In a surprisingly tight race, former North Hempstead Councilman and Democrat Anthony “Tony” D’Urso won the election for the 16th District Assembly Seat with 51 percent of the vote.
He immigrated from Italy at the age of 21 with little more than an eighth-grade education. As a young man, he took any job that he could, earned a master’s degree and eventually worked his way up to be Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Architecture, Engineering and Construction for the New York City Department of Housing. In 1991 he was elected to the Town of North Hempstead Board and remained as councilman until 2005. During his 10-year hiatus from public service, D’Urso has traveled the world and volunteered his time for the sake of relief work. Most notably, he has helped the orphans in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. D’Urso said of his win that he is happy to be going to Albany to work on “ethics reform, environmental issues and creating opportunity for young people with a policy that will include transportation{to reduce cars on the road} and affordable housing.”
D’Urso’s opponent, newcomer Matthew “Matt” Varvaro, former Aide to Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Dina De Giorgio and ex-advisor to Governor George Pataki, said that he was proud of the campaign that he and his staff ran and is grateful for all of the support that he received. On Election Day, he had the strongest showing of any 16th District Republican candidate in recent history. Varvaro would like “to congratulate Tony D’Urso on his victory” and wishes the new assemblyman “the best going forward.”
It will be interesting to see how Assemblyman D’Urso, the personification of the American Dream, ends his career up in Albany, whilst Varvaro hints that he is just getting started in the world of politics.
