Elaine DiMasi

DiMasi believes her scientific background gives her firsthand knowledge of how to deliver real world solutions to create clean energy jobs, transform Long Island’s economy and protect the health and environment of residents. She opposes the Republican federal tax overhaul, which she said taxes Long Islanders twice. She supports a single-payer health insurance system and women’s reproductive rights. She also supports a clean DREAM Act without enforcement measures that include enhanced border security and a path to citizenship for immigrants. She favors expanding vocational education and trade schools to create needed jobs and opposes privatizing public education because it drains resources. DiMasi backs ending all loopholes in background checks for gun buyers, barring domestic abusers from owning guns, and will support the public’s majority opinion for gun safety reform against the money of the gun lobby.

DiMasi, 49, of Ronkonkoma, is making her first bid for elected office. She worked for 21 years as a physicist and project manager at Brookhaven National Laboratory. An ardent environmentalist, she left her lab job to campaign full time for Congress nearly a year ago, and is using savings to pay her mortgage. Born and raised in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, DiMasi comes from a blue collar family with grandparents who worked in local steel mills. She has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. She is divorced and lives with her rescue dog Cozy.