Former Hempstead Town Supervisor Anthony Santino dies at 64

Former Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino, who rose through the ranks of the Nassau County Republican Party and served decades in public service, died Thursday morning after a battle with an illness, officials said.

Santino, 64, began his political career as a staff member for former Rep. Norman F. Lent and served for years as the spokesman of the Nassau Republican Committee. He began working in the Town of Hempstead in 1987 and was elected to the town board in 1993. He held that role for over two decades and was tapped to run for supervisor in 2015 – a seat he won, succeeding Republican Kate Murray, before losing his reelection campaign in 2017.

He was elected as a trustee in the Village of East Rockaway as a 22-year-old and served there for eight years, including two years as deputy mayor. He recently returned to the village as a trustee and remained in the role until his death. 

“Even in the final weeks of the battle with illness, Tony remained deeply engaged in the life of the village - offering thoughtful counsel, measured judgment, and unwavering dedication to his colleagues,” the Village of East Rockaway posted in a statement on its website.

Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti said he’d known Santino since he was a child and called the former supervisor “a true patriot.”

“He was a tireless worker,” Ferretti said in an interview at the Nassau GOP headquarters in Westbury Thursday. “He was someone that always puts his community before his own self interest.”

Santino was the longtime right-hand man of former Nassau GOP chairman Joseph Mondello and served as a fixture within the Republican party. Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., said Santino was “Mr. Insider” for Republicans and “was always here early in the morning to late at night.”

"He really was a brilliant guy," Cairo said in an interview with Newsday at party headquarters on Post Avenue in Westbury.

Santino coveted the nomination for Hempstead supervisor for 20 years before he got the chance to run for the seat. When it became clear the nomination would be a possibility, Mondello told him, "You're up. Start warming up in the bullpen," Newsday reported in 2015.

While in the role, he touted the completion of the 9/11 memorial in Point Lookout and cutting town spending. The tenure, however, was marked with infighting, including with current Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a former Hempstead Town Board member who publicly sparred with Santino over a series of measures. Blakeman broke with his party in 2017 to endorse Democrat Laura Gillen, who won the election. 

Gillen, who is now a U.S. congresswoman in the 4th District, became the first Democrat to serve as Hempstead Town supervisor in more than a century.

Longtime Hempstead Democratic Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby said Santino was “always helping other people” during their time as council members.

“This is my 23rd year working there,” said Goosby. “From the time I started working, he was there, he would help with anything you needed. I don’t see anybody not liking him.”

Murray, the Hempstead town clerk who served as supervisor before Santino took the role, said he was a diligent worker “who never took the pedal off the metal.”

“I never knew where he got the hours in the day," Murray said. 

She said he recently ran a political breakfast for Republican candidates, which was one of his last acts for supporting the party and emblematic of his commitment to helping those around him.

“He was political to the core, he was a Republican to the core,” Murray said in Westbury.

Matt Coleman, regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and one of Santino's longest-serving aides, said "it's hard to put into words the loss of someone who is not only my boss, but also a mentor, neighbor and friend."

"Tony Santino taught me what it truly means to serve the public with integrity, dedication and heart," Coleman said in an interview. "His positive impacts to the community, spanning Hempstead Town and Nassau County to all of Long Island, will endure far beyond his years of service."

Newsday's John Asbury, Bahar Ostadan and Ted Phillips contributed to this story.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com,@OstapiukJ,