Francis Ammendolea

FRANCIS J. AMMENDOLEA (b. August 10, 1976) is an American lawyer, and New York State Republican political activist. He was elected to the Franklin Square Board of Library Trustees on April 30, 2008.
Born in Jamaica, Queens in 1976, his family moved to Bellerose (a town on the eastern Queens/western Nassau border) in 1978. He attended St. Gregory the Great school, and later attended Holy Cross High School, from which he graduated with honors in 1994.

After attending the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for one year, Frank transferred to Queens College in 1995, where he majored in Political Science, receiving his degree in 1998.

While a student at Queens College, he founded the campus chapter of the College Republicans, which reached the apex of its activity during Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996 and Rudy Giuliani's mayoral re-election campaign in 1997. After Ammendolea's graduation in 1998, the club fell into dormancy, and as of 2008 there is no record of an active chapter at Queens College.

In 1998, Ammendolea began matriculation at the Hofstra University School of Law, while remaining active in Queens County Republican politics. While a student at Hofstra, he served as the Secretary of the student chapter of The Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies. He received his J.D. in May 2001. Upon passing the New York State Bar Exam in February 2002, he was sworn in as an attorney on July 24, 2002 before the Appellate Division, Second Department in Brooklyn, NY.

His first position as an Associate Attorney was with the law firm Perry & Campanelli, P.C. where he was an assistant Special Counsel to the County of Nassau. The firm's contract provided for the prosecution of all misdemeanor DWI civil forfeiture cases within Nassau County. During his time as an assistant Special Counsel, the firm resolved over 2,000 pending vehicle forfeiture cases, resulting in the auction of impounded vehicles seized by Nassau County in conjunction with DWI arrests.

In November 2003, Ammendolea was hired as an Associate with the law firm Nicolini, Paradise, Ferretti & Sabella, P.L.L.C., an AV rated law firm located in Mineola, Long Island. Specializing in insurance defense and general practice, specifically New York State No-Fault litigation, Ammendolea was named managing attorney of the firm's No-Fault department in January 2007.

POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Active in political issues since high school, Ammendolea is a registered Republican with the Nassau County Board of Elections, but classifies himself as a "Reagan Conservative."

His first campaign activity was as a volunteer on the gubernatorial campaign of George Pataki in 1994. During the course of the campaign, Ammendolea became such a standout volunteer in the New York City office, that he was awarded the "Chairman's Award of Excellence" by then-State Republican Chairman William Powers, "in recognition and appreciation of outstanding service to the Republican Party." George Pataki went on to defeat incumbent Democrat Mario Cuomo in that campaign.

After Pataki's election, Frank Ammendolea remained active in local Republican politics in his native Bellerose. He was active in the campaigns of State Senator Frank Padavan and Assemblyman Douglas Prescott, as well as the Congressional campaign of Grant Lally. In 1994, Ammendolea met Paul Damato, a Bayside attorney who was the Republican/Conservative candidate against Democrat Mark Weprin for a Queens Assembly seat. He quickly became a political protege of Damato (a Padavan ally), who fostered much of his political rise within the Queens GOP.

In 1995, Frank attended the National Conservative Student Conference sponsored by Young America's Foundation. The week long conference, held in July of that year, was especially notable because it included a luncheon address by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, as well as addresses by Jack Kemp, Oliver North and Republican Congressman (and longshot 1996 presidential hopeful) Bob Dornan. Ammendolea often refers to the conference as a "transformational event" in his political life.

During the 1990's, Ammendolea was an active member of the Queens Village Republican Club, The John Foster Dulles Republican Club and The Bayside Republican Club (all headquartered in eastern Queens, and closely affiliated with the campaigns of Frank Padavan, Douglas Prescott and Rudolph Giuliani). From 1997 to 1999 he served as the District Chairman of the 33rd Assembly District. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the John Foster Dulles Republican Club in 1997, the youngest Chairman in the Club's history.

While a member of the Queens Village Republican Club, Ammendolea wrote a monthly column for the club's newsletter, The Queens Village Eagle" called '"Writing From the Right" which addressed current political issues from a conservative perspective. He resurrected the column as a blog in 2006.

