Robert E. Antonacci is an American politician and judge from Syracuse, New York. A Republican, Antonacci served as Onondaga County Comptroller from 2008 to 2018. He was the Republican nominee for

New York State Comptroller The New York State Comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. The New York State Comptroller is the highest-paid state auditor or ...

in 2014, losing to incumbent Democrat

Tom DiNapoli Thomas Peter DiNapoli II (born February 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously the New York State Assemblyman for the 16th dist ...

. He was elected to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

in New York's 50th State Senate district in 2018. In 2019, Antonacci was elected as a Justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

—a trial-level court—in the Fifth Judicial District and stepped down from his Senate seat.

Early life and education

Antonacci was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college in DeWitt, New York.http://www.ongov.net/planning/haz/documents/Section9.7-TownofDeWitt.pdf It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946 and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. At its ...

. Following graduation, he worked with

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...

as a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

. He is married with two children. Following his time as a CPA, Antonacci attended

Syracuse University School of Law Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) is a Juris Doctor degree-granting law school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is one of only four law schools in upstate New York. Syracuse was accredited by the American Bar Association ...

, graduating ''cum laude'', and later entered into a private law practice.

Career

Onondaga County Comptroller

In 2003, Antonacci ran for

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level exec ...

Onondaga County Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA. History The name ''Onondaga'' derives from ...

as a Democrat, but lost to incumbent Republican Donald F. Colon. However, in 2007, Antonacci was elected to the post as a Republican. After taking office in 2008, he won reelection in 2011 and again in 2015. Antonacci resigned his post after being elected to the New York State Senate in 2018.

Campaigns for New York State Comptroller

Antonacci unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for

in 2010. Four years later, after no other candidates came forward, he accepted the Republican nomination for the

2014 New York Comptroller election The 2014 New York Comptroller election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the New York State Comptroller. Incumbent Democratic Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was re-elected to a second full term in office. Background Incumbent Democratic Com ...

, anticipating that he would receive matching funds for his campaign. He failed to raise enough money to qualify for matching funds under the state's pilot program and lost to incumbent

Thomas DiNapoli Thomas Peter DiNapoli II (born February 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously the New York State Assemblyman for the 16th dist ...

New York State Senate

In 2018, longtime Republican Senator John DeFrancisco announced that he would not seek re-election in Senate District 50. DeFrancisco's decision left the District 50 seat open for the first time since 1992. Soon after, Antonnaci declared his candidacy for the seat. Democrats targeted the district as a prime pickup opportunity, lining up behind the candidacy of public school teacher John Mannion. Although Democrats won control of the New York State Senate in 2018, Antonacci won his election; he defeated Mannion by a margin of 51% to 49%. He was sworn in on December 29, 2018. Antonacci stepped down from his State Senate seat on December 31, 2019 after being elected to the New York State Supreme Court.

Justice of the New York State Supreme Court

One year into his State Senate term, Antonacci accepted nominations to run for a seat on the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

, Fifth Judicial District. Antonacci sought the judgeship vacated upon the June 2019 death of James Tormey III, one of Antonacci's prominent mentors. In November 2019, Antonacci was elected to the New York State Supreme Court. He participated in a swearing-in ceremony on December 30, 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonacci, Bob Living people Politicians from Syracuse, New York Le Moyne College alumni Syracuse University College of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians Republican Party New York (state) state senators County auditors in the United States Year of birth missing (living people)