Regina Seltzer
The Democrat: New York's First
Congressional District

Regina Seltzer, the surprise winner of the Democratic primary in New York's First Congressional District, ousted incumbent Rep. Michael Forbes by just 35 votes. Seltzer, a pro bono environmental attorney, is making a bid to return to public office after a near 20-year hiatus. She served as councilwoman for the town of Brookhaven from 1976 to 1980, as one of the council's first Democrats since 1920. She also served on the Brookhaven Planning Board from 1980 to 1986. She currently practices pro bono law from her home.

Seltzer, 71, holds degrees from the City College of New York, C.W. Post College, and Hofstra Law School. She earned her law degree while in her 50s, and later started her own practice, specializing in children's issues and environmental cases. She was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Suffolk County Community College from 1985 to 1988, and has had her own practice since 1988. Previously, she worked for 10 years as a librarian for the Patchogue-Medford School District. She also has experience as an elementary schoolteacher. Environmental and community issues have shaped her varied career path.

Seltzer has been active in the community for many years and claims that "citizenship is not a spectator sport." She served on the Board of Directors for a local mediation center from 1978 to 1984, and for the Soil Conservation Council from 1977 to 1979. Seltzer founded the Bay Management and Shellfish Commission on which she served from 1976 to 1979. She was president of the League of Women Voters of Brookhaven in 1965, and has been a member of the National Audubon Society and the South Bay Art Association since 1965.

Seltzer received the 1999 Environmental Achievement Award from Long Island Pine Barrens Society, and the 1979 Woman of the Year Award from the Village Times.

Seltzer has a son, Eric, and two granddaughters, Veronica and Bryn. Her husband, Stanley, passed away last year.