Ryan Karben

In 1995, Karben lost his initial bid to become county legislator at the age of 21 when he finished fourth in a race for three open positions. In his concession speech at the Holiday Inn in Suffern, New York, Karben assured his supporters that he considered the election a positive experience and that he would be back.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Karben was elected to represent Ramapo in the Rockland County Legislature. He was the youngest county lawmaker in the State of New York at that time. Karben was selected as majority leader of the Rockland County Legislature in 2001–2002.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2002, Karben was elected to the New York State Assembly in Albany to represent the 95th district, which includes the Town of Orangetown and parts of the Town of Ramapo in Rockland County. Karben served on the Energy Committee and led an investigation of Consolidated Edison in 2004. Karben also pushed for tougher sex-offender tracking laws and environmental cleanups at several Rockland County sites.^{[citation needed]}

Karben was involved in a fundraising controversy involving Charles Kushner, a New Jersey developer who served a prison sentence for hiring prostitutes in an attempt to influence potential witnesses in a New Jersey investigation. Kushner had contributed over $40,000 to Karben's campaign, and Karben contributed $2,500 to charity after revelations about Kushner surfaced.^[3]

On May 18, 2006, Karben unexpectedly announced his resignation from the Assembly. Karben had reportedly been the subject of an internal investigation into alleged sexual advances toward staffers.^[4] According to The New York Times, sources stated that he had brought three staffers to his Albany residence and watched pornography with them; Karben allegedly stepped down to avoid facing a formal investigation.^[2] No formal complaints against Karben were ever filed.^[5] Karben's statement regarding his resignation made no reference to the alleged internal inquiry.^{[6][better source needed]}

Subsequently, Karben left his position as a partner in the Spring Valley law firm of Kurtzman, Matera, Scuderi, Gurock, and Karben.^[7]

Following his resignation, Karben started his own law firm, the Law Office of Ryan Karben, based at his home in Monsey.^{[8][better source needed]} In September 2007, Karben was named Managing Director of Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations, a national political consulting and lobbying firm.^[5] Karben also held the position of Village Attorney of Spring Valley, New York, but was fired by the village mayor in 2010 for dereliction of duty.^[9]