Incoming Rep. Thomas Suozzi selects senior staff positions
Tom Suozzi casts his ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 in Glen Cove. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Congressman-elect Thomas Suozzi has selected his senior staff positions, including several former aides who worked with the Democrat as the mayor of Glen Cove and later as Nassau County executive.
Suozzi, who last month won a vacant seat in the Third Congressional District, defeating State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury), chose Michael Florio, who ran his congressional campaign, as his chief of staff.
Florio, of Bethpage, was a special assistant to Suozzi while he was county executive. He later served as finance director to then-Minority Leader Diane Yatauro and as communications director for the Democrats in the county legislature. Florio left a job as head of operations for Savenergy, a Garden City energy efficiency company, to run Suozzi’s campaign to replace retiring Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington).
Diane Shust, the chief of staff for retiring Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Washington), will serve as Suozzi’s legislative director. Shust previously served as director of government relations at the National Education Association and as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Cindy Rogers will serve as district director, overseeing constituent issues. An attorney, Rogers was first deputy mayor of Glen Cove when Suozzi was mayor. She later served as a legislative aide to former U.S. Sen. Bennet Johnston, a Democrat from Louisiana.
Edward Aulman of Syosset, a Marine and Vietnam veteran who served as director of Nassau’s Veteran’s Services Agency when Suozzi was county executive, will serve as a caseworker focusing on veterans’s affairs.
Barrie Stevens of Northport will also be a caseworker, focusing on social services and immigration issues.
“This is a professional, qualified staff with both local and Washington experience, and a commitment to public service,” Suozzi said.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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