Ms. Russell has lived essentially all of her life in Suffolk County. She grew up in western Suffolk County
and graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School. After graduating from SUNY Binghamton with a
BSN, she did move to Atlanta, Georgia to be a critical care nurse. While in Atlanta, she saw a need for
effective legal representation of nurses, physicians and hospitals, and pursued a J.D. degree from Georgia
State University. Ms. Russell attended Law School while working full time as a registered nurse.
Immediately upon graduation from Georgia State University College of Law, she returned to New York
and began defending Physicians, Nurses and Hospitals in malpractice actions. She lived in Manhattan for
a few years, until she met and married her husband, Ted Malik. She has resided in the Town of
Brookhaven since 1993, living with her husband and 4 children on the family farm.
Ms. Russell represented her clients at trial, all over Long Island and metropolitan New York City for
nearly 3 decades. In 2017, she left the practice of law and pursued opportunities to empower and
improve the lives of women in the community. She has been a mentor at Dress For Success
Brookhaven and a volunteer Mock Trial Coach at Longwood High School since 2018. She has also been
an active advocate for voter protection since 2016 and an advocate of fair redistricting during the
recent hearings in Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven. She has been an active member of
the Brookhaven Democratic Committee and its executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Russell intends to use her seasoned advocacy skills to improve the quality of life for Brookhaven
residents. She believes that affordable housing is a necessity to help our Seniors and children stay on
Long Island. Long Island has simply become too expensive for far too many people. Ms. Russell also
intends to ensure that our Landfill in Bellport is closed in an environmentally safe manner and the
revenue it generates presently, adequately replaced to protect our tax base. She also intends to ensure that
the neighborhoods around the Landfill are carefully cleaned up so that the health of our residents in that
area is no longer negatively impacted.