[4] She ran in a tightly contested six-way Democratic primary that included both Anthony Weiner, the future Congressman who was then a congressional aide to U.S.
The leaflets referred to the Crown Heights riots earlier in the year, which suggested that Jesse Jackson (who became notorious for his earlier remarks about New York City as "Hymietown") and mayor David Dinkins as having been beholden to the predominantly-African-American rioters, and thus endangering white residents.
[10] Weiner also won the November election, widely considered a formality with no opposition in the heavily Democratic district.
In 1998, Cohen ran for the New York State Assembly's 46th district in the special election to succeed outgoing assemblyman Jules Polonetsky, with the nomination of the Democratic, Independence and Liberal parties[13] and she won against Joseph A. Kovac, a nominee of the Republican and Conservative parties.
Initially a member of the Standing Committee on Insurance, she served from 2005[14] to 2006 as chairwoman of the Assembly Commission on Science and Technology[15] during her time in office.