For the past few months Sachem alum and teacher Nick Antonucci rallied support to run for Congress. He eyed Lee Zeldin’s seat in New York’s First Congressional District and was going to run in the democratic primary.
After the state’s new congressional map was signed into law, Antonucci, a social studies teacher at Seneca Middle School, suspended his campaign. His team reviewed the redistricted maps and data, and realized they don’t have the resources to harvest primary votes in the new first district. The new congressional maps essentially remove residents from the Sachem Central School District and the south shore of Suffolk County and place them in a different district.
“With the new maps we lost all the areas of our base supporters,” he said. “We felt focusing here gave us a chance to cobble together a win in the primary. So rather than clinging to false hope, we are recognizing the harsh reality we see in the data. Although I’m utterly disappointed that we’ll never know what could have been, I look at this as a setback and not a defeat. I still have a deep desire to have an encore career in public service.”
Antonucci, who graduated from Sachem in 1982, also had a growing volunteer staff made of many Sachem alumni. The story for him now is not that he had to suspend his campaign, but that he grew a grassroots effort with Sachem alumni who were willing to fight for the same policies and beliefs as him.
“When some politicos found out that I had an all volunteer staff they were utterly shocked,” he said. “I really love every member of the team and that’s why it hurt so bad when I shared the news. They are an amazing group.”
“I know that Nick is an extremely ethical and compassionate person with a deep understanding of the problems facing Long Islanders,” said Dr. Laura Valente, a Sachem alum from 1982, his campaign manager and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Montclair State University.
Jackie Bosco, a Sachem East alum from the Class of 2007, is a former student of Antonucci who was empowered by him in the classroom and joined his campaign as a messaging strategist.
“Teachers make the world go ‘round,” she said, referring to his inspirational methods.
His desire to run for office was rooted in public service, to serve the middle class of Long Island, “because that voice is absent in Congress,” he said.
As a Sachem student, Antonucci was positively impacted by John Bannon, his sixth grade teacher at Tamarac Elementary, who told him it was acceptable to read and balance his interest in learning and playing sports. It was Barbara MacAdorey, his eighth grade social studies teacher at Seneca, who inspired his passion for history and government. And it was Ed Paquette, a longtime business teacher and former Dean of Students at Sachem North, who was his rock band advisor and empowered him by using music as a metaphor.
“You should be loud, not quiet, and always take the lead,” he was told.
Antonucci will hold off on being loud for a while longer, but thanks to his Sachem roots he’s ready to lead.