Ronald Castorina

Castorina was born and raised on Staten Island before attending St. Francis College and then the University of Buffalo to receive his J.D. degree. He is a member of the Army National Guard.[1]

Following his time at law school, Castorina worked as a counsel to New York City Councilmember Vincent Ignizio before becoming the Republican commissioner for the Staten Island Board of Elections for New York City. Castorina gained citywide attention when he sued the City Department of Education when they proposed taking school buses away from his district for middle schoolers.[2] In 2018, Castorina ran against Democratic Assemblyman Matthew Titone for Richmond County Surrogate Judge.[3] Castorina lost the race by a small margin.[4]

In 2015, Castorina was chosen by the Staten Island Republican Party to replace former Assemblymember Joseph Borelli, who had resigned after winning the vacated New York City Council seat of Vincent Ignizio. While initially he faced two Republican challengers for the Republican nomination, Castorina went on to receive the endorsement from the party.[5] He ran unopposed in the April 19, 2016 special election and was sworn into office on May 10, 2016. He successfully ran for election in 2016. In May 2017, he was elected Chairman of the Staten Island Republican Party, succeeding John Antoniello.

In 2016, during a speech on the Assembly floor, Castorina referred to abortion as "African-American genocide"; this remark drew the ire of some New York State Assembly colleagues that support abortion rights,[6] but was applauded by pro-life advocates.[7][8][9] Castorina along with Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis sued NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio concerning the IDNYC use by illegal aliens residing in NYC.[10]