Ackerman, Gary Leonard, 1942-

ACKERMAN, Gary Leonard, a Representative from New York; born in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., November 19, 1942; graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1960; B.A., Queens College, Flushing, N.Y., 1965; attended, St. John’s University, Jamaica, N.Y., 1966; teacher; member of the New York state senate, 1979-1983; business owner; unsuccessful candidate for city council, New York City, N.Y., 1977; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-eighth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Benjamin Rosenthal, and reelected to the fourteen succeeding Congresses (March 1, 1983-January 3, 2013); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress in 2012.

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li>11/02/2010 NY District 5 Won 63.05% (+26.83%)</li>
<li>09/14/2010 NY District 5 - D Primary Won 75.60% (+51.21%)</li>
<li>11/04/2008 NY - District 05 Won 70.65% (+43.21%)</li>
<li>11/07/2006 NY - District 05 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/02/2004 NY District 05 Won 71.33% (+43.41%)</li>
<li>09/14/2004 NY - District 05 - D Primary Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/05/2002 NY District 5 Won 92.32% (+84.65%)</li>
<li>11/07/2000 NY District 5 Won 67.95% (+37.81%)</li>
<li>11/03/1998 NY DIstrict 5 Won 65.00% (+31.91%)</li>
<li>11/05/1996 NY District 5 Won 63.66% (+28.65%)</li>
<li>11/08/1994 NY District 5 Won 55.05% (+11.78%)</li>
<li>11/03/1992 NY District 5 Won 52.40% (+7.38%)</li>
<li>09/15/1992 NY District 5 - D Primary Won 60.08% (+20.15%)</li>
<li>11/06/1990 NY District 7 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/08/1988 NY District 7 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/04/1986 NY District 7 Won 77.37% (+54.73%)</li>
<li>11/06/1984 NY District 7 Won 69.25% (+38.50%)</li>
<li>03/01/1983 NY District 7 Special Won 48.73% (+24.80%)</li>
<li>11/02/1982 NY State Senate 12 Won 79.83% (+59.66%)</li>
<li>11/04/1980 NY State Senate 12 Won 73.25% (+50.12%)</li>
<li>11/07/1978 NY State Senate 12 Won 66.92% (+42.16%)</li>
<li>09/08/1977 NYC Council - Queens At-Large - D Primary Lost 33.02% (-4.30%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>Gary Leonard Ackerman (born November 19, 1942) is an American retired politician and former U.S. Representative from New York, serving from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. On March 15, 2012, Ackerman announced that he would retire at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013 after fifteen terms, and would not seek re-election in November 2012.</p>

<p>Ackerman was born in Brooklyn, the son of Eva (née Barnett) and Max Ackerman. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland. He was raised in Flushing, Queens. He attended local public schools, Brooklyn Technical High School and graduated from Queens College in 1965. After college, Ackerman became a New York City School teacher where he taught social studies, mathematics, and journalism to junior high school students in Queens.</p>

<p>Following the birth of his first child in 1969, Ackerman petitioned the New York City Board of Education for an unpaid leave of absence to spend time with his newborn daughter but his request was denied, under then existing policy which reserved unpaid "maternity-child care" leave to women only. In what was to be a forerunner of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, then teacher Ackerman successfully sued the Board in a landmark case which established the right of either parent to receive unpaid leave for child care. A quarter of a century later, now a Congressman, Ackerman in the House–Senate Conference Committee, signed the report of the Family and Medical Leave Act which became the law of the land.</p>