Bridget Fleming Announces Candidacy For Congress - 27 East

Bridget Fleming Announces Candidacy For Congress

icon 2 Photos
Bridget Fleming announces her candidacy for Congress on Monday, May 3, in Patchogue.

Bridget Fleming announces her candidacy for Congress on Monday, May 3, in Patchogue.

Bridget Fleming with her husband, Bob Agoglia, and son Jai Agoglia.

Bridget Fleming with her husband, Bob Agoglia, and son Jai Agoglia. BRENDAN J. O'REILLY

Brendan J. O’Reilly on May 3, 2021

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming of Noyac announced Monday at a press conference in Patchogue that she is running for Congress in 2022.

The Democrat said she had been seriously considering a run ever since she watched “in horror” as the current officeholder, U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin of Shirley, voted in January to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election “even after the Capitol was overtaken by rioters in what can only be described as an act of domestic terrorism and treachery.”

In a demonstration of the key support she has secured toward clinching the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District race, Ms. Fleming was joined in Patchogue by Suffolk County Democratic Committee Chairman Rich Schaffer, Suffolk County Presiding Officer Rob Calarco, Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW President John Durso and a number of town party chairs from throughout the county.

“We need someone who knows how to work with people,” Mr. Durso said, “someone who knows what the truth is, someone who speaks the truth, somebody who will fight for us, somebody who will have Long Island’s interest first and not their own personal interests … and that person is Bridget Fleming.”

Ms. Fleming also sought the Democratic nomination for Congress in 2020, but came in third in the primary, behind runner-up Perry Gershon of East Hampton and the ultimate Democratic nominee, Stony Brook University chemistry professor Nancy Goroff, who went on to lose to Mr. Zeldin.

In the 2022 election cycle, Ms. Fleming is the first to announce a bid for the Democratic nomination. She said that more important than being the first to enter was being early. “This is going to be an expensive race,” she said. “We need to spend the time raising the millions to beat the others. This is a flippable district, but it’s a formidable challenge.”

On the Republican side, Mr. Zeldin, a four-term congressman, has announced a run for New York State governor, so the 1st District seat may be undefended this time around. Still, Ms. Fleming took aim at Mr. Zeldin.

“We Long Islanders can no longer be represented by a congressman so entrenched in personal ideology that he was literally willing to throw democracy out the shattered windows of the Capitol,” Ms. Fleming said. “Lee Zeldin’s participation in the violent insurrection of January 6 was just the latest example in a long chain where Lee Zeldin puts party ahead of people and blind loyalty ahead of building Long Island communities.”

She said the “state of play” has changed — an apparent acknowledgment that Mr. Zeldin will perhaps not be the Republican candidate in 2022 — but the foundation of her candidacy has not.

“For the past 10 years that I have been in office, I have always considered the people who put me in office first,” she said.

She cited her opposition to the cap imposed on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, her efforts delivering personal protective equipment to frontline workers during the height of the pandemic, and efforts to distribute food to those in need and vaccines.

She said she is a proud Democrat who believes in affordable and accessible health care, a tax system “that doesn’t just benefit those at the top,” the right of a woman to make decisions over her own body, and the right of seniors to collect Social Security and benefit from Medicare.

Pledging to work across the aisle, she said there is no Democratic or Republican way to fix septic systems, roads and bridges, to secure the coastline from climate change and to lift the SALT cap.

Ms. Fleming is a Hunter College graduate and earned a law degree at the University of Virginia School of Law. She was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan from 1991 to 2000 and the managing attorney of the City Bar Pro Bono Project from 2000 to 2001. She then went into private practice and opened her own law office in 2008.

She moved to Noyac in 2001 and entered politics with a run for Southampton Town Council in 2009. Though she came up short in that race, months later she won a Town Council seat in a special election and then went on to win reelection in 2011.

Ms. Fleming was a Democratic nominee for New York State Senate in 2012, but lost to incumbent Republican Senator Kenneth P. LaValle.

In 2015, she successfully ran for Suffolk County legislator and was reelected to that post in 2017 and 2019. She confirmed Monday that she will be on the ballot for county legislator this November, and the petitions are already filed.

