Background
Peter D. Lopez was born in Miami, Florida. His family moved to Schoharie, New York, where he was raised.
Peter D. Lopez was born in Miami, Florida. His family moved to Schoharie, New York, where he was raised.
He graduated from Schoharie Central School, the State University College at Cobleskill, and the University at Albany, where he received a Master of Public Administration degree in 1988.
He is a Republican with extensive local and state experience. Lopez became interested in politics as a young man, joining the Republican Party and running for the Schoharie Village Board at the age of 20. He lost to a candidate endorsed by the mayor.
Lopez worked as staff to the New York State Legislature for 21 years, collaborating with a broad range of public and private interests at the federal, state and local levels.
He also served as the District Office Director for Assembly Minority Leader John Faso, who ran for Governor of New York in 2006. In 2004, Lopez was elected County Clerk with about 70 percent of the vote.
He served until 2006. Elected to state office Lopez was first elected to the State Assembly in November 2006, when he defeated Siena College professor Scott Trees.
Lopez ran uncontested in the November 2008 and November 2010 general elections.
Pete Lopez has supported energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources in the Mohawk Valley, including wind farms. In 2007 he and his staff organized a tour of the Maple Ridge, Fenner, and Madison wind farms in New York state. Lopez also supports biodiesel research and development in the state, as well as tourism, family farms, and manufacturing.
He has become a black belt in karate.
Lopez is a member of the State University of New York Cobleskill Foundation Board as well as the Bassett Hospital Board. He has long been active in numerous volunteer organizations, including as a member of an advisory committee on runaway and troubled youth, and as Chairman of the Schoharie Main Street Committee. He was a founding member of Habitat for Humanity of Schoharie County.