10 Facts About Tom Ognibene

Thomas Ognibene was an attorney and Republican politician in New York City who served in the New York City Council from 1992 to 2001.

Tom Ognibene was first elected in 1991 to become a New York City Council member, where he served through 2001, representing the 30th District in Queens, including the neighborhoods of Middle Village, Glendale, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven and Forest Hills.

In 2005 Tom Ognibene unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City against incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the 2005 mayoral election.

Tom Ognibene was endorsed by the leaders of the Queens County Republican Party to run in the Republican Party's primary election.

However, Bloomberg's campaign successfully challenged enough of the signatures Tom Ognibene had submitted to the Board of Elections to prevent Tom Ognibene from appearing on ballots for the Republican primary.

Tom Ognibene's campaign sought to beat Bloomberg by calling attention to Bloomberg's reputation as a "Republican In Name Only".

Tom Ognibene was chosen as Buffalo developer Carl Paladino's running mate in the New York gubernatorial election, 2010.

Tom Ognibene lost on September 14,2010, in what had been a bitter primary.

Tom Ognibene was a resident of Queens and was married for 48 years to his wife Margaret who survives him, a former New York City junior high school teacher.

Tom Ognibene died of Bukett's-like lymphoma on October 12,2015, at the age of 71.