Find out the candidates the editorial board chose and why as endorsements are published throughout October.

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The Editorial Board

Long Islanders are about to cast the most supersized ballots in memory. 
These ballots are lengthy. They bulge with choices. That’s due to a new state law requiring local elections to be held in even-numbered years, in the same cycle as state and federal contests, ostensibly to maximize turnout. 
So global and national affairs are on the ballot this year in congressional races as stability in the Middle East and tariffs have become pocketbook issues, as is trying to find common ground on immigration policy. Statewide, energy has become paramount in the governor’s race: the construction of data centers, green energy and natural gas, battery storage, and finding ways to cut everyday costs. In state legislative races, there’s the matter of childcare and social programs and how to pay for them. Town supervisors, meanwhile, are challenged on housing, road conditions and water quality. 
In keeping with our public service mission to inform, the Newsday editorial board will be endorsing in 63 races for elected offices across Long Island. We will have held interviews with more than 120 candidates running on the major party lines. Both because of the sheer number of races and the partisan political times, the board is meeting with candidates running for the Nassau County Legislature, and for state Assembly and Senate, in groups, by party caucus. Amid polarization, with lopsided majorities in the different legislative bodies, we are seeking to distill how members of the same party view key issues, what their agenda for 2027 will be, and the prospects for governing rather than posturing. 
Some contests held last year are back in play Nov. 3 as a one-time adjustment to the election calendar. This includes town supervisors in Hempstead, North Hempstead, Riverhead and Southampton. 
Seats on the Nassau Legislature are up again for a second straight year, this time for two-year terms. Not so for the Suffolk County Legislature, where members now run for four-year terms. 
Atop the ballot are the four-year elections for governor, state comptroller and state attorney general. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul who’s running with state Attorney General Letitia James and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 
Battles for four U.S. House seats will give Long Island a potential national impact, coming at the midpoint of President Donald Trump’s second four-year term. All four Long Island incumbents — two Democrats and two Republicans — are seeking to fend off challenges. House margins are very close, with 219 in the Republican caucus and 214 Democrats now serving, plus two vacancies. 
Endorsements will be published throughout October for salient races with at least two candidates. Our nonpartisan choices are based on the board’s tracking of national, state and local issues as well as how candidates described their priorities and the experience they would bring to the job. 
The extensive ballots, the national drama to discern the mood of the country, the reach for the governor’s mansion by a Long Island county executive, and priorities of local and state lawmakers make this an extraordinary election. We invite you to consider our analyses and conclusions about the candidates, presented in Newsday’s continuing tradition of public service.

