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. 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 Reserves, where he currently serves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He then, in 2008, 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 successfully fought to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job killing tax that was hurting small businesses. Lee led the successful efforts to repeal the Saltwater Fishing License Fee and create the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program, a statewide program in New York to help our returning veterans cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). He sponsored legislation to enact the nation’s strongest property tax cap and helped reduce middle income tax rates to the lowest level in 60 years. Lee also wrote the law that protects our fallen veterans and their families from protests at military burials.

In 2014, Lee was elected to the United States Congress, ousting a twelve-year incumbent in one of the nation’s most competitive House races. The underdog, Congressman Zeldin earned a ten point victory over the Democratic incumbent following a GOP primary that Lee won by over 22 points where over $4 million was spent against him. In 2016, Lee won his campaign for reelection with almost 60% of the vote in one of the most closely watched races in that election cycle.

Since entering Congress in 2015, Lee has pursued an aggressive agenda in Washington, DC, on top local, domestic and international issues; quickly becoming one of the nation’s leading proponents for a stronger, more effective foreign policy that defeats ISIS and other terrorist threats, secures our homeland, and treats our nation’s friends as our friends, and our adversaries as our adversaries.