Five years after she first went to Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis is running to reclaim her seat in the June 23 primary election.
The former state Assemblymember is the incumbent for this year's election for Congressional District-11, which encompasses all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn.
Born in 1980 as the daughter of immigrants - a Greek father and a Cuban mother - Malliotakis was part of New York Governor George Pataki's staff, then in public relations, before serving as state Assemblymember from 2011-2021. In 2017, she unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Bill de Blasio.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
BK Reader: What made you decide to run for Congress again?
Malliotakis: I'm very passionate about the work that I do on behalf of the people of Brooklyn and Staten Island. You know what really makes me passionate? It is when we can get these results, get wins for the district. Our office [handles] thousands of cases every single year, and we resolve everything. We deal with a lot of cases with immigration, social security, IRS, disability benefits, tax refunds, or even helping somebody at the airport when they suddenly realize their passport expired, or people who have been waiting for years to become a U.S. citizen. These are the types of things that we work on on a regular basis that really impacts people's lives.
From a legislative standpoint, one of the first things I did in Congress was to help 9/11 widows and children. They missed multiple payments in the very beginning that they were owed from the state-sponsored terrorism fund, and it had been 20 years, and I intervened. I drafted the language, and we passed that legislation that finally got them the money that they were owed.
It helps people when we're able to deliver money for our NYPD. Not a lot of politicians have their back in New York City, unfortunately, but we're able to get them money for their canine unit, vehicles, protective gear, and forensic equipment that makes a difference. Then there's the larger issues on the federal level, like making sure our borders are secure, and making sure that we deport criminals who are wreaking havoc in our streets, the drug traffickers, the human traffickers, the bad actors that are here trying to do nefarious activity.
BK Reader: What are your three top policy priorities moving forward?
Malliotakis: Infrastructure. I was one of the Republicans that crossed over to help pass historic infrastructure funding, and we're seeing a lot of that money now trickling down to our community, whether it be our ports, airports, ferry system, subways, bridges, and projects along Belt Parkway, the BQE, and being able to make a difference in terms of modernizing New York City's aging infrastructure.
Sewer infrastructure is also a big part of that. We have a couple of bridges that are really old, and they need to be modernized, they need to be kept up, and so being able to deliver that is, I think, one of the biggest things for me.
Public safety is another big area. But not just the NYPD; we earmarked money for the FDNY, so the Dyker Heights Firehouse Castle on the Hill will be getting some money to help modernize and prepare the firehouse with upgrades. We also got money for EMS training facility for our district.
I love animal rights, and that's my personal passion. I probably sponsor more animal welfare bills than any member of Congress.
I should mention taxes, as I was part of the committee that actually drafted the SALT deduction, which gave 51 million seniors a bonus deduction on the money that they paid in taxes on their social security. This was [also] the expansion of the child tax credit, the expansion of the standard deduction, the no taxes on tips provision over overtime provisions. These were big savings for working Americans, middle-class families and senior citizens, and that was probably one of the most significant things that I've worked on as a member of Congress.
BK Reader: Why should people voters in NY-11 vote for you again?
Malliotakis: We're delivering results. We did what we said we were going to do. We said that we were going to cut taxes. We've done that. We said we were going to secure the border. We've done that.
I have split from my party from time to time when need be. I'm not afraid to stand up against some of the president's policies. When I disagree, I just think that we need New York City needs bipartisan representation. I'm the only Republican that represents our city on the federal level, and that is critically important, that New York City has bipartisan representation, and I think people see me as someone who's a fighter, someone who is no nonsense, somebody that's delivering results, and somebody who'll work with Republicans or Democrats to get that done and deliver for the people. I've worked with Jerry Nadler on helping 9/11 widows and children. I've worked with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on women's health and maternity issues. When we can find common ground, I work with anybody to deliver results for my constituents, and I think that's important.
