Hughes, Gillen announce campaigns for Congress

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Sarah Hughes, an Olympic gold medalist who grew up in Great Neck, has filed to run for the 4th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park).

Hughes took home the gold medal for the women’s singles event during the 2002 Winter Olympics, defeating Michelle Kwan, who took bronze, and Irina Slutskaya, who took silver.

She will be running in the Democratic primary against former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, who filed to run for the seat last week after losing to D’Esposito in November’s election.

Daughter of John Hughes and Amy Pastarnack, Hughes was born in Great Neck and attended Great Neck North High School.

After graduation, she attended Yale University, earning her bachelor’s degree in American studies with a concentration in U.S. politics and communities.

Hughes was on the cover of Time magazine skating over the Rocky Mountains after qualifying for the games with a bronze medal win at the 2002 U.S. Championships and her second consecutive bronze medal win at the Grand Prix Final.

She is the only American woman to have won the Olympic title without having won either a World or U.S. senior national title.

Hughes retired shortly after her Olympic win in 2003. Hughes’ younger sister Emily was also an Olympic competitor during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Immediate efforts to reach Hughes for comment were unavailing.

Gillen, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022 against D’Esposito said in a press release Wednesday morning she will work across the aisle to serve 4th District residents and not play any partisan games.

“Nassau’s South Shore is my home. It’s where I have lived and served for decades. Now in the face of the reckless conduct and fraud we’ve witnessed in a few short months, I have never been more determined to fight for this district,” Gillen said Wednesday. “I want Long Islanders to be safe in our communities and free from the plague of gun violence, and we must ensure that residents can afford to stay here and thrive.”

The 4th Congressional District comprises central and southern Nassau County, including Floral Park, Garden City, Hempstead, Mineola, Carle Place, New Hyde Park and Westbury. Under newly drawn redistricting maps, it also takes in the villages of East Williston, Williston Park, Lake Success and some unincorporated parts of the Town of North Hempstead.

Gillen, who served as supervisor for the largest township in the United States from 2018-19, was the first Democrat elected to the position in a century in an upset over incumbent Anthony Santino.

Prior to serving as supervisor, Gillen worked at the law firm of Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein.

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