James L. Seward

Early life and career Seward was born in Oneonta, New York, and attended Oneonta public schools. He went on to Hartwick College in Oneonta and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He also studied at the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of SUNY Albany.

Seward served as a Milford town justice and as chairman of the Otsego County Republican Committee. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976, 1980, and 1988, and was also an alternate delegate in 1996. Seward and his wife Cynthia (née Milavec) resided in Milford, New York. He voted against legislation allowing same-sex marriage in New York again in 2011, but the bill was passed in a narrow 33–29 vote.

In November 2019, Seward announced that he was being treated for a recurrence of bladder cancer.