Pelham Memorial High School graduate Alessandra Biaggi upset longtime incumbent state Sen. Jeff Klein in Thursday's Democratic primary for the 34th District.
The 32-year-old Pelham native claimed victory Thursday in the primary for the state Senate seat in the 34th District, which includes parts of Westchester and the Bronx.
Klein, 58, has held the seat for 14 years. He has faced backlash for his leadership role with the Independent Democratic Conference, which caucused with Republicans in the state Senate.
“This is not just because of me, this is because of every single one of you who were courageous, who saw a vision, who knew that we could not tolerate democrats empowering republicans,” said Biaggi Thursday night.
Not everyone was expecting her to win.
"She's new to politics. While she ran Sen. Clinton's campaign, part of the ground operations, she never served in local government or state government before," says Pelham Mayor Michael Volpe. "It was an uphill battle and quite frankly from a fundraising perspective, she had a big hill to climb."
Biaggi, the first woman in her family to graduate from law school, argues that constituents wanted to break free of Klein's influence.
Jeff Klein spent over $2 million on his campaign, while Biaggi spent just over $200,000.