Editorials

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Being a member of Congress requires more than bringing home the bacon. 
Approval ratings for the House and Senate as institutions remain well below water yet incumbent members of Congress are reelected more than 95% of the time. One big reason for that remarkable reelection success is Community Project Funding (CPF), colloquially known as pork. 
But elected members of Congress aren't middlemen who hand out novelty checks while relinquishing their check on the executive branch, especially when they are in the majority. They have a constitutionally mandated responsibility as a coequal branch of government to hold the president accountable on behalf of all Americans. 
Republican Rep. Nicholas J. LaLota, 48, of Amityville, has leveraged his position on the House Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful committees in Washington, to deliver CPFs to New York's 1st Congressional District since he was first elected in 2022. He doesn't shy away from pork, telling the editorial board: "I don't make an apology for that. If there's money out there, I want to get it for Long Island." 
Members of the majority party typically get more money than minority party members, and longer-serving members get the most. In a ranking of all 435 House members and their CPFs in 2026, just 13 of the top 100 were Democrats, and LaLota ranked 62nd overall out of all 435 representatives and third in New York, according to the nonprofit Citizens Against Government Waste. 
But it was LaLota's stance against CPFs that garnered attention this summer, telling East Hampton town and village leaders that he wouldn't push for federal money for their communities because those municipalities support "sanctuary city" policies that don't assist federal agents in deportation efforts. LaLota said East Hampton's immigration approach "leads to incentivized illegal immigration ..." 
In response to prodding by the editorial board, LaLota said he doesn't play politics with CPFs. "I have never in four years told a municipality how they have to feel on abortion, guns, Trump, Iran or anything contentious," he said, later adding, "And I haven't put my thumb on the scale on blue versus red in my district." But he wrote a letter to all the municipal governments in his district saying that he wants more local law enforcement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "If you have these policies on the books, I'm not fighting for your CPF," he said, suggesting the localities get the money from Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, instead. 
It's a position on immigration that contrasts with other stances. LaLota is a co-sponsor of the bipartisan DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act, which would provide a form of legal status for some undocumented immigrations who have clean records. And LaLota said he wrote to the White House last month in favor of keeping Temporary Protective Status for Salvadorans because they perform essential jobs in his district; an extension is in place. 
LaLota's main plank for reelection is his membership on a small GOP team that held back support for the 2025 tax bill unless the cap on 2026 state and local tax deductions (SALT) was increased, which it was from $10,000 to $40,000. He was one of 17 GOP members who voted with Democrats in January to extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for three years. 
But otherwise, he has done nothing to stand out in holding the executive branch accountable. Americans — including his constituents in the 1st Congressional District — deserve federal representatives who take seriously all aspects of their job. 
LaLota touts bipartisanship as his strength, and at least three bipartisan tracking groups rank him high, including GovTrack.us, which rates him 31st in the House. GovTrack's ranking doesn't account for factors outside legislation such as constituent services and executive branch oversight. Yet, some constituents say LaLota is not accessible and his often pugnacious style gives the impression to those who disagree with him that he doesn't consider their views. 
LaLota is one of the more partisan Republicans in Washington when it comes to President Donald Trump. Withholding congressionally approved funding, bypassing Congress' spending authority, implementing tariffs that increase consumer costs, attacking judicial independence, ignoring ICE's overly aggressive tactics — there are numerous instances in which Trump's tactics need a counterweight, and Congress and LaLota have failed. 
LaLota is right that the immigration system is broken. He's right that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon. That's easy. The hard part is working across the aisle to achieve those goals while adhering to American values of justice, liberty and the rule of law. 
Democrat Christopher J. Gallant, of Amityville, 37, has an impressive public service record as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, volunteer firefighter and former air traffic controller, but he is unprepared for Congress. Gallant knew little about how the legislative process works and pressed for specifics, he referred the editorial board to his website, which had little detail. He mentioned the buzzwords of affordability, high housing costs and Social Security cuts without providing actionable ideas to reduce costs or protect entitlements. 
His tepid campaign got a publicity boost when old bondage photos featuring him were published. He has since made glib remarks about the photos which raise questions about his judgment. Gallant has refused to debate LaLota, a mistake that deprives the electorate of information. Neither candidate lives in CD1, which is a concern. 
