1st congressional district

BRIDGET M. FLEMING

Democratic

BACKGROUND: Fleming, 60, of Noyac, has served in the Suffolk County Legislature since 2015. Before that she served on the Southampton Town Board for five years, and spent nearly a decade as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted sex crime cases. She rose to chief of a unit fighting fraud in public programs. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College in 1987 and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1991. 

ISSUES: Fleming said her time as a county legislator and as a town board member have given her a “keen perspective” on the issues facing the district. She said there are fixes to be made to the Affordable Care Act, such as addressing surprise billing after a procedure, but she does not support replacing the act as proposed by Republicans. Fleming supports providing a public option for those who would prefer to buy into the federal government’s Medicare program as opposed to paying for a private plan. She said she will fight to reinstate environmental protection funding and regulations that have been cut by the Trump administration.