Elaine Phillips is an American politician who currently serves as Nassau County Comptroller, with a term beginning in January 2022. She was elected to the position in a landslide victory, defeating Democrat Ryan Cronin 61%-39% to succeed retiring incumbent Jack Schnirman. Phillips previously represented the New York State Senate's 7th district, and had previously served as the 18th Mayor of

Flower Hill, New York Flower Hill is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The eastern half is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. Western and northe ...

. She is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Phillips was elected to the Senate in 2016, but was defeated in her 2018 re-election bid.

Life and career

Phillips was born and raised in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. She is the daughter of John Reidman, a steel worker who died when she was 12, and Betty Reidman, who worked as a cook at a local

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

post. Phillips attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, where she earned both her bachelor's degree and an M.B.A. in Finance. A former financial analyst, Phillips worked for large financial institutions for over 20 years, including

Met Life MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

and

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...

Securities. She later served as a vice president in Institutional Sales at

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

. Phillips and her husband, Andy, are the parents of three daughters.

Mayor of Flower Hill, New York (2012–2016)

Phillips served as the Mayor of Flower Hill, New York from 2012 to 2016. During her tenure as Mayor, she cut taxes and stabilized the village's finances (which, under her predecessor's management, were criticized by the New York State Comptroller's Office). Phillips also implemented an environmental policy to expand the number of trees in the village, an effort which led the Village to be named

Tree City USA The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...

by the National Arbor Day Committee. Phillips was the first female in Flower Hill's history to hold the position.

New York State Senator (2017–2018)

In 2016, State Senator

Jack Martins Joaquim "Jack" M. Martins (born June 19, 1967) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate for the 7th district. A Republican, he previously served as mayor of Mineola, New York. Early life and edu ...

decided to run for Congress, foregoing re-election to the Senate to do so. Phillips announced that she would seek the open Senate seat and was supported by Martins. Phillips ran on a platform which included cutting taxes, combating the heroin epidemic and strengthening state ethics laws in response to corruption scandals in Albany. Phillips was unopposed for the Republican nomination. With the Seventh district being one of the most competitive districts in the state, the race was projected to be close. In the end, Phillips defeated Democrat Adam M. Haber by a 51% to 49% margin. She was sworn in on January 1, 2017. In 2018, Phillips lost her re-election bid to Democrat

Anna Kaplan Anna Kaplan (née Monahemi) (born August 23, 1965) is an American politician from Great Neck, New York. A Democrat, she was a member of the New York State Senate, representing New York's 7th State Senate district, which runs from the North Shor ...

Election results

* November 2016

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, New York State Senate, 7th Senate District : * November 2021

, Nassau County, New York, Comptroller :

References

External links

Senator Elaine Phillips
''official site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Elaine Flower Hill, New York Living people Republican Party New York (state) state senators 21st-century American politicians 1959 births