Christine Pellegrino

Christine Pellegrino is a former member of the New York State Assembly from the 9th District. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to her election, Pellegrino was a teacher for 25 years, spending most of her career teaching in Baldwin Public Schools. Pellegrino is the 2020 Democratic nominee for the 4th District of the New York Senate.[1]

Pellegrino served as a delegate for Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential primaries.[2]

In an upset, she won a special election on May 23, 2017, to succeed Republican Joseph Saladino, who was appointed Oyster Bay town supervisor.[3] She was previously a leader in the anti-Common Core "opt-out" movement and received significant support from the state teachers union in her 2017 run.[4] She was a featured speaker at the 2017 People's Summit,[5] the 2017 American Federation of Teachers' TEACH Conference,[6] the Louisiana Federation of Teachers Convention in 2017, and the 2018 AFT National Convention held in Pittsburgh.[7]

In her first term representing the 9th District, Pellegrino secured various state grants for school districts, public libraries,[8] and clean drinking water.[9] As a member of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation and Chair of the Legislative Commission on Toxic Substances and Hazardous Waste, she strongly opposed offshore drilling[10] and supported clean-up projects by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.[11]

Following her election, Newsday reported that Assemblywoman Pellegrino had $186,000 in unpaid federal tax liens, nearly $300,000 in additional state tax liens, $1,520 of unpaid neighborhood association fees, and six unpaid Suffolk traffic tickets totaling $630.[12] In October of 2018, a judge granted a bank's request to foreclose Assemblywoman Pellegrino's home for nonpayment of a $893,100 mortgage.[13]

Pellegrino was defeated for re-election to a full term by Republican Michael LiPetri in the 2018 general election.[14]