Thomas D. Croci is an American politician and naval officer from the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. A Republican, Croci represented the 3rd District of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

from 2015 through 2018. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia in the

Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

, from February 3, 2020 to January 19, 2021. He was elected to his first political office,

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

for the Town of Islip, in 2011. Croci was first elected to the State Senate in 2014.

Life and career

Croci graduated from

Connetquot High School Connetquot High School (CHS) is a Public school (government funded), public High school in the United States, high school serving students from the 9th–12th grades, located in Bohemia, New York. It is part of the Connetquot Central School Distr ...

and received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in Political Science.Yancey Roy and Rick Brand
GOP State Sen. Tom Croci won't seek third term
''Newsday'' (May 2, 2018). He graduated from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

in 1997 and then joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, where he went to

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

.Sophia Chang
Tom Croci, Islip Town supervisor, returns from deployment in Afghanistan
''Newsday'' (June 27, 2014). He spent eight years on

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

and attained the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 2013. He served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and was on the staff of the

Homeland Security Council The Homeland Security Council (HSC) is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States tasked with advising the president on matters relevant to Homeland Security. The current homeland security advisor is Stephen Mi ...

under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and also served on the Barack Obama presidential transition team. Croci thereafter returned to active duty as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan, sixteen months into his first term as

for

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The population was 339,938 at th ...

; he returned to Islip in 2014. Croci was formerly an aide to Republican state Senator

Lee Zeldin Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and officer in the United States Army Reserve who has been serving as the 17th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since January 29, 2025. A m ...

. Croci was elected to New York State Senate for the 3rd district in November 2014, and was elected to a second term. Croci abruptly left the state Senate to rejoin the U.S. Navy in May 2018 without resigning his seat. According to ''Newsday'', Croci's absence threw "a monkey wrench into the day-to-day operations of the State Senate" by depriving Senate Republicans of a governing majority. Croci did not seek re-election in November 2018.Democrats see chance to flip state Senate in November

News 12 Networks The News 12 Networks are a group of regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area that are owned by Altice USA. All channels provide rolling news coverage 24 hours a day, focusing primarily on regions of the met ...

(October 1, 2018). Croci resides in

Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,569 at the time of the 2020 census. History The earli ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Croci, Tom Living people People from Islip (town), New York James Madison University alumni New York Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers United States Navy officers Town supervisors in New York (state) Republican Party New York (state) state senators First Trump administration personnel United States Department of Defense officials 1972 births 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature