Lee Zeldin

Former Congressman Lee Zeldin grew up in Suffolk County, New York, where he graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach. He graduated from the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) and then Albany Law School, becoming New York's youngest attorney at the time at the age of 23.

After completing the Army ROTC program, Lee Zeldin served four years on Active Duty. During that time, he served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor and Military Magistrate. While assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, in the summer of 2006, he was deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his service on active duty, in 2007, Congressman Zeldin transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2008, Congressman Zeldin opened a successful law practice in Smithtown, New York, which he operated full time until he was elected to the New York State Senate in 2010, representing New York's 3rd Senate District. In 2014, following four years in the State Senate, Congressman Zeldin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York’s First Congressional District.

While in Congress, Lee Zeldin served on two Committees in the House of Representatives: Financial Services and Foreign Affairs, where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Additionally, Congressman Zeldin served as co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus and founding member of the National Estuary Program Caucus. As one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, he also served as co-chairman of the House Republican Israel Caucus, which has over 100 members, and was a stalwart opponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, co-leading a House-passed resolution (H.Res.246) to combat it.

Lee Zeldin ran for governor in New York State in 2022 and suffered a narrow loss. Despite that, his strong statewide outreach is credited with helping several New York Republicans win House seats, giving the 118th Congress a Republican majority. 

Congressman Zeldin resides in his hometown of Shirley with his wife, Diana, and their twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.