixon in the summer of 1974. In 1978, her House Joint Resolution No. 638 was approved by the 95th Congress, which purported to extend the originally agreed-upon deadline for the state legislatures to ratify the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. She also served on the House Budget Committee and as Chairwoman of the House Immigration Subcommittee.
Holtzman was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1980, having defeated such luminaries as former Miss America Bess Myerson, former New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay, and Queens District Attorney John Santucci in the Democratic primary. She ran against Republican challenger Al D'Amato and incumbent Senator Jacob Javits on the Liberal Party ticket. Holtzman was narrowly defeated by D'Amato, a loss many observers attributed to Javits' splitting with her the liberal and Jewish votes.
In 1981, Holtzman made a comeback, winning election as District Attorney in Kings County (Brooklyn), a post she was reelected to in 1985. While district attorney, she formed new bureaus to focus on sex crimes and domestic violence, along with children's issues. She argued -- and won -- New York v. Burger, 482 U.S. 691 (1987), a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that warrantless administrative inspections can support criminal convictions in "closely regulated" industries. She won citywide office when she was elected New York City Comptroller in 1989. She has said that she first considered a race for Mayor of New York in 1989 before deciding to seek the comptroller's post instead. Holtzman viewed the comptroller's post as an extension of her work in Congress and as district attorney.
In 1992, Holtzman sought the Democratic nomination to again challenge D'Amato; she lost the primary to New York Attorney General Robert Abrams, who was himself defeated by the Republican incumbent in the November general election. This was a bitter primary in which Holtzman faced not only Abrams, but former Representative and 1984 vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. Holtzman finished fourth in the primary, behind Abrams, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Accusations were raised about Holtzman's association with Fleet Bank, charges which came back to haunt her in 1993 when she was defeated in an attempt to retain her office as Comptroller. The Senate race was marked by a high amount of rancor in the debates with Holtzman frequently sparring with Ferraro on ethics issues.
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