 A Republican, Tedisco served in the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 2017.He was the Assembly Minority Leader from November 2005 until his resignation from that post in April 2009.In 2009, Tedisco was the Republican nominee in a special election for the 20th US Congressional District to fill the seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand following Gillibrand's appointment to the United States Senate; he was defeated by Democrat Scott Murphy.