Rob Astorino

Robert Patrick Astorino (born May 3, 1967) is an American politician, radio producer, and television host who was the county executive of Westchester County, New York from 2010 to 2017.

He attended Westlake High School, and enrolled in Fordham University where he received a bachelor's degree in communications in 1989.

He later attended the Enforex School of International Studies in Barcelona, Spain where he became fluent in Spanish.

In 1991, Astorino defeated an incumbent town councilman in Mount Pleasant and was elected to the town board.

In 1994, Astorino's father, Robert Astorino, was convicted of federal corruption charges.

At the time, the senior Astorino was the Chief of Detectives for the Mt. Vernon Police Department.

He and three detectives were seen on film taking $10,000 dollars during an FBI sting; Robert Astorino pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison.

After graduating from college, Astorino hosted the weeknight sports shows Inside Sports on WFAS radio and served as host and producer of Sports Rap on the Sports Channel television network.

Astorino has been an anchor for the MSG Network program Talk of our Town.

Astorino is the recipient of the Associated Press award for Best Spot News Coverage and award for Best News Program, and the Metro New York Achievement in Radio award.

He is a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

He was reelected in 1995 and 1999.

During his tenure on the town board, he served six years as Deputy Supervisor and 8 years as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, which oversees the police department.

Westchester County Executive Andrew O'Rourke appointed Astorino to the Westchester County Board of Ethics in 1996.

Astorino was reappointed by O'Rourke's successor, Andy Spano in 1999.

In 2001, Astorino was one of the founders of 1050 ESPN Radio in New York.

He directed the rebranding of New York's WEVD-AM 1050 from a talk radio station to an all sports format.

He became the station's Senior Producer, and worked as Executive Producer of The Michael Kay Show.

Astorino served on the Westchester County Board of Legislators from 2003 to 2005, when he launched an unsuccessful bid to unseat then-Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano.

In 2003, Astorino announced he was a candidate to replace retiring County Legislator Sue Swanson, who represented a district encompassing Mount Pleasant, Pleasantville, North Castle, West Harrison, and portions of northern Greenburgh.

Astorino defeated his challenger with an aggressive campaign, which according to the Journal News, "raised the bar" for candidacies to the Board of Legislators.

He was promoted to Station Executive Producer and served until 2005, when he resigned to run for Westchester County Executive.

As the producer of the 4:00 to 7:00 PM time slot, the team of talent assembled by Astorino included Michael Kay, Don La Greca, and Joey Salvia; this team helped the show succeed against longtime afternoon sports radio mainstay Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN.

His accomplishments include securing broadcast rights for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, also at the expense of WFAN.

In 2007, Astorino was hired as the first program director for Sirius Satellite Radio's "The Catholic Channel".

He hosted a Thursday night program with Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York.

Astorino was hesitant at first to work on religious radio, but he changed his mind when he found out "The Catholic Channel" would be different.

He stated, "I think it's a great opportunity not just for the archdiocese but for the Catholic Church as a whole to reach out to people across the country with a message, and have a two-way conversation."

According to the Journal News, "With total authority over programming, the Archdiocese of New York was given the rare opportunity to play Michelangelo and create something new. Egan, who is not known to be a great communicator like his predecessor, Cardinal John O'Connor, gave the project his blessing. In addition to his show, he welcomed Sirius listeners when Sunday Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral was broadcast."

At the age of 21, while attending college, Astorino was elected to the Mount Pleasant board of education.

He resigned three years later.

In 2009, he challenged Spano again and prevailed.

Astorino was re-elected in 2013, defeating Democratic challenger Noam Bramson.

He was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2014.

Astorino is one of the founders of 1050 AM ESPN Radio in New York City; he served as WEPN's executive producer, executive producer of The Michael Kay Show, a host on the MSG Network, as well as the first program director for Sirius Satellite Radio's "The Catholic Channel".

He was defeated by incumbent New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

In 2017, Astorino ran for a third term as Westchester County Executive, but was defeated by Democratic challenger George Latimer.

He unsuccessfully ran for the New York State Senate in 2020 and for the Republican nomination for the governorship in 2022.

A Mount Vernon native, Astorino grew up in Thornwood, New York.

He is of three-quarters Italian descent.