NY-01: Lee Zeldin (R)
PROFILE
About Zeldin:
Lee Zeldin was born and raised on Long Island. He grew up in Suffolk County and graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and then his law degree from Albany Law School.
He spent four years on active duty with the U.S. Army after completing ROTC and served in different capacities, including as a military intelligence officer, prosecutor, and military magistrate. In the summer of 2006, while assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, he deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2007, Zeldin returned to Suffolk County with his family. It was at this time that he transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
In 2008, he established a law practice in Smithtown, N.Y., and was elected to the New York State Senate two years later.
In the State Senate, he led the successful efforts to repeal the Saltwater Fishing License Fee and create the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program, a statewide program in New York to help returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
In 2014, he was elected to the U.S. Congress. In 2016, Lee won his campaign for re-election with almost 60% of the vote in one of the most closely watched races in that election cycle.
Lee and his wife, Diana, reside in Shirley with their twin fourteen-year old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.