Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association Endorses Congressman Lee Zeldin for Governor

NEW YORK – Today, the Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association endorsed Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), the Republican Party and Conservative Party Nominee for Governor.

“Our members have recognized your outstanding work within the State of New York, specifically the law enforcement community as we considered this endorsement. We look forward to working with you as we seek to effectively serve and protect our community. We are proud to stand by you as an outstanding advocate for our brothers and sisters in law enforcement,” said Joseph C. Reeves, President, Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association.

Congressman Zeldin has now received 53 law enforcement endorsements of his campaign, including the 50,000 member Police Conference of New York. He has also been endorsed by the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, Suffolk County Superior Officers Association, Suffolk County Detectives Association, Suffolk County Probation Officers Association, Suffolk County Detective Investigators PBA, Suffolk County Police Conference, Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs Police Benevolent Association, Nassau County Probation Officers Association, Amityville Village PBA, Northport Village PBA, Lynbrook PBA, NYPD Captains Endowment Association, NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association, NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association, Nassau County Police Superior Officers Association, Nassau County Police Detectives Association, Suffolk County Court Officers Benevolent Association, Suffolk County Corrections Officers Association, National Latino Peace Officers Association- Advocacy, Orleans County Sheriff’s Employees Association, Policemen’s Benevolent Association of Westchester County, Southampton Town Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, Eastern Long Island Police Conference, New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association, Nassau County Municipal Police Chiefs Association, Western New York Police Association, New York State Law Enforcement Officers Union, Council 82 – Local 325 C, Nassau County Sheriff’s Correction Officers Benevolent Association, New York City Detectives Investigators’ Association, Nassau Police Conference, Philip S. McDonald Police Benevolent Association for the Rome Police Department, National New York City Police Department 10-13 Organizations, Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, Coalition of Suffolk Police Unions, John E. Creedon Police Benevolent Association, Town of Webb Police Benevolent Association, Warwick Police Benevolent Association, New York State Fraternal Order of Police, NYC Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, Floral Park Police Benevolent Association, and Sands Point Police Benevolent Association, Long Island Shields, Retired Sergeants Association Inc. Police Department City of New York, Auburn Police Local 195, New York 10-13 Association, Superior Officers Association Retired (SOAR), Retired Lieutenants Association NYC Police Department, Retired Police Association, NYS Correctional Lieutenants, Glen Cove PBA, and Great Neck Estates PBA.

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About Lee Zeldin

Lee Zeldin was born and raised on Long Island. He grew up in Suffolk County and graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, where his identical twin daughters attend school today. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and then his law degree from Albany Law School, becoming New York’s youngest attorney at the time at the age of 23.

Lee spent four years on Active Duty with the U.S. Army after completing ROTC and served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor, and Military Magistrate. In the summer of 2006, while assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, Lee deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2007, Lee returned to Suffolk County with his family. It was at this time that Lee transitioned from Active Duty to the Army Reserve, where he currently serves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2008, Lee established a successful law practice in Smithtown, NY. Elected to the New York State Senate two years later, in 2010, Lee’s been working hard every day since to keep the promises he made to the hard-working families he represents.

In the State Senate, Lee:

  • Led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job killing tax that was hurting small businesses. 

  • Cosponsored the nation’s strongest property tax cap, which became law.

  • Reduced middle-income tax rates in New York to the lowest level in 60 years.

  • Secured the repeal of the Saltwater Fishing License Fee.

  • Created the PFC Joseph Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program to help our returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). 

  • Authored the law to protect our fallen veterans and their families from protests at military burials. 

Lee was then elected to the United States Congress in 2014, representing New York’s First Congressional District, and has now won seven consecutive races since 2010 in purple NYC suburban districts, unseating two Democrat incumbents along the way. In Congress, Lee quickly became a leading voice in America on top local, domestic and foreign policy issues: 

  • Combating and defeating MS-13 on Long Island, leading the charge in New York and nationally against cashless bail, opposing all efforts to defund, dismantle or abolish police, and providing law enforcement the resources they need to fight gang violence and other crimes in our communities, including bulletproof vests.

  • Securing the repeal of many harmful, job killing regulations, with the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, and many other initiatives, to improve our business climate and grow our economy. 

  • Leading the charge to end all COVID mandates. 

  • Saving Plum Island, by securing the repeal of a 2008 federal law requiring the island to be sold off to the highest bidder. 

  • Delivering a $1.5 billion boost in border security resources, helping to choke off the flow of illegal migration across our borders. 

  • Introducing and passing into law his Adult Day Health Care legislation for disabled veterans and opening a new health care clinic for East End veterans.

  • Delivering the Electron Ion Collider “discovery machine” to Brookhaven National Lab that will enable advancements in national security, medical and cancer research, astrophysics, and more and create an extensive number of jobs. 

  • Advancing his law enforcement bill of rights, which would help ensure that our great law enforcement officers and the people they serve are protected.

  • Championing the expansion of the Dwyer Program nationally, to help all of our nation’s veterans access the resources they need. 

  • Securing much needed support of treatment, enforcement, and prevention for those affected by the heroin and opioid abuse crisis.

  • Leading the effort against the fatally flawed Iran Nuclear Deal.

  • Co-authoring a bipartisan resolution (H.Res. 246) that passed the House opposing the anti-Israel and antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

  • Working with the Army Corps of Engineers to protect our coastlines, advancing the ambitious Fire Island to Montauk Point project, in addition to several other vital projects on the north and south shores of Long Island.

  • Co-Chairing the Long Island Sound Caucus and advancing top priorities for the Long Island Sound Program, National Estuary Program and SeaGrant.

  • Co-chairing, as one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, the House Republican Israel Caucus, and serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Financial Services Committee, as well as four House Subcommittees.

  • Successfully resolving over 17,000 constituent cases in favor of his constituents.

Lee and his wife, Diana, reside in Shirley with their twin fifteen-year old daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.