Voters know what they're getting with LaLota — a Trump ally who will help most communities in this district provided local elected officials don't disagree with him. <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/endorsements/nicholas-j-lalota-1st-congressional-district-long-island-election-2024-jfznzuuv">Two years ago, we endorsed LaLota, with reservations</a> — asking him to be "a bulwark against his party's worst tendencies" and to be "more of the reasonable centrist he claims to be ..."​​​​​​&nbsp;Disappointingly, LaLota has refused to take seriously his job of providing checks and balances on the current administration. 
Newsday Opinion makes no endorsement. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="A map of New York's 1st Congressional District.
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There are constituents in Andrew Garbarino’s district who clearly find the Republican House incumbent not sufficiently conservative, a sentiment that manifests itself during campaign seasons when his lawn signs are purloined so the last four letters of his name can be highlighted. The new colored RINO signs are then returned to the spots where they were taken. 
Garbarino, who is running for his fourth term, is bemused by the “Republican In Name Only” label, saying he gets equal pushback for being too conservative. “If MAGA gets mad at me, it gets mad; if DSA gets mad at me, it gets mad,” he told the editorial board. “That’s how I do things.” 
And doing things that way is what makes Garbarino, 42, of Bayport, a valuable player in Congress for his district and for Long Island. 
Garbarino is close to Speaker Mike Johnson — one reason for his remarkable rise in House GOP leadership, ascending in July 2025 to chair of the Homeland Security Committee. The other reason is his willingness to stay out of the spotlight, instead building relationships with colleagues of many political persuasions, especially Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat. 
That’s why Garbarino, along with Gillibrand, was able to finally close a hard-fought deal to fund the World Trade Center Health Program through 2040. And the pair seem poised for another win later this year: almost $6 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse the state and city’s 9/11-related pension costs for the untimely deaths and disability retirements of public workers who aided in the rescue and recovery after the attacks. 
His powerful perch and network was a benefit in December when the former Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, decided to sabotage counterterrorism funding for New York as she slashed the approved $187 million by 80%. Garbarino is credited with going directly to the White House to get the funding restored, including that designated for the FDNY and Nassau and Suffolk law enforcement. 
But there was a moment to step out of his nonconfrontational style and demand accountability that Garbarino disappointingly did not meet. He should have been more aggressive in the committee’s oversight of the fatal shootings by federal agents of two protesters in Minnesota, by subpoenaing officials to testify and issuing an independent report on what happened. 
In the high-stakes battle to fully restore the federal deduction for state and local taxes that President Donald Trump took away in his first term, Garbarino was a key blue-state negotiator in getting the White House to agree to a $40,000 deduction with an income tax cap of $500,000, although he missed a key floor vote approving the 2025 Tax Act. 
Seeking to unseat Garbarino is one of the more familiar names in Long Island politics. Democrat Patrick Halpin, 73, of Oak Beach, was the youngest person elected Suffolk County executive and would be the oldest person from Long Island ever elected to Congress. 
One of Halpin’s accomplishments in his one term as county executive, from 1988 to 1991, was creating the Long Island Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that builds affordable housing and partners with local governments to give grants to first-time homebuyers. Currently chair of the Babylon Town Planning Board, Halpin cares passionately about developing more housing, saying that as a member of Congress he would seek federal tax incentives for developers to turn aging malls into residences. Halpin says an Amazon warehouse at the former Sunrise Mall in Massapequa is a missed opportunity. 
Halpin said he would make all salaried income subject to Social Security taxes to stabilize the program’s trust fund but he made quite clear that his reason for running is the “madman in the White House.” After spending 17 years on the board of the Suffolk County Water Authority, Halpin said he would work to “reverse the damage” the Trump administration has done to “green infrastructure” including renewing efforts to build wind energy off Long Island. 
For district residents whose vote primarily is to give Democrats the House majority in an effort to limit Trump’s reach in the last two years of his term, Halpin is a solid choice. 
The winning choice for Long Island, regardless of who controls the gavel, is Garbarino. He will remain an effective player for team New York. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Garbarino. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="A map of the 2nd Congressional District.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/4a32c12d-f979-4441-9d47-05c7fe2febde" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/4a32c12d-f979-4441-9d47-05c7fe2febde', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/4a32c12d-f979-4441-9d47-05c7fe2febde"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/4a32c12d-f979-4441-9d47-05c7fe2febde/CD2.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3">A map of the 2nd Congressional District. </a>

