Delia M. DeRiggi-Whitton for Nassau Legislative District 11
Democratic Legis. Delia M. DeRiggi-Whitton is running for reelection in the Nassau County Legislature's 11th District. Credit: James Escher
Find out the candidates Newsday's editorial board selected on your ballot: newsday.com/endorsements2025
The 11th District includes most of the Port Washington peninsula and the east side of Hempstead Harbor from Roslyn Harbor to Glen Cove.
Delia M. DeRiggi-Whitton has drawn the political spotlight beyond her district since 2023 when she became Democratic minority leader. She leads six other Democrats in chafing against its up-close view of the GOP-led body's growing lack of independence from the county executive’s office that results, most visibly, in a starkly partisan distribution of district project funds and overall erosion of legislative oversight.
A lifelong resident of Glen Cove, DeRiggi-Whitton, 57, is seeking an eighth term. She expresses satisfaction with district benefits she’s been able to deliver over the years. She cites county-funded improvements in the Village of Manorhaven, a water decontamination project that it is hoped will lead next year to reopening Crescent Beach, and the use of funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act for local food banks.
Looking ahead, she cites among other efforts the caucus' push for a 311 call system for municipal services, the need to better support the county’s emergency 911 system, and persistence in getting distribution of anti-overdose fentanyl test strips.
Her Republican opponent Colin J. Bell, 46, of Sea Cliff, who is deputy commissioner of the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Environmental Resources, did not meet with the editorial board.
Newsday Opinion endorses DeRiggi-Whitton.
ENDORSEMENTS ARE DETERMINED solely by the Newsday editorial board, a team of opinion journalists focused on issues of public policy and governance. Newsday’s news division has no role in this process.
