Senator Cooney was adopted from an orphanage in Kolkata, India and raised by a single mother in the City of Rochester. He made history in 2020 as the first Asian American elected to state office from upstate New York, and the first state senator in decades to graduate from Rochester City School District (RCSD).
Senator Cooney’s priorities for Rochester include poverty relief, job creation, downtown development, and increased funding for public schools. He was included in City & State magazine’s “40 Under 40” list and 2021 “Power of Diversity: Asian 100” powerful leaders list.
Senator Cooney began his career working on Capitol Hill for the late U.S. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and later served in the role of chief of staff for the City of Rochester under Mayor Lovely Warren. Prior to running for public office, Senator Cooney served as the senior director for community relations with Empire State Development (ESD) under Governor Andrew Cuomo. At ESD, he helped lead public affairs for large-scale economic development projects.