“On behalf pf Democrats across the county, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the esteemed former District Leader Ken Sherrill. He was a Pioneer, and scholar, and a trusted friend we will miss dearly,” said County Leader Keith L.T. Wright.
District Leader Joan Paylo (AD69 Part B) offered the following obituary:
A great American, the pioneering political scientist and former 69th AD Democratic District Leader Ken Sherrill has died. The first openly gay official to win an elective office in New York State, he was 81.
His former students, friends, associates and the political reporters who sought him out for quotes and wisdom knew him as a gifted and brilliant scholar who was genuinely kind, generous, witty and a loyal Mets fan.
Ken’s groundbreaking research and analysis on the role that LGBTQ+ voters play in American politics won him national recognition and established the field as mainstream. In 1973, he was the first person to present empirical research on gay rights at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. He was an expert witness in several cases before the US Supreme Court. He also wrote the PoliSci 101 classic “Power, Policy and Participation: an Introduction to American Government.”
From 1996 to 2005, Ken chaired the Political Science Department at Hunter College. His CUNY career spanned 41 years as a professor and later Professor Emeritus. Before that, he had earned his PhD from UNC at Chapel Hill and taught at Oberlin College. Until his passing, he continued to speak around the country and to mentor past and present students, supporting them through career and life challenges.
His fellow members of West Side Democrats consider him a guide and an inspiration. He served as a Community Free Democrats District Leader in Jerry Nadler’s Assembly District from 1979 through 1983, leaving behind some great stories from his unprecedented street campaign.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to his husband and life partner for almost 60 years, Gerald Otte.
Contributions in his memory may be sent to The Ken Sherrill Prize Fund at the American Political Science Association (apsanet.org/sherrill).
—