Thomas D. Croci is an American politician and naval officer from the state of New York. A Republican, Croci represented the 3rd District of the New York State Senate from 2015 through 2018.[3] He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia in the Trump administration, from February 3, 2020 to January 19, 2021.[4]
He was elected to his first political office, town supervisor for the Town of Islip, in 2011.[3] Croci was first elected to the State Senate in 2014.[5]
Croci was formerly an aide to Republican state Senator Lee Zeldin.[6] Croci was elected to New York State Senate for the 3rd district in November 2014, and was elected to a second term.[6] 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.[8] Croci did not seek re-election in November 2018.[6][9]