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The 3rd Congressional District has a unique backstory. Democrat&nbsp;Thomas R. Suozzi represented it for six years before giving up the seat to oppose Gov. Kathy Hochul in the 2022 party primary. 
That year an unknown George Santos surprisingly captured the seat for the GOP during a midterm backlash against President Joe Biden. After Santos was expelled from the House in 2023, Suozzi returned in a special election to fill the seat and has held it since. 
Now Suozzi, 64, of Glen Cove,&nbsp;seeks a new term against Republican challenger Michael J. LiPetri Jr., 36, of Farmingdale,&nbsp;whom he defeated 52%-48% in 2024 even as President Donald Trump carried the district. 
Voters face a stark choice between the seasoned Suozzi and LiPetri, an&nbsp;attorney who served one term in the&nbsp;Assembly&nbsp;before his multiple efforts to win a seat in&nbsp;Congress, which started with a failed&nbsp;primary challenge to GOP incumbent Andrew Garbarino&nbsp;in CD2.&nbsp;LiPetri signals that he'd serve mainly as a loyal vote for Speaker Mike Johnson if the GOP majority holds. "I think what Mike Johnson has achieved with the majority razor thin, is an accomplishment," LiPetri told the Newsday editorial board. 
With those words, LiPetri defends Trump's most divisive initiatives to now — the Iran war, DOGE, mass deportations&nbsp;and ballooning debt&nbsp;—&nbsp;even if those policies involve&nbsp;sidestepping the role of Congress. 
Suozzi, who has been in public life for more three decades,&nbsp;is careful and selective&nbsp;when he critiques&nbsp;the elected GOP leadership and says the only chance to end the current Capitol chaos would be for the Democrats to recapture the majority. 
Suozzi,&nbsp;who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, says he needs Democratic, independent and Republican votes to prevail in his suburban district. He consistently shuns the left-wing agenda of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and rejects anti-police and anti-Israel rhetoric. 
Local issues are key. Both candidates say they support a restoration of unlimited state and local tax deductions on federal income taxes — which Republicans capped at $10,000 in Trump's first term, but then agreed to hike last year to $40,000 with an income cap. Both oppose the current plan for the proposed Propel NY Energy underground transmission lines on the North Shore. Both also support expanding childcare tax credits. 
Suozzi and LiPetri tout differing affordability proposals. 
One that stands out for the incumbent is the so-called WISH (Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home)&nbsp;Act to create a public-private partnership so those qualified can receive stipends for long-term care at home. The costs, standards and income requirements as presented sound flexible enough to have a chance to pass in fiscally difficult times. 
For his part, LiPetri says he wants an insurance system that, while covering all catastrophic occurrences, rewards prevention and healthy habits and moves away from employer-based insurance by making it "portable." He's vague on how this would work without penalizing those who&nbsp;already have coverage. 
Suozzi says the Iran war, driving debt and economic uncertainty, must end sooner rather than later. LiPetri agrees with&nbsp;Trump's assertions that only he&nbsp;can&nbsp;ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons and that higher gas prices are the necessary&nbsp;cost of that effort. 
They differ on immigration. Last year Fernando Mejia, 41, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he arrived at the bagel store he managed for several years in Port Washington. Mejia, who overstayed a visa many years ago, ultimately was deported, leaving a 15-year-old daughter behind.&nbsp;It's to deal with such difficult immigration cases that Suozzi has been working on a comprehensive reform plan that would allow those who have established a life here and have no criminal background to have a path to legal status. 
But LiPetri, when asked if Mejia is the kind of undocumented immigrant who should be deported, stuck to the line that the mass roundups are "about upholding law and order." 
Suozzi shows sensitivity to the public mood. Back in January, he crossed party lines to vote for a $64 billion Department of Homeland Security funding bill including $10 billion for ICE. Suozzi soon expressed regret — and admitted his vote was a mistake in light of the agency's operations in Minnesota which included the fatal shooting&nbsp;of civilian Renee Good. 
LiPetri says&nbsp;Social Security benefits should not be taxable&nbsp;but that&nbsp;only would&nbsp;further drain Social Security's primary trust fund, which is&nbsp;approaching insolvency.&nbsp;Suozzi would make all salaried income subject to the Social Security tax to keep benefits secure. 
This&nbsp;American moment demands a break from go-along partisanship of the kind that only&nbsp;pampers Trump's&nbsp;institutionally destructive goals and&nbsp;projects. 
Given his experience, Suozzi is a valuable voice for the concerns of his "purple" district whether he will land in the majority or the minority. The next Congress must move quickly to address the nation's problems and Suozzi is primed to do so. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Suozzi. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="A map of the 3rd Congressional District.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/5bb9c5ff-5fa3-4894-af00-047563511b52" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/5bb9c5ff-5fa3-4894-af00-047563511b52', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/5bb9c5ff-5fa3-4894-af00-047563511b52"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/5bb9c5ff-5fa3-4894-af00-047563511b52/CD3.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3">A map of the 3rd Congressional District. </a>

