Former state senator James Seward passes away at 72

MILFORD, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – James Seward, the 33 year veteran of New York State politics has passed away. He was 72 years old. Seward was first elected to the New York State Senate 1986 and retired in 2020. He stepped down after being diagnosed with a return of bladder cancer.

Seward was born in Oneonta in 1951, and graduated from Oneonta Public Schools. Seward graduated from Hartwick College with a degree in political science. In 1999, the college honored Senator Seward with an honorary doctorate in Law.

After his graduation from Hartwick, Seward served as the town justice for the village of Milford and as chairman of the Otsego County Republican Committee. He also was a delegate to the Republican National Convention for three presidential elections, in 1976, 1980 and 1988. He was an alternate delegate for the 1996 election.

Seward was first elected to the state senate in 1986 and eventually became the chairman of the Senate’s Energy and Telecommunications Committee. During his career, he was also chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Insurance.

Over his political career, due to redistricting, Seward was elected in both the 50 ^th and 51 ^st State Senate districts.

Before his retirement, Seward was the ranking member of the state’s senate finance committee. He had served as the senate majority whip as well as the assistant majority leader on conference operations.

At the time of his retirement, Seward was still serving his community. He was a regional advisory board member of Community Bank, a trustee of the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, and a member of the Board of Directors for both Pathfinder Village in Otsego County and the Catskill Symphony

Seward was succeeded in the State Senate by Republican Peter Oberacker. He is survived by his wife Cynthia and his children, Ryan and Lauren.

According to a press release by the former senator’s office, funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced at a later date

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