Politics From 1988 to 1991, Grucci served on the
Suffolk County planning commission. From 1991 to 1993, Grucci served as the chairman of Brookhaven's Zoning Board of Appeals. On January 5, 1993, he was appointed to the Brookhaven Town Board to fill the vacancy created by John Powell after he accepted a position on the Suffolk County Board of Elections. In 1995, he defeated Democratic nominee Thomas Oberle to win election as Brookhaven Town Supervisor. Incumbent Representative
Michael Forbes, who had switched his political affiliation from
Republican to
Democratic, was defeated in the Democratic primary by Regina Seltzer. In the general election Grucci defeated Seltzer with 133,020 votes to her 97,299. During the election Grucci was endorsed by Arizona Senator
John McCain, Suffolk County Republican Chairman Tony Apollaro, Suffolk County Clerk Ed Romaine, Assembly-member Pat Accampora, Brookhaven Town Councilor John LaValle, Southold Town Councilor Bill Moore, and Southampton Village trustee Bill Manger.
2002 During the 2002 congressional
elections Grucci released a radio advertisement which stated that
Tim Bishop had "turned his back" on rape victims at
Southampton College. Grucci was criticized for the advertisement and Bishop filed a lawsuit to prevent the advertisement from being played.
Amy Walter stated that the advertisement was "a big turning point in this contest" as it was initially predicted that Grucci would easily win reelection. In the general election Bishop narrowly defeated Grucci with 84,276 votes to 81,524. ==Later life==