Malliotakis tells Rutgers students to get active in politics

June 16, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (right) chats with a student at the Center on American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Photo courtesy Malliotakis’s office

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Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, who first won a seat in the Assembly at the age of 29, told a group of female Rutgers University students about her journey to elective office and urged them to think about careers in politics.

Malliotakis (R-C-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) was a guest speaker at a recent panel discussion at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University and talked about why she decided to run for public office.

“I decided to run for public office because my generation’s future was being impacted by some bad decisions made at City Hall and in Albany and Washington,” she told the students who attended the panel discussion, which took place earlier this month. “By having a seat at the table, I am helping to change and shape the future for my generation and future ones.”

The panel discussion was held under the auspices of NEW Leadership, a nationwide bipartisan program aimed at teaching young women about the political process, the important role politics plays in their lives and how to become effective leaders within their communities. NEW Leadership has programs in 25 states across the country.

Malliotakis, a former aide to George Pataki, recalled how she ran for the New York State Assembly in 2010. She defeated incumbent Janele Hyer-Spencer, a Democrat, in that first election. Malliotakis won re-election to her Assembly seat in 2012 and 2014. She is currently the only Republican woman elected in the city of New York.

Since being elected at age 29, Malliotakis said she has worked to encourage more young people, particularly young women, to become actively involved in politics and run for public office.

“I hope that I have helped to encourage these young women to get more engaged in politics, take on a greater role in their communities and eventually run for public office one day,” she said after participating in the panel.

The Center for American Women and Politics is a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and has been nationally recognized as a leading source of scholarly research and current data about American women’s political participation.

The center’s mission is to promote greater knowledge and understanding about women’s participation in politics and government and to increase women’s leadership in public life.