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Thomas R. Suozzi for New York's 3rd Congressional District

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The first bill Laura A. Gillen introduced in her freshman term in Congress sought to extend Temporary Protective Status for Haitian immigrants, including those she represents in Elmont and elsewhere in the 4th Congressional District. 
To move the bill forward, Gillen connected with fellow New Yorker Mike Lawler, a Republican representative whose district has a significant Haitian population and who became a co-sponsor, and Ayanna Presley, a Democrat who heads the House Haiti Caucus in Congress and who filed a discharge petition to force a floor vote. 
Gillen, a Rockville Centre Democrat, and her colleagues gathered the necessary signatures and brought the bill to a vote — and it passed with bipartisan support, a rare occurrence for a freshman minority member. 
It’s a story that illustrates the tenacity and resilience that Gillen, 57, brought to her first two years in the House — and the dysfunction of Congress as a whole, as the Senate never even took up the bill. 
Now, Gillen is seeking another term, hoping to continue and expand upon the work she started. She’s facing an intense challenge from Republican Jeanine C. Driscoll, 59, of Bellerose, who has served as the Town of Hempstead’s tax receiver since 2019. 
Even amid a complicated and partisan political landscape, Gillen, who previously served as Hempstead Town supervisor, has tried to make the most of her first two years in Congress. 
“I know what my job is,” Gillen said. “My job is to do the best that I can under the most challenging circumstances for my constituents.” 
Gillen understands those communities’ needs, from water infrastructure upgrades in the Village of Hempstead to long-sought renovations for the Lakeview Library. 
But she also has a deep, thoughtful understanding of the nation’s broader challenges, pointing to a variety of Trump administration policies that, she says, have done “so much damage,” from ending Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to immigration, to tariffs and the war in Iran. She provides a clear road map on how to undo that damage, which, she said, is key to lowering costs and improving lives in CD4. 
From her perch on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Gillen has focused on water quality improvements along the South Shore. But she also rightly shined a light on other Long Island interests, including the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, which falls under the Department of Transportation and requires significant campus upgrades, and the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, in Westbury, which handles the region’s air traffic control and needs modern facilities and a return of staff who were previously moved to Philadelphia. 
Gillen’s work on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, meanwhile, showcases other interests. She authored legislation to establish regional quantum science hubs, and would like one on Long Island. And she introduced Tyler’s Law, which would direct already-appropriated funds to study youth suicide. She had Republicans on the bill, but still couldn’t move it forward — in part, she said, because leaders didn’t want to give a Democrat in a swing seat a win. 
Challenger Driscoll has a deep passion for her work, and a clear familiarity with the Town of Hempstead, which makes up 96% of the district she wants to represent. She spends much of her time doing seminars for town taxpayers, teaching them how to grieve and find exemptions. It’s important work, and she is well versed in it. But beyond that local world, Driscoll is less equipped. And while she said she’s willing to work across the aisle, when asked, Driscoll told the editorial board that she cannot think of anything President Donald Trump has said or done with which she disagrees. 
Driscoll, like Gillen, would like to see the SALT cap on state and local tax deductions lifted altogether — but that’s where the similarities end. Driscoll acknowledges that a better functioning immigration system for legal entry is needed but backs Trump’s border tightening and aggressive immigration enforcement policies. 
Driscoll said she supports the war in Iran and called tariffs “the price of doing business,” arguing that she hasn’t seen a negative impact on constituents: “I can’t identify a tariff that’s hurt me,” she said. 
Instead, she said, they are part of a larger Trump strategy she supports. 
“This is how he operates . . . ” she said. “I wouldn’t interfere with that.” 
Driscoll said she’d want to fight for infrastructure and road improvements in Elmont, and said she’d like to establish programs and policies that support young adults with autism and other special needs. However, when asked about House committees she might serve on, she hadn't seemed to have given it much thought, eventually mentioning&nbsp;Transportation and Infrastructure or Homeland Security as possibilities. And she had&nbsp;few new ideas for how Congress could address the district’s concerns. 
Gillen emphasizes that if Democrats win the majority, they’ll have to put policy over politics. She can bring a moderate voice with a bipartisan bent to the table, to move forward her more sweeping priorities in healthcare, immigration reform and affordability, and the more specific bills and funding asks that could intimately help her district. To succeed, Gillen will need to do both. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Gillen. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="A map of the 4th Congressional District.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/a501c30a-57a4-4a9a-92bc-fd74578e0d43" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/a501c30a-57a4-4a9a-92bc-fd74578e0d43', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/a501c30a-57a4-4a9a-92bc-fd74578e0d43"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/a501c30a-57a4-4a9a-92bc-fd74578e0d43/CD4.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3">A map of the 4th Congressional District. </a>

