Ronald Castorina

Ronald Castorina, Jr. is an American judge, politician and attorney from New York. A Republican, Castorina represented the 62nd District in the New York State Assembly from May 10, 2016 to January 2, 2019. In 2020, he was elected as a judge of the New York City Civil Court, and in 2021, he was elected to a judgeship in the Supreme Court, Richmond County.

Ronald Castorina, Jr.
Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Richmond County
Assumed office
January 1, 2022
Judge of the New York City Civil Court, Richmond County
In office
January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021
Preceded byKim Dollard
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 62nd district
In office
May 10, 2016 – January 2, 2019
Preceded byJoseph Borelli
Succeeded byMichael Reilly
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
Alma materSt. Francis College (BA)
University of Buffalo (JD)

Life and career

Castorina was born and raised on Staten Island. He attended St. Francis College and then received a Juris Doctor from the University of Buffalo School of Law. He is a member of the Army National Guard.[1]

Following his law school graduation, Castorina worked as 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 after it proposed to take school buses away from middle schoolers in Staten Island.[2]

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 he initially faced two challengers for the Republican nomination, Castorina went on to receive the endorsement of the party.[3] He ran unopposed in the April 19, 2016 special election[4] and was sworn into office on May 3, 2016.[5] He successfully ran for election to a full term in November 2016.[6] In May 2017, he was elected Chairman of the Staten Island Republican Party, succeeding John Antoniello.[7]

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.[8][9][10][11]

Along with Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, Castorina sued NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio concerning the use of the city's new ID cards by people without lawful residency status in the United States.[12]

As a member of the Assembly, Castorina voted against the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which would have added gender identity and expression as a protected class in New York's human rights and hate crimes laws.[13]

In 2018, Castorina ran against Democratic Assemblyman Matthew Titone for Richmond County Surrogate Judge. Castorina lost the race by a small margin.[14]

In 2020, Castorina declared his candidacy for a judgeship on the New York City Civil Court. He ran against Democrat attorney Allyn Crawford and prevailed, receiving over 57% of the vote.[15] He began serving as a judge in 2021.[16]

Castorina ran for a state Supreme Court judgeship in Richmond County in 2021.[17] He declined to participate in the review process of the Richmond County and New York City Bar Associations, asserting that the process was politically biased; due to his lack of participation, he received a "not approved" rating from both.[18] On November 2, 2021, he won the election.[17]

Castorina is openly gay and has been with his partner Tom since 2010.[17]

See also

References
  1. Shapiro, Rachel (2015-12-04). "Ron Castorina resigns from Board of Elections to prep for Assembly run". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  2. Shapiro, Rachel (2016-02-04). "Ron Castorina Jr. is GOP pick for South Shore Assembly". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  3. Rizzi, Nicholas (2016-02-05). "Staten Island GOP Picks Lawyer Ron Castorina for South Shore Assembly Seat". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  4. Shapiro, Rachel (April 20, 2016). "Assemblyman Ron Castorina will 'hit the ground running'". silive.
  5. Shapiro, Rachel (May 8, 2016). "Castorina takes oath of office, gets down to business". silive.
  6. "New York District 62 State Assembly Results: Ronald Castorina Wins". The New York Times. August 1, 2017.
  7. "Assemblyman Ron Castorina Wins Staten Island's GOP Chairman Seat". spectrumlocalnews.com. May 12, 2017.
  8. Shapiro, Rachel (June 8, 2016). "Castorina calls abortion 'African-American genocide'". silive.
  9. Rouse, Karen (June 8, 2016). "In Albany, Abortion Debate Turns to Race, and Turns Ugly". WNYC.org.
  10. Campbell, Jon (June 8, 2016). "VIDEO: NY lawmaker likens abortion to 'African-American genocide'". The Journal News.
  11. Mahoney, Bill (June 7, 2016). "Assembly erupts after lawmaker calls abortion 'African-American genocide'". Politico PRO.
  12. Shapiro, Rachel (January 19, 2017). "IDNYC suit continues: City still can't destroy documents". silive.
  13. Tracy, Matt (November 15, 2021). "Gay Republicans Set to Join City Council, State Supreme Court". gaycitynews.com.
  14. Shapiro, Rachel (November 7, 2018). "Matt Titone beats Castorina in very close Surrogate Court race". silive.
  15. "2020 General Election Results, Richmond County, New York" (PDF). Vote.NYC.
  16. "Ronald Castorina Jr". NYCourts.gov. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  17. Dalton, Kristin (November 4, 2021). "'I'm a friend, brother, son, and I happen to be gay,' said Ron Castorina, S.I.'s first openly gay Republican judge". silive.
  18. Alves, Giavanni (October 26, 2021). "Supreme Court justice candidate Ron Castorina alleges 'political bias,' refuses NYC Bar interview. They label him 'not approved.'". silive.
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