As of 2009, Lesko was the Democratic candidate for the open Brookhaven town supervisor position, which was vacated by DemocratBrian X. Foley in the past election. Foley was elected to the New York State Senate and a special election is scheduled to be held on March 31, 2009, to decide his successor. Lesko was endorsed by Foley.[7] His opponent was town councilman Republican Tim Mazzei.[8] The special election for town supervisor on March 31, 2009, saw over 14% turnout according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.[9] Lesko defeated Mazzei by over 4000 votes and he assumed office as the supervisor of Brookhaven.[10][11][12]
Lesko served as deputy chief of the Long Island Criminal Division, where he ran the U.S. Attorney's office on Long Island and managed all federal investigations and prosecutions in Brookhaven. From 2015 to 2018, Lesko was the vice president for economic development of Hofstra University.[13] In 2018, Lesko rejoined the United States Department of Justice, first serving as special counsel to the United States Attorney from the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. In March 2019, he became first deputy U.S. Attorney under Richard Donoghue.[14] On March 19, 2021, after the resignation of U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme, Lesko became acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.[15]