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Kathy C. Hochul reports having filled 580,000 potholes on Long Island's state roads during her five years in office. While acknowledging many more bumps in the road need work, her attention to granular details of everyday life underscores how effective she can be meeting the region's problems small and large. 
When Hochul became governor in 2021, the state was facing post-COVID crime problems and a lagging economy. She also needed to craft successful working relationships with the powerful Democratic majorities of the Assembly and State Senate; both had rebelled against her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, whom she succeeded after his resignation. 
Hochul won her first full term in 2022, defeating then-Rep. Lee Zeldin of Shirley, but she lost both Nassau and Suffolk counties, requiring a strengthening of ties with Long Island. After a rocky start, she smartly backed off an aggressive effort to build more housing, perceived as undermining local control, and now is incentivizing through state funding more construction where it is wanted by local communities. In Suffolk, she established a rapport with Republican County Executive Edward P. Romaine, based on their mutual interest in getting things done. Unfortunately, Hochul was shunned and blasted from the start by her current GOP challenger, Bruce A. Blakeman, the 71-year-old Nassau County executive. 
Blakeman, of Atlantic Beach, set his eyes on a statehouse run soon after winning a second term in 2025, leaving the details of his day job to be handled by others. 
In contrast, Hochul is an effective, pragmatic governor. With strong control over the state budget, Hochul has directed a lot of additional funding during the past five years to Long Island, an amount she puts at $5 billion. In her interview with the editorial board, Hochul cited increases in school aid to local districts of 53%, compared with 35% statewide. She created a $350 million Long Island Investment Fund to generate jobs in areas such as its burgeoning life sciences industry and innovation (think quantum computing). Hochul, specifically naming the Heartland project in Brentwood, promised significant additional funding for housing and economic development as municipalities do their part. 
A huge priority awaits the winner of this election: delivering clean and less-expensive electric power to meet the growing needs of downstate and especially Long Island. On this challenge, Hochul appears to be gathering momentum. She told the editorial board that her plan includes building more nuclear generation upstate "than the entire country has in the last 30 years." Expanded hydropower is also key to her plan. 
Hochul, 68, a product of Buffalo, candidly acknowledges that the planned $3.26 billion Propel NY Energy project partly developed by the New York Power Authority hasn't provided convincing information to communities about the proposed routes of the underground transmission lines. She vows improvement on that front. 
Mitigating the ravages of extreme weather is another key challenge. Hochul has advanced billions of state and federal funding to harden Long Island's coastline while improving state parks here, especially at Jones Beach. The Trump administration — defended at every turn by Blakeman — obsessively opposes wind power, ending federal leases for offshore turbines and other green energy projects. 
Hochul wisely pursues an all-of-the-above energy strategy, including natural gas, drawing some condemnation from environmentalists. The state has slowed down on an all-electric building mandate and gas reduction enforcement rules, and moved to amend methane emission timelines. Inflation and utility costs required flexibility on these goals. 
During the yearlong moratorium she ordered on AI data centers, Hochul said the administration is preparing guidelines for community benefits and requirements that such centers — if housed in the state — must generate their own power or pay into the public grid. That, too, is a practical outline. 
The governor implemented a widely demanded crackdown on kids using their cellphones in schools. She also overcame significant opposition in the State Legislature to enact new laws to fight auto insurance fraud. Insurers are mandated to use the savings to reduce consumer payments. 
Her administration rightly moved to revamp and take responsibility for the troubled Nassau University Medical Center. Fresh thinking will provide the best shot at improving and rightsizing the facility. Blakeman foolishly has refused to make appointments to the hospital's board to help the turnaround and denounces the state's involvement. 
Hochul has signed legislation aimed at addressing the disturbing growth of antisemitism. This includes establishing a new crime if a protester enters a buffer zone of 50 feet around a synagogue or other house of worship. 
Hochul and Blakeman have opposing views on the Trump administration's aggressive push to deport all immigrants without documentation. Blakeman signed an agreement to have county police assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Hochul signed a law banning such pacts. 
Where Hochul cites positive specifics as a rationale for reelection, Blakeman often declines to spell out the details of his limited list of proposals. He has said he will cut electric costs in half on Day One, but it's unclear how that could begin to happen. His vague answer includes allowing fracking for natural gas in New York. 
Evaluating Blakeman's ability to run the state requires a review of his tenure in Nassau. 
Blakeman never reformed the troubled property tax assessment system as he promised. He withheld dedicated opioid settlement funds to balance the county budget. His development efforts such as luring a casino to the Nassau Hub failed spectacularly. His announcement of a new NYU Langone Health hospital on the Nassau Community College campus ended rancorously. The facility is now planned for Suffolk. 
In the tradition of public service, Newsday's editorial board meets with candidates each election year to offer readers our guidance on who would be the better choice on issues that matter to Long Island. We make our evaluations based on a candidate's skills, record of service and plans for governing. This year we have interviewed 107 candidates running for local, state and federal offices. 
Blakeman did not meet with the editorial board. His campaign sent a statement citing dislike of Newsday's coverage and a federal lawsuit the news organization filed last year against him and the Nassau County Legislature. In the pending lawsuit, Newsday says the county interfered with the news organization's First Amendment rights to cover the county. 
Hochul is the better choice for Long Island and to lead the state. She has made admirable progress on a series of difficult issues and deserves another term to continue that work. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Hochul.

