Village trustee preps for move to Mineola

Mulé will start working as Nassau County legislator for District 5 in January.

Democrat Debra Mulé had long thought she would never get involved in politics, she said. Well, scrap that plan.

The Village of Freeport trustee, 55, pulled off a decisive victory on Nov. 7 against her Republican opponent, Kathleen Spatz, 65, in the race for Nassau County’s 5th Legislative District, garnering 67 percent of the vote to Spatz’s 32 percent.

Now, Mulé said, she is ready for the challenges ahead. “I’m very excited,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to getting to work.”

Mulé ran for the seat vacated by Laura Curran, a Democrat from Baldwin who ran successfully for Nassau County executive this year.

When Mulé moved to Freeport in 1990, she intended to keep busy as a social worker and raise her family. Fast-forward 27 years, and she is suddenly in the thick of county politics. “I really felt that my experience and knowledge have made me a really good fit for that position,” Mulé said. “I think we need to keep encouraging women to be in elected office, and this is a good time in my life to do this. My daughters are adults, and I have the time to devote to it. So a combination of my skill sets and where I am in my life, it just made sense to do this.”

Mulé was part of a Democratic slate of candidates who made history on Election Day. Curran was elected Nassau County’s first female county executive, and Laura Gillen, who grew up in Baldwin and now makes her home in Rockville Centre, became the first Democratic Town of Hempstead supervisor in more than a century, unseating Republican Anthony Santino of East Rockaway.

Mulé said she would hold her post on the Freeport village board for a while longer at least. Legally, she is allowed to hold both posts, she said.

“I can do both,” Mulé said. “I’m not going to do both for a long time, and I’m considering and weighing my options. I’m not sure when I’m going to leave the village board. I won’t comment about it for now.”

“I’m already doing a lot of work in anticipation of January,” she said. “I’ve already started getting to work and have been meeting with a lot of people. I still have a lot of people I need to meet and have plans to do so.”

Mulé, who ran an issue-oriented campaign, said she planned to work to eradicate corruption in county government and opioid abuse on the streets.

“I know things may take a while to do, but I see the bigger picture,” she said, adding that getting the county’s out-of-control finances in order has to be first on the agenda.