Joe Mondello back in town

                                                                               
                                                                                  

Joe Mondello, from News12 interview by Rich Barrabi on Power and Politics

News12 Long Island posted an interview yesterday by Rich Barrabi with former longtime Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello, who was former President Trump's ambassador to the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

It seems that Mondello is back on Long Island for good.

It was expected that Mondello would lose his job with the change in administrations, but he said he had planned to return to Long Island anyway.

"I had spent two and a half years as an ambassador," Mondello said. "That was enough. I was looking to come home. I've got children and grandchildren here.

"My plan was to come home at this time no matter what happened."

Though a Trump supporter, Mondello congratulated Democratic Joseph Biden.

"I wish the current President Biden all the success in the world because our country needs a leader and we need to go down the road and do the right thing, " Mondello said.

Barrabi asked if Mondello missed politics, resigning in May 2018 to take the ambassadorship after serving as Nassau's Republican chairman for 35 years.

"I enjoyed every minute of my political life but by the same token, it was time," Mondello said, adding that he hadn't had any regrets about "leaving that position as chairman and getting back into civilian life."

Asked how the county Republican party would rebuild after Democratic victories in the country and state, Mondello said, "I think we’ll get a lot of help from the Democrats. Once they come in, it has been my experience that the taxes go up. People have a feeling, when you start fooling around with their wallets, they're not happy....:

"I think we have good leadership in Joe Cairo, the new chairman of the Republican Committee in Nassau County. He's smart. He will work hard to build the party up."

Mondello added, "I think we will have the troops that we always have, who will be loyalists and stay with the Republican party."

Though Mondello said he was fine with staying out of local politics, pundits immediately began speculating on what his impact will be in Nassau.

Will he back a possible bid by Nassau Legis. John Ferretti, a Levittown Republican who is Mondello's grandnephew, to challenge Democratic County Executive Laura Curran this fall?

Will former Hempstead Town Supervisor Anthony Santino, who served as a top aide to Mondello for decades, re-emerge from private life? Santino had been working for Republicans at the Board of Elections but resigned at the end of the year.

Will Mondello promote a possible judgeship for son-in-law Chris Ostuni, now counsel for the Republican majority on the county legislature? Ostuni had been cross-endorsed for Supreme Court in 2019 but withdrew from consideration.

Mondello, 82, told Barrabi that he was considering "practicing a little law...I just can't seem to stop."