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Kathy C. Hochul for New York State governor

Newsday Opinion endorses Hochul for New York State governor

AIAudio - Daniel P. Losquadro for Suffolk County comptroller


AIAudio - Daniel P. Losquadro for Suffolk County comptroller

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At least once a&nbsp;week and often two or three times, the Democratic attorneys general in 22 states meet by video call to coordinate lawsuits against the Trump&nbsp;administration. New York has been part of 65 of the more than 100 cases filed challenging everything from funding cuts&nbsp;for blue states to&nbsp;tariffs and immigration enforcement. Right now, their focus is on stopping any efforts by the president to upend the upcoming&nbsp;election. 
This cooperative effort involving each&nbsp;state's top legal officer, which has often included some Republican attorneys generals,&nbsp;is rooted in their successful joint efforts against&nbsp;major corporations that harm consumers. The states have sued over&nbsp;data breaches and deceptive marketing,&nbsp;as in the case against&nbsp;Purdue Pharma for hiding the addictive nature of opioids. They have challenged&nbsp;mergers that concentrate&nbsp;market power&nbsp;in the media and entertainment, such as the successful case&nbsp;against Google for location tracking practices and the jury&nbsp;verdict against Live Nation over ticket prices. 
New York State's Letitia A. James, 68, a Democrat from Brooklyn seeking her third term as attorney general, is a major player on those calls as the states have become an important legal check on federal power.&nbsp;Yet, the bulk of what her office's&nbsp;700-odd attorneys do&nbsp;is&nbsp;routine defense work in&nbsp;lawsuits filed against the state&nbsp;and its employees. Its&nbsp;jurisdiction is&nbsp;primarily civil, and among James' best efforts&nbsp;have been recovering wages for gig workers who&nbsp;were shortchanged on earnings or tips.&nbsp; 
New York's 62 district attorneys, one for each county,&nbsp;are the primary enforcers of criminal law. The attorney general's criminal&nbsp;enforcement powers are limited to such areas as&nbsp;Medicaid fraud, where James&nbsp;has underperformed. Federal regulators cited the Medicaid fraud unit as failing to bring a sufficient number of cases,&nbsp;causing the&nbsp;suspension of the federal grant that funds her investigations team.&nbsp; 
Republican Saritha Komatireddy, 42, has a stellar resume of achievements and titles,&nbsp;including 12 years as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York. Her campaign is scrappy and aggressive and her sharp mind apparent. But she wants the attorney general to be a crime fighter focused on public safety. Komatireddy&nbsp;has a textbook of plans to&nbsp;remove mentally ill homeless individuals&nbsp;from the streets, enforce criminal laws on retail theft, and&nbsp;make&nbsp;the subways safer by prosecuting fare beaters.&nbsp;Prosecutors want to prosecute, but that's mostly the job of local&nbsp;prosecutors unless the governor orders the attorney general to take over a case from a DA, a very infrequent occurrence.&nbsp; 
Komatireddy,&nbsp;of Manhattan, seems to have little understanding of&nbsp;how&nbsp;to navigate&nbsp;the intricacies of state government and its politics to&nbsp;achieve her agenda. Homelessness, for example, is an intractable problem with many causes and the state has failed to remedy it.&nbsp;She wants to use money from New York's share of opioid settlements&nbsp;to build supportive housing and provide treatment.&nbsp;The instinct is good but it's not a problem to be solved quickly. 
Disappointingly, Komatireddy's&nbsp;campaign says little about the powers the office does have&nbsp;over consumer protection and enforcing economic justice.&nbsp;And given that she&nbsp;earned her stripes&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Justice Department, it is discouraging that she could&nbsp;find no grounds,&nbsp;in her interview with the editorial board, on which to&nbsp;criticize&nbsp;the department's degradation under the Trump administration. In 2020, Trump nominated Komatireddy for a federal judgeship in the Eastern District of New York which covers Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens but the Senate never acted to confirm her nomination.&nbsp; 
In 2022, we criticized James' tendency to personalize her fights, as she did in bringing a successful civil fraud case against Donald Trump in between his two presidential terms.&nbsp;After his reelection in 2024, his Justice Department&nbsp;retaliated, indicting James&nbsp;on charges that she misstated&nbsp;her residence&nbsp;on mortgage applications to get better loan terms. A judge dismissed the case after finding the prosecutor who brought it had been illegally appointed,&nbsp;and subsequently, two separate&nbsp;grand juries declined Justice Department efforts to revive it. 
Now James is in the spotlight again. Gov. Kathy Hochul gave her office jurisdiction to determine&nbsp;whether criminal charges are warranted based on a female student's allegation that she was raped by seven men at a Cornell University fraternity. James is seeking an experienced former prosecutor with a deep understanding of sex crimes to lead the case.&nbsp;That's the right decision. Her office does not have the expertise&nbsp;to investigate and prosecute such a&nbsp;complex criminal matter. Unfortunately, in speaking out about it, she created an unnecessary controversy as she has at other times in the past. 
Days before she was handed the case, James wrote on social media, "What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable."&nbsp;Now as she prepares to name outside counsel, lawyers for the accused men and her political adversaries say she prejudged the case. James said she was simply expressing support and empathy for a person who says she was&nbsp;the victim of a sex crime.&nbsp;It's another example of when James should have stayed quiet and let the work of the office stand on its merits. 
As she seeks reelection,&nbsp;the issue is whether James' eight years in office have earned her the right to another term.&nbsp;They have. Her record has flaws. But the stakes are high and James is a skilled fighter. This moment&nbsp;calls for one.&nbsp; 
Newsday Opinion endorses James.

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Letitia A. James for New York State attorney general

Newsday Opinion endorses James for New York State attorney general

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Few New Yorkers may know who the state comptroller is or what he does. 
But every New Yorker depends upon the person in that job. 
If you’re a public employee, your pension lies in the state comptroller’s hands. If you’re a taxpayer, your town and village taxes are based in part on his work, as he sets those government employers’ pension contribution rates. If you have sought unclaimed funds, his office handles them. And if you deal with any public agency, the comptroller’s oversight and auditing functions are paramount. 
For nearly 20 years, those responsibilities have fallen to Democrat Thomas P. DiNapoli, who has successfully managed New York’s $310 billion pension fund with a steady hand and a thoughtful, careful mindset. As the sole trustee, DiNapoli, 72, of Great Neck, has focused on keeping it fully funded, with a solid albeit risk-averse long-term rate of return of nearly 6%; its most recent quarter was slightly higher. Even the existence of such quarterly data is thanks to DiNapoli. 
Contract evaluations and budget assessments are important, too, but DiNapoli highlights more unusual audits, such as the one his office did regarding the state’s insufficient efforts to address Black maternal healthcare. 
Republican Joseph Hernandez, 54, of Manhattan, has an American dream story. He fled Cuba during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980 and became a Wall Street investor and venture capitalist who founded multiple businesses. Hernandez seeks to increase state pension fund returns and pledges to add an in-house investment team to reduce fees. He points to other pension funds with better returns, but some are not as well funded. 
Hernandez suggests using $10 billion of the fund to expand efforts to invest in and attract new companies and jobs. The existing program now invests about $3 billion, according to DiNapoli. Hernandez promises to speak out regarding fiscal concerns and fraud. And he favors additional auditing efforts, but suggested only the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Medicaid and the state Education Department — areas the comptroller has long tackled. 
Hernandez is smart and successful, but it’s unwise to run a public pension system like a private investment, or to advocate getting government employers’ contributions to zero. 
But as DiNapoli heads into what would be his fifth full term, he should step outside the box he has established for himself, and more forcefully use his bully pulpit to call out state officials’ fiscally irresponsible decisions and risks from the marketplace and lawmaker actions. Expanding economic development investments and utilizing sophisticated AI tools to find problematic spending patterns to uncover fraud and waste are worth considering. DiNapoli rightly wants to audit more school districts and industrial development agencies; he should prioritize that. 
As state and local workers fight for pension sweeteners, remember that they haven’t had to worry about the health and stability of their pensions. That’s thanks to the stewardship of the current state comptroller. 
Newsday endorses DiNapoli.

