51.0°,
Fog/Mist Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton will lead Democrats in 2024
Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton has been designated by the Legislature’s Democratic caucus to serve as minority leader starting next year.
DeRiggi-Whitton, 55, of Glen Cove, won her seventh two-year term representing the Legislature’s 11th district with more than 64 percent of the vote in November’s election. As caucus leader, she will succeed Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams, who has served in the role since 2012 and is leaving office at year’s end after not seeking re-election.
DeRiggi-Whitton’s ascension is the latest milestone in her two decades as an elected official. Before she became a legislator, she served for two terms on the Glen Cove City Council, where she earned a reputation as a fiscal hawk and a strident environmental advocate.
As legislator, she helped secure funding for Scudder’s Pond — one of the most contaminated bodies of water around Hempstead Harbor due to storm runoff — which will help reduce nitrogen levels in the harbor.
She also helped residents and businesses link up to a new sewage line in Sea Cliff, with reimbursements as high as $7,500 for their efforts. Sea Cliff has been dealing with sewage issues for two decades, across five village administrations.
The Democratic caucus, she said, will remain focused on oversight of County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s administration; reaffirming the Legislature’s role as a coequal branch of government; prioritizing initiatives that will make the county more affordable and protect the environment; preserving public safety; reinvesting in infrastructure; and improving the response to the ongoing opioid crisis.
“Being selected by my colleagues to lead our caucus at such a dynamic time in the history of the Legislature is a tremendous honor, and I am deeply humbled by the trust they have placed in me,” DeRiggi-Whitton said in a statement. “I want to thank Nassau County Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs and my Democratic colleagues for their support and extend my gratitude to my colleague and friend Kevan Abrahams for his guidance and leadership during the last 12 years. I am beyond proud to lead our team into the future, and we are ready to directly confront and overcome Nassau County’s greatest challenges.”
In Glen Cove, DeRiggi-Whitton is a founding board member of the nonprofit First City Project Collective, which seeks to leverage the community-building power of the arts to spark an artistic and economic renaissance downtown. One of the organization’s signature events is an annual Toys for Tots drive at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which has grown from its roots in Glen Cove to become the charity’s largest one-day collection event in the country.
She has also been involved in philanthropic endeavors such as the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. Since her daughter, Amanda, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 3, DeRiggi-Whitton has been an outspoken advocate for diabetes awareness, treatment and research, and has helped raise well over $1 million through annual Cooking for a Cure events.
She said she intends to be a “fiscal watchdog,” citing concerns about Blakeman’s handling of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and a 2021 opioid-related lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors and pharmacies. She believes Blakeman has chosen to put those funds in the county’s reserves to avoid the scrutiny of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority.
“It’s really amazing that Mr. Blakeman has chosen not to do anything with it other than hold on to it for his own personal gain,” DeRiggi-Whitton said of the funds. “I’m OK with us getting away from NIFA, but not on that idea of holding on to opioid funding.”
Her selection as minority leader will be formalized in January during organizational meetings for the Legislature’s 15th term. Under the county charter, the legislator who receives a majority of votes of the body’s 19 members becomes the presiding officer, and the runner-up from the opposing party becomes the minority leader.