In 1996, he served as a Deputy Volunteer Coordinator with the Dole-Kemp campaign's New York City headquarters. On the local level, Frank was involved in the campaign of David Pinzon, the Republican/Conservative candidate against Assemblyman Mark Weprin in the 24th A.D. He also did campaign work in Queens County for 5th Congressional District candidate Grant Lally.

In 1998, Ammendolea actively recruited Queens Village resident, and local youth organizer, Tony Bellizzi to run against Democrat Assemblywoman Barbara Clark in the 33rd A.D. Though endorsed by the Queens County Republican Committee, Bellizzi faced opposition from local Queens Village Republicans who had crafted a non-aggression pact with Clark. In addition, the local Conservative Party leaders opposed Bellizzi, as they were feuding with the Queens Village GOP and incorrectly viewed Bellizzi as the preferred candidate of the Queens Village Republican Club. Bellizzi ended up running as the candidate of the Right-to-Life Party, while the Republican line remained blank. The Conservative Party ran its own candidate, who ran ahead of Bellizzi, while still losing handily to Clark.

Undaunted by the events of 1998, Ammendolea again recruited a candidate to oppose Clark in 2000, acting as campaign manager for Robert Hutchison, a UPS worker and army veteran who was a member of the Queens Village Republican Club. Not able to oppose one of their own members, the Club tepidly backed Hutchison, who also obtained the endorsement of the Conservative and Independence Party lines. On almost no money, Hutchison achieved 11% of the vote, running strongest in the Bellerose section of the district.

During the 2000 presidential race, Frank initially supported Steve Forbes for the Republican nomination - viewing him as "the most viable conservative candidate." He ran as a Forbes delegate in New York's 6th congressional district, and garnered 180 votes (more than 2 times that of any other Forbes delegate in the 6th C.D.)despite the fact that Forbes withdrew from the race prior to the New York primary. After Forbes' exit, Ammendolea backed John McCain for the nomination, and actively campaigned for him during the New York primary. He eventually supported George W. Bush after his nomination that summer.

In 2001, Frank curtailed much of his Republican political activity while preparing to take the New York State Bar Exam. He did not actively campaign for either candidate for Mayor of New York City, but voted for Herman Badillo in the Republican primary, and later for Michael Bloomberg in the November election.

After his marriage in June 2003, Ammendolea moved to New Hyde Park, Nassau County and became a committeeman in the Nassau County Republican Committee. During his residency in New Hyde Park, he worked on the re-election campaign of Legislator Richard Nicolello.

In the 2008 presidential primary season, Frank was an early supporter of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, despite deep disagreements on social issues such as abortion, gun control and special rights for homosexuals. After Giuliani's exit from the race following the Florida primary, he supported former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney - voting for him in the New York primary. Once Romney left the race, Ammendolea joined the New York Republican Party in supporting Senator John McCain, and presently serves as a member of Lawyers for McCain.

In 2004, Frank and his wife moved to Franklin Square, Nassau County where they presently reside with their two children. Frank is currently the Second Vice-President of the Franklin Square Republican Club, as well as a Board Member of the Long Island Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. He has been mentioned as a possible successor to Councilman James Darcy (R-Valley Stream)on the Hempstead Town Board. He was elected a Trustee of the Franklin Square Library Board on April 30, 2008.

PERSONAL LIFE

Frank is the son of Joseph V. Ammendolea, Sr., an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #3, and Eileen Ammendolea, an elementary school teacher at Notre Dame Catholic School in New Hyde Park.

He is the oldest of four children, which include siblings William (b.1979), Mary-Katherine (b.1980) and Joseph, Jr. (b.1983)

He is married to Christine Ammendolea (b.1975) and the couple has two daughters, Lauren (b. 2004) and Kaitlyn (b. 2006).

A practicing Roman Catholic, Frank is a parishioner of St. Catherine of Sienna R.C. Church in Franklin Square, where he serves as a Lector.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES

http://www.nylawyer.com/display.php/file=/exam/names/2022ah

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