Scandal Opened Door to Tom DiNapoli's Service as NYS Comptroller

Name: Thomas P. DiNapoli Office Sought: New York State Comptroller Age: 72 Political Party: Democrat Current Position: New York State Comptroller Residence: Nassau County Opponent: Republican Joseph Hernandez

Thomas DiNapoli didn't initially become New York State Comptroller by winning a statewide election. He got the job because his predecessor was engulfed in a criminal scandal.

In 2006, Democratic Comptroller Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty to a felony involving the improper use of state employees as drivers for his wife. He resigned, creating a vacancy in one of New York's most powerful financial offices.

That opened the door for DiNapoli, a 20-year Democratic assemblyman from Nassau County who was neither a Certified Public Accountant nor a professional comptroller.

Newly elected Governor Eliot Spitzer wanted a financial expert to fill the vacancy. A screening panel of three former comptrollers evaluated 18 candidates and recommended three finalists.

DiNapoli wasn't among them.

Instead, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and legislative leaders backed their colleague, rejecting the panel's recommendations.

On February 7, 2007, lawmakers selected DiNapoli by a 151-54 vote.

Spitzer publicly denounced the selection, calling DiNapoli "thoroughly and totally unqualified for the job."

Despite the controversy, DiNapoli secured the position and subsequently won statewide elections in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Born and raised on Long Island, DiNapoli grew up in a middle-class union household. His grandparents were immigrants, and both parents were union workers.

His political career began remarkably early.

In 1972, at age 18, he was elected to the Mineola Board of Education, becoming New York's youngest elected public official.

DiNapoli graduated magna cum laude from Hofstra University with a history degree in 1976 and later earned a master's degree from The New School.

He worked in telecommunications before winning election to the State Assembly in 1986.

During two decades in Albany, he served on the Ways and Means Committee and chaired committees overseeing environmental conservation, local government and consumer affairs.

As Comptroller, DiNapoli oversees state finances, audits government spending and serves as sole trustee of New York's massive public pension fund.

DiNapoli has emphasized pension investment performance, government transparency, anti-corruption investigations and fiscal oversight.

He also supports climate-related investment policies, including a pension portfolio goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Nearly two decades after lawmakers first handed him the job, DiNapoli is seeking another four-year term.