Special election Tuesday in 9th Assembly District
In the special election Tuesday in the 9th Assembly District, labor unions and progressive activists are pouring money and volunteers into Democrat Christine Pellegrino’s campaign in hopes of capitalizing on opposition to Republican President Donald Trump.
Conservatives, meanwhile, see a chance to elect party member Tom Gargiulo, who if elected would become the Conservatives’ only member in the State Legislature.
“This is a grass roots effort,” Gargiulo, 59, who also has Republican and Independence Party backing, said as he campaigned at Babylon Town’s Spangle Drive Senior Center on Wednesday. “I want to be a voice in the community to help people out.”
Rhoda Newman, 89, of North Babylon, liked what she heard. “He’s a good man, he’s personable and knowledgeable,” she said of Gargiulo.
Pellegrino, 48, shook hands Tuesday as school voters left the West Babylon administrative building polling place.
“I’m a mom, I’m a teacher. I’m not a politician,” Pellegrino said.
“Are you the anti-Common Core one?” asked Gail Sherwood, 54 of West Babylon.
“Yes,” Pellegrino said.
Sherwood, a retired Long Island Rail Road worker, told Pellegrino she had her vote.
Gargiulo, of Babylon Village, is a retired Eastern Suffolk BOCES teacher who coaches girls basketball at Wyandanch High School and works part-time at youth centers for the Town of Babylon. He also is vice chairman of the Babylon Conservative Party.
Pellegrino, of West Islip, teaches in the Baldwin School District. She is active in the anti-Common Core curriculum “opt out” movement and served as a Democratic National Convention delegate for Sen. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Pellegrino also has the Working Families Party line.
Typically, Democrats scarcely compete in the Ninth, a horseshoe-shaped district on the Nassau-Suffolk county line that includes Massapequa, West Babylon, Babylon Village, West Islip and West Bay Shore. Republicans hold a 13 percentage point edge in voter registration. President Donald Trump won the district with 60 percent of the vote.
The seat opened when Assemb. Joseph Saladino, who beat Democrat Brendan Cunningham by 23,000 votes in November, was appointed Oyster Bay supervisor.
If Pellegrino wins, “this is going to send a message all across the country,” said Lisa Tyson, executive director of Long Island Progressive Coalition and a state committee member of the Working Families Party.
“I feel like I’m riding a wave,” Pellegrino said as she campaigned Tuesday.
She attacked Gargiulo for not supporting Suffolk County’s attempts to collect restitution from former county Conservative Chairman Edward Walsh, a former county sheriff’s lieutenant who was convicted on federal charges of taking $200,000 in county pay while politicking, gambling and golfing.
Gargiulo said Walsh “was always a gentleman. He made mistakes. He’s a nice man and was always a fair guy.”
Gargiulo has been surprised at the amount of money the teacher’s union has spent on the race.
“I was a teacher for 32 years, so I don’t really understand it,” Gargiulo said. “Two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. You could do something with a youth center or something with that type of money.”
Democrats say that in a low-turnout special election with progressives and union members motivated by opposition to Trump, they have hope. New York State United Teachers, for instance, has funneled $200,000 to an independent expenditure committee, Teachers for Christine.
Pellegrino is backed by most Suffolk and Nassau Democratic leaders.
But Suffolk Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer, who is courting Conservative Party support for other races in November, said while the county party supports Pellegrino, he is staying out of the race. He says he is a possible witness in a civil probe of a $100,000 teacher union donation in 2014 that he refused to accept because it was improperly earmarked for a specific candidate.
Thomas Gargiulo
Party: Conservative
Age: 59
Hometown: Babylon Village
Education/Career: Gargiulo, who also is running on the Republican and Independence ballot lines, is a retired Eastern Suffolk BOCES teacher. He works as a youth program monitor with the town of Babylon and coaches girls basketball at Wyandanch High School. A vice chairman of the Babylon Town Conservative Party, this is his second run for office. Gargiulo received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Dowling College in 1980; a Master of Arts in special education in 1985; and a M.A. for school district administration in 1995.
Family: Married with three adult sons.
Campaign fund: Through May 12, he had raised $25,325 and spent $16,115.
Christine Pellegrino
Party: Democrat
Age: 48
Hometown: West Islip
Education/Career: Pellegrino, a Baldwin School District reading teacher, also is running on the Working Families Party line. She became involved in the anti-Common Core curriculum “opt out” movement in 2011 and is political action chairwoman for the Baldwin Teachers Association. She was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Sen. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education from St. Johns University in 1991, and a Master of Science Degree in Education: Reading Specialist in 1998.
Family: Married, with two daughters.
Campaign fund: Through May 12, she had raised $56,460 and spent $16,850.
David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.
Updated 57 minutes ago Suspected cop shooter in court ... Police looking to identify remains ... Trump trial ... Post-pandemic special needs schooling
Updated 57 minutes ago Suspected cop shooter in court ... Police looking to identify remains ... Trump trial ... Post-pandemic special needs schooling
