![Senator Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_small/public/senator_kaplan_headshot_square_web.jpg?itok=jIx6Id0s)
Senator Anna M. Kaplan
January 5, 2019
-
ISSUE:
- New York State Senate
![DEMOCRAT DISTRICT 7 DEMOCRAT DISTRICT 7](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/article/main-image/frontpagesd-7.jpg?itok=SF-TJZis)
Anna Kaplan was born Anna Monahemi in Tabriz, Iran to a Jewish family. When the Islamic Revolution swept the country, Anna's parents made the difficult decision to send her on her own to the United States for safety. She arrived in Brooklyn as part of an international effort to save Iran's Jewish and was sent to live with a foster family in Chicago, where she learned to speak English and completed high school.Anna was eventually granted political asylum by the United States government.
After her family was finally reunited, they moved to Queens, New York where Anna graduated from Yeshiva University Stern College for Women and then Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Anna settled in Great Neck, New York where she and her husband raised two daughters, but felt a strong desire to give back to the country that opened its arms to her as a child in need. After years volunteering at her daughters’ public schools and in her community, she decided to run for the Great Neck Library Board, where she served a four-year term. During that time, she was appointed to the Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals. In 2011, Anna was elected Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman for the Fourth District, where she passed groundbreaking legislation such as a town-wide ban of gender identity discrimination and Anti-BDS. She advocated and helped secure affordable housing for district seniors and rehabilitated parkland.
Anna sought the Senate seat for District 7 in 2018, calling for passage of the Reproductive Health Act, sensible gun safety and economic development in Nassau County. Her election victory made her the first political refugee and the first Iranian immigrant elected to the New York State Senate.
Share this Article or Press Release
Newsroom
Go to Newsroom![The above letter, which has been redacted to prevent the spread of dangerous, baseless conspiracy theories, was found taped to the front doors of dozens of residents in Nassau County today (9/12). Members of the press may contact Sean Collins at 631-943-9478 or seanrosscollins@gmail.com for full text.](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/press-release/main-image/antivaxx_letter_redacted_senate_article_header.jpg?itok=AfBxnIBu)
![Caption: (L-R) Rabbi Hillel Fox, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Gitman, NSUH Executive Director Jon Sendach, NSUH Nurses, NSUH CFO Ryan Andersen, Rabbi Tara Feldman, Senator Anna M. Kaplan, NSUH Hospital Leadership team pose in front of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset before the Shofar Blast](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/press-release/main-image/20200903_085740.jpg?itok=hcXhIfYf)
![](https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/oembed_thumbnails/2020-09/rPdZY4XCUXdPPKANOq4sv8m5Ql_exEd7Pav1ZWjH_NA.jpg)