Hon. Joseph A. Griffo of Rome, New York is a New York State Senator representing the 47th district which includes Oneida, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Griffo received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with Magna Cum Laude distinction in 1978 from the State University of New York at Brockport. He then served as director of community relations for the City of Rome and as an administrative assistant to the mayor. Griffo first sought elective office in 1989, running for a seat on the Oneida County Legislature. In 1991, Griffo was elected as Mayor of Rome, New York, and reelected in both 1995 and 1999. He was elected Oneida County Executive in 2003, before running for State Senate in 2006 to replace Raymond Meier, who was running for Congress.

The Senate Committee on Investigations is considering investigating a controversial multimillion-dollar loan that New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer's father Bernard Spitzer gave him when he ran for attorney general in 1998, a loan Mr. Spitzer has acknowledged not being truthful about.^[1][2] Committee Chairman George Winner told The New York Post that subpoenas should be used to find out about the loans.^[3] Winner wrote to Griffo, who is the Chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, that an article profiling Spitzer in New York Magazine "outlined what may have been a willful effort by Eliot Spitzer and his father to circumvent campaign-contribution limits in New York state law and then conceal their actions."^[2] In 1998, Spitzer claimed that he secured the $5 million loan by mortgaging apartments his developer had given him, but later revealed that his father was actually paying off the loans and, therefore, financing his campaign.^[1][2]

• Griffo also ran on the Conservative Party of New York ticket.

• New York State Senate

• New York State Senate Member Website
• Official Griffo for Senate Homepage

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