New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou Nominated for EMILYs List’s Rising Star Award

For Immediate Release
February 11, 2019

New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou Nominated for EMILYs List’s Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, announced that New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou is a nominee for the sixth annual Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.

“Yuh-Line Niou has been a champion for her community since day one,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List. “She has fought to raise the minimum wage and to protect working families against predatory lenders. As a Taiwanese immigrant, she is a strong advocate for increasing language access for immigrant communities and defending DREAMers. She is a testament to the power of women in office, and EMILYs List is proud to nominate her for the Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.”

Yuh-Line Niou is a lifelong Democrat representing District 65 in the New York State Assembly. Her experiences as an Asian American immigrant have given her a deep belief in social justice and a commitment to public service. Throughout her career, she has worked on issues focused on economic justice and ending poverty and making government more accessible for all. Whether it is in regards to health care access, housing access, environmental justice, racial justice, or assisting working families, Yuh-Line is a committed public servant and is dedicated to protecting all people, especially those who have faced historic discrimination and economic injustice.

Named in honor of the dedicated and courageous Gabrielle Giffords, the Rising Star Award celebrates an extraordinary woman serving in state or local office. The award honors a woman who demonstrates the sort of commitment to community, dedication to women and families, and determination and civility that have been the highlights of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ career, in and out of office. Previous Rising Star Award recipients include Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in 2014, Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley in 2015, Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran in 2016, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym in 2017, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in 2018.

The Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award winner will be chosen with community input.

Yuh-Line Niou is nominated alongside:

Wendy Carrillo, California Assemblywoman
Jennifer Carroll Foy, Virginia Delegate
Margaret Good, Florida state Representative
Sandra Jauregui, Nevada Assemblywoman
Arvina Martin, Madison (Wisconsin) City Councilwoman

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million dollars and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 40,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.