Edward A. Diana is an American physical education educator, and former

County Executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

, New York. Prior to being elected County Executive, he served for twelve years as County Legislator. He resides in Wallkill, New York.

Political career and background

Diana was born in Middletown, New York and attended the local schools. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from

Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is ...

and a Masters of Education from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

. Diana was employed for 30 years as an educator and athletic instructor in the Minisink Valley School District. He was first elected in 1979 to the Wallkill Town Board and served their as a councilman and deputy supervisor until 1985. He was elected as a county legislator for the 18th district (parts of Middletown, Wallkill and Goshen) from 1986 to 1993 and 1998 to 2001. Diana held the position of majority leader for six years. Diana also owned and operated the downtown Middletown restaurant "Diana’s" which was started by grandparents in 1936. Diana was elected in 2001 by a wide margin to become the fifth County Executive of Orange County, replacing Joseph Rampe of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

who was retiring. He was reelected in landslides in 2005 and again in 2009. Due to health issues, Diana announced he would not seek re-election in 2013. He was succeeded by Steve Neuhaus. On November 7, 2017, he was elected Supervisor of the Town of Wallkill. On November 4, 2019, Diana was defeated by Democratic challenger Frank DenDanto.

Higher office aspirations

There had been speculation that Diana was being recruited by the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

for a run against freshman incumbent

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

New York's 19th congressional district New York's 19th congressional district is located in New York's Catskills and mid-Hudson Valley regions. It lies partially in the northernmost region of the New York metropolitan area and mostly south of Albany. This district is currently re ...

. Representing the second largest county in the district, Diana would have strong name recognition in the area which gave Hall his narrow victory in 2006. In January 2008, Diana officially ruled out a run against Hall, stating he would prefer to seek a third term as County Executive. For the 2010 election season, Diana expressed interest in pursuing the post of Lieutenant Governor of New York on

Rick Lazio Enrico Anthony Lazio (; born March 13, 1958) is an American attorney and former four-term U.S. Representative from the State of New York. A Long Island native, Lazio became well-known during his bid for U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate e ...

's ticket. He has also expressed interest in running in the

United States Senate special election in New York, 2010 The 2010 United States Senate special election in New York took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and vari ...

against incumbent

Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...

Electoral history

Plea deal in corruption probe

On June 21, 2021, Diana pled guilty to charges related to an investigation of corruption on the Orange County Industrial Development Agency Board. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and local officials announced the charges against Diana and two others, who were ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution, in a scheme to defraud the Orange County IDA.

Notes

External links

Orange County Executive's Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diana, Ed Living people 1948 births Orange County Executives New York (state) Republicans Southern Connecticut State University alumni Ithaca College alumni Schoolteachers from New York (state) People from Middletown, Orange County, New York People from Goshen, New York New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes