Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week nominated Cesar Perales to become New York’s next secretary of state.
Perales, who has spent 50 years in the public sector, will also serve as a senior policy adviser to the governor. He is co-founder of the Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, serving as its first executive director and then later as president and chief counsel.
Perales was assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Jimmy Carter. He served as commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Service in the administration of Gov. Mario Cuomo, as Deputy Mayor of New York City under Mayor David Dinkins, and was general counsel for the Model Cities Administration under Mayor John Lindsay.
“Cesar Perales has devoted his life to public service,” Cuomo said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Cesar in making New York stronger and restoring dignity and honor to our state government.”
Perales earned a law degree in 1965 from Fordham Law School and holds a B.A. from City College of New York.
