| Mary Lou Rath | |
| Party: | Republican |
| Education: | Buffalo State Teacher's College (BS) |
| State Senate: | New York State |
| District: | 61st |
| Predecessor: | George Maziarz |
| Term Start: | January 8, 2003 |
| Term End: | December 31, 2008 |
| Successor: | Michael Ranzenhofer |
| State Senate1: | New York State |
| District1: | 60th |
| Term Start1: | January 6, 1993 |
| Term End1: | December 31, 2002 |
| Predecessor1: | John B. Sheffer II |
| Successor1: | Byron Brown |
| Birth Date: | 17 June 1934 |
| Residence: | Williamsville, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse: | Edward Rath Jr. (1959-2003) (his death) |
| Children: | 3, including Edward Rath III |
| Birth Name: | Mary Lou Schmitt |
Mary Lou Rath (née Schmitt) (born June 17, 1934) is an American politician who served as a member of New York State Senate from 1993 to 2008. A Republican, she represented the state's 61st district, which consisted of parts of Erie County and all of Genesee County.
Rath was born in Kenmore, New York to Aloysius Casper "Lloyd" Schmitt and Margaret M. Cassidy. Her parents divorced and Rath's mother remarried to George Louis Whetzle. She attended the University at Buffalo before earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the Buffalo State Teacher's College (now Buffalo State College).[1]
She was elected to the Senate in 1993 after serving as a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1978 to 1993.[2] During her final four years in the County Legislature, she served as the Minority Leader of the Legislature.
In January 2007, she was appointed to the post of deputy majority leader for state/federal relations, making her the only woman in the Senate Republican leadership. She announced her retirement in 2008 and was succeeded by Erie County Legislator Michael Ranzenhofer.[3] Ranzenhofer had also succeeded Senator Rath as Minority Leader of the Erie County Legislature when Senator Rath stepped down to become a state senator.
During her service in the Senate, Rath served at different times as chairwoman of the Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development Committee, chairwoman of the Children and Families Committee and as chairwoman of the Local Government Committee.
In 1998, she was reportedly considered by Governor George Pataki as his running mate for lieutenant governor. Pataki choose Judge Mary Donohue instead.[4]
Rath married her late husband, Edward Rath, Jr. (1930-2003), on January 10, 1959 in Buffalo, New York. Edward Rath, Jr. was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court and her father-in-law, Edward A. Rath, was the first county executive of Erie County. Her son, Edward Rath III, won his election for the Erie County Legislature for her former seat and in 2020 was elected in her seat for New York State Senate.[5] [6] She is a resident of the Village of Williamsville, and has two other children, Allison and Melinda.