John Atkinson, a self-described Progressive Democrat from Farmingville, will kick off his campaign for the party nomination in the congressional race with a virtual event this Saturday night, May 8.

You May Also Like:

ARB Approves Demo of Jobs Lane Courtyard and Shops

The 1970s courtyard and surrounding shops on Jobs Lane in Southampton Village are poised to ... 24 Apr 2025 by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Southampton DWI Arrests for the Week of April 24

Dylan Flores, 25, of Hampton Bays was arrested at about 10:30 p.m. on April 17 and charged with misdemeanor DWI after Southampton Town Police responded to the scene of a multi-car accident at the intersection of Tuckahoe Road and County Road 39 in Southampton and a breath alcohol test indicated he had been drinking more than the legal limit. Flores was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for evaluation, and once released, taken to Southampton Town Police headquarters in Hampton Bays for further processing. Luis Patzan Ajvix, 24, of Flanders was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. on April 20 and ... 23 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer

Southampton Police Reports for the Week of April 24

SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE — A resident reported to Southampton Village Police this week that he had recently noticed that someone cashed a check from his Suffolk Credit Union account for $5,700 that he had not written or authorized. He told police that when notified of the fraud, the bank refunded the money to his account but wanted a police report to be filed. SOUTHAMPTON VILLAGE — An employee of the 7-Eleven convenience store on North Sea Road reported to Southampton Village Police on April 22 that he observed a man take a Red Bull energy drink and a toothbrush off the ... by Staff Writer

Richard John Forrestal of Hampton Bays Dies April 20

Richard John Forrestal passed peacefully in his sleep from this world to the next on ... by Staff Writer

Shining Examples

A glimpse back in time to the 19th century would reveal, in most of the East End’s hamlets and villages, small general stores, often containing a local post office, where people living in the neighborhood could purchase groceries and necessary supplies — and, later on, gasoline for a growing number of automobiles. Over the years, many of those general stores disappeared, making way for larger business districts and developments, especially as the South Fork grew into a flourishing tourist destination. Big-box stores eventually arrived, challenging even those downtown shopping destinations. But it was those general stores, mixed with a thriving ... by Editorial Board

Staying Alive

And, in the same vein, Sag Harbor Village’s holiday weekend “Keep It Local” shopping event was a success, and it’s a model that should be repeated more frequently in the village — and in every other village and hamlet shopping district on the South Fork. It was the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce that undertook the very simple campaign to encourage people not just to walk the streets of Sag Harbor but to cross the threshold and actually spend some money. Because the village has no issue with foot traffic these days, but its merchants are struggling. That’s the theme ... by Editorial Board

Doyle Runs Unopposed in Tuckahoe

Brian Doyle, who was elected to fill a vacant seat on the Tuckahoe Common School ... by Michelle Trauring

Two Incumbents Run Unopposed for Riverhead School Board

Two incumbent members of the Riverhead School Board are running unopposed in the May 20 election. Board President James Scudder, who was elected in 2023 to complete an unfinished term, is seeking his first full three-year term. He will be joined on the ballot by Matthew Wallace, the board’s former vice president, who was first elected in 2019 and is seeking his third term. by Staff Writer

Southampton Town Still Hiring for Lifeguard and Beach Attendant Positions at Eastern Town Beaches

The Town of Southampton is still actively seeking employees to staff its many beaches, particularly the bays and oceans in the eastern portion of the town, and is offering new locations for lifeguard training courses to help make the process run more smoothly and, hopefully, attract new candidates. Positions for beach manager, assistant beach manager, and beach attendants are still open at Foster Memorial Long Beach in Sag Harbor, and at the town’s ocean beaches east of the Shinnecock Canal, including Sagg Main, Mecox, Scott Cameron and Flying Point. In past years, the lifeguard certification courses — a necessary prerequisite ... by Cailin Riley

Foreclosure Sale Next Week Will Solidify Future of The Villa in Westhampton, Expected New Owner Says

The investment company that spurred the foreclosure auction of The Villa at Westhampton assisted living ... by Michael Wright