At their year-end organizational meeting last week, members of the Suffolk County Legislature's Majority Caucus unanimously chose 18^th district Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) to an unprecedented sixth and final term as their leader. Cooper was first elected to the Legislature in 2000 and must relinquish his seat in January 2012 because of mandatory term limits.

His re-election to this post makes Cooper the longest-serving majority leader in the Legislature's 40-year history. It also caps off his remarkable career as one of Suffolk County's most prolific lawmakers.

A true trailblazer, Cooper was first elected to his seat as an openly gay man when Democrats were still in the minority in the Legislature. Cooper refused to be defined by labels and put his well-known zeal, nonpartisan nature and pioneering spirit to work. Over the last decade, Cooper has led his legislative colleagues to adopt groundbreaking laws that have firmly placed Suffolk at the national vanguard on numerous issues.

Cooper's first-in-the-nation ban on the use of hand-held cell phones while driving has spread to dozens of states across the country. His efforts to tame the negative consequences of emerging technologies can also be seen in his law that criminalized cyberbullying (the first such law in New York State) as well as the nation's first law prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

Cooper is also proud of his successful effort to prohibit the sale of the deadly dietary supplement ephedra, another landmark law that subsequently spread nationwide. He also authored two of the toughest laws in New York State restricting where child sex offenders can live or loiter.

A staunch environmental advocate, Cooper has helped preserve thousands of acres of open space, led the fight to keep the Broadwater liquefied natural gas terminal out of the Long Island Sound, and was the first elected official on Long Island to be named "Environmentalist of the Year" by the Sierra Club. Most recently, he led Suffolk County to become the first governing body in the WORLD to protect pets by requiring convicted animal abusers to appear in a public registry. All this while using his business acumen to help craft County operating budgets that have held the line on property taxes for seven consecutive years.   

Cooper's colleagues are grateful that he is resisting the temptation to ease up and enjoy his "senior statesman" status, and will continue to lead them in the many challenges that continue to face the County.

"Jon is a tremendous leader and our caucus will miss his leadership when he leaves," says Presiding Officer Bill Lindsay (D-Holbrook). "But we are grateful that Jon is choosing to serve his final term with the same kind of energy and zeal that he has shown during the entire course of his career in public service."   

"This is a very bittersweet honor for me," states Cooper. "While I'm grateful for the faith my colleagues continue to show in my leadership, I'm also mindful that my time with them will be coming to an end in another year. While I can't stop time from marching on, I do promise not to let up in my efforts to protect the quality of life and the pocketbooks of the hard-working families we represent."