Prior to her election, Pellegrino was a teacher for 25 years, spending most of her career teaching in Baldwin Public Schools.
[3] In an upset, she won a special election on May 23, 2017, to succeed Republican Joseph Saladino, who was appointed Oyster Bay town supervisor.
[4] She was previously a leader in the anti-Common Core "opt-out" movement and received significant support from the state teachers union in her 2017 run.
[10] As a member of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation and Chair of the Legislative Commission on Toxic Substances and Hazardous Waste, she strongly opposed offshore drilling[11] and supported clean-up projects by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
[13] Pellegrino was defeated for re-election to a full term by Republican Michael LiPetri in the 2018 general election.