Background
Daniel Stewart was born in East Hartford, Connecticut, and was raised in Pawtucket and Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Daniel Stewart was born in East Hartford, Connecticut, and was raised in Pawtucket and Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Raised in the Fairlawn section of Pawtucket and the Valley Falls section of Cumberland, he attended Nathanael Greene Elementary, Samuel Slater Junior High School, Cumberland Middle School South and Cumberland High School.
He was the first openly gay elected mayor in New York state history (November 1999), taking office January 1, 2000. As mayor of Plattsburgh, he served three terms. Graduating high school in June 1980 at age 17, he signed paperwork and entered military service with the United States Air Force.
From 1980-1988, he served in the United States. Air Force, stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota.
And his final stationing at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, New New York In the 1999 election for mayor, he defeated five-term mayor Clyde Rabideau by 104 votes.
Stewart became the first openly gay elected mayor in New York State history.
Concerning gay marriage, Stewart has shifted his views, going from supporting gay civil unions to full gay marriages. They currently reside in Orlando, Florida. Mayor Stewart was appointed in 2006 as Chairman and Commissioner of the New York State Commission of Correction by then-Governor George East. Pataki.
Stewart held all three commissioner positions at the SCOC (Chairman, Chair of the Medical Review Board and Chair of the Citizens Policy and Complaint Review Council).
Stewart left state service in February 2011 and entered the private sector. He is currently employed as the Senior Justice Advisor for Connected Justice at San Jose-based Cisco Systems, supporting the Connected Justice sector for the Americas Theatre.
The board serves the surviving families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who are lost in the line of duty. Stewart also serves on the Victory Campaign Board, which helps to choose which candidates (running for office who are openly gay) will receive endorsements for funding from the Victory Fund Donor Network.
He entered politics in the summer of 1993 and won election that year to serve as a city councilor for Ward 6 in Plattsburgh from 1994 to 2000, with a brief term as mayor pro tem from 1996-1998. Though he disagreed with George West. Bush"s views on abortion and gay rights, he was one of the so-called "Austin 12" who met with Bush in Austin, Texas, during the 2000 election in hopes of forcing Bush to moderate his opinions on gay issues.