Newly-elected Orange County Legislator Genesis Ramos was inaugurated at an intimate ceremony held last week at the Newburgh Activity Center in front of friends, family and a tripod with a phone on Zoom. Ramos is the youngest member to ever be elected to the county legislature.
On the night of the inauguration, Newburgh City Court Judge Paul Trachte led the inauguration ceremony as Ramos placed her hand on the bible, held by her mother Melida, and repeated the oath of office. “It’s a proud moment for sure,” brother Marlon Ramos said. “It’s time to go to work.”
Ramos will be representing District 6, which represents the City and Town of Newburgh. She will join fellow legislator Kevindaryán Luján (District 4) in representing both municipalities. “I know with Genesis, she’s going to fight for the people,” Luján said. “She’s going to be an exceptional leader.”
Born and raised in the City of Newburgh, Ramos is the proud daughter of Honduran immigrants. Ramos first lived on West Parmenter St. then moved to Hasbrouck St.
At a young age, Ramos spent many hours with her parents as they worked to provide for their family. Ramos, her brother and parents, Melida and Marlon Sr. continue to live in the city.
In 2013, Ramos graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) Orange with an Associate of Science degree in Human Services.
She continued at SUNY New Paltz and received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2015. Ramos then went on to Marist College and received her Masters Degree in Public Administration in 2020.
“For me this was always about the community, it was always about paving the way,” Ramos said. “Running for office was never an immediate goal of mine or not necessarily something that I ever identified that I was going to do.”
Ramos said she thought about running for office in fall of 2019. She let the idea sit and conducted her own research on the political scene in the area. It was on New Year’s Eve of 2020 that Ramos told her parents after the clock struck midnight that she would run for office.
Ramos’s platform addresses the concerns and need for equitable economic development, healthcare, addressing environmental issues, community relations with the police, criminal justice and advocacy, youth development and programming and appreciation for arts and culture.
During the months of her campaign, Ramos remembered the many hours of outreach she did during that time. “We knocked on probably 4,000 doors. Made thousands of phone calls. Sent thousands of text messages,” Ramos said. “We were finding all the ways to reach voters.” She said people were both open to listening to what she had to say or wrote her off right then and there. Even with these setbacks, Ramos continued to push forward to election day.
During the ceremony, Marlon, Ramos’ parents, City of Newburgh Mayor Torrance, and former Councilwoman Karen Mejia all expressed their words of encouragement, congratulations, and excitement for Ramos. They all wished her well in her future endeavors and legislative work. A special singing of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ was sung by a friend for Ramos.
Ramos stated the following day that she was still in awe but expressed feelings of gratitude for her family and friends that supported her throughout her run.