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Thomas P. DiNapoli for New York State comptroller

Newsday Opinion endorses DiNapoli for New York State comptroller

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Newsday Opinion's 2026 New York State Senate election endorsements

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Newsday Opinion's 2026 New York State Assembly election endorsements

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The Town of Hempstead is the fulcrum of Nassau County's GOP political machine, a place where careers are made and&nbsp;insiders rise. It's perhaps best symbolized by a lineup of photos Hempstead Town Supervisor John R. Ferretti features&nbsp;in his Town Hall conference room — a series of former town supervisors, some of the region's most powerful Republicans.&nbsp; 
At the display's center is Ferretti, whose great-uncle, former party leader&nbsp;Joseph Mondello, is also featured. 
Ferretti, a Levittown Republican,&nbsp;served&nbsp;as a county legislator before being appointed supervisor last year after former Supervisor Donald X. Clavin Jr.&nbsp;resigned to take on a judgeship. Ferretti was easily elected last November and,&nbsp;due to a state election law change, he's up for reelection. 
Ferretti, 43, emphasizes&nbsp;his experience&nbsp;in managing storms, staff and budgets. Last year, his budget reduced the overall tax levy and this year, he kept taxes frozen. But both years, he tapped&nbsp;significantly into reserves, and this year the&nbsp;budget also relies on&nbsp;the&nbsp;sale of multiple pieces of town-owned&nbsp;property, including the Capri&nbsp;Motor Inn site,&nbsp;to balance it. 
While Ferretti can oversee&nbsp;the town's day-to-day needs, he lacks vision for its future,&nbsp;rarely willing to move beyond the narrow parameters of how he defines his job. When asked about building more much-needed&nbsp;housing,&nbsp;he points to developments&nbsp;in the works long before he got to Town Hall, including those in Baldwin&nbsp;jump-started by&nbsp;the first&nbsp;Democrat&nbsp;to sit in his chair in more than 100 years, former Supervisor and current Rep. Laura A. Gillen. Ferretti says he is "not anti-housing in the Town of Hempstead" but adds: "I don't think it's government's role to perpetuate housing."&nbsp;Instead of outlining a path forward, he falls back on&nbsp;what he doesn't want: "19-story high-rise apartment complexes like New York City" — a concept&nbsp;that has&nbsp;never been proposed, but one used for decades to alarm voters. 
Ferretti does says he'd work with developers if plans are "within the character of the suburban neighborhood that we live in." 
The same is true for Ferretti's take on the future of Nassau University Medical Center, Liberty Water and the Nassau Hub. In each case, Ferretti suggests a limited role for him and the town, and appears unwilling to lead or problem-solve. 
Garden City Democrat&nbsp;Joe Scianablo&nbsp;claims to be "uniquely qualified" to run the town. A Marine combat veteran and retired NYPD officer,&nbsp;Scianablo,&nbsp;49,&nbsp;promises more transparency, communication and advocacy. He appropriately expresses concern about the reliance on rainy-day&nbsp;reserves, pledges&nbsp;to end patronage jobs, and suggests a more even distribution of resources townwide.&nbsp;Scianablo said he'd promote Hub development and address aging infrastructure, but doesn't provide detailed proposals and strategies. And&nbsp;Scianablo&nbsp;lacks the management and organizational experience required to run the town. 
Last year, the crux of&nbsp;Scianablo's campaign — and our endorsement — was based on Ferretti's problematic appointment.&nbsp;This year,&nbsp;Scianablo needed a new pitch, a&nbsp;comprehensive, informed game plan as to how&nbsp;he'd provide more dynamic, imaginative and meaningful leadership. That hasn't happened. Nor has Ferretti distinguished himself since his controversial ascension. 
Newsday Opinion makes no endorsement in this race.

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No endorsement for Hempstead Town supervisor

Newsday Opinion makes no endorsement for Hempstead Town supervisor

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	ADD NAME for [New York's] ADD RACE



AIAudio - ADD NAME for [New York's] ADD RACE

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North Hempstead has been home to a contentious political climate in recent years — one in which town board meetings are combative and politics seeps into everything, right down to debates over which roads should be paved. 
What the town's residents need is calm, steady leadership, someone who can bridge partisan gaps and address critical issues, from public safety to park and infrastructure upgrades — even whether a cat shelter is needed. 
This election, they have a welcome new option: Democrat Sean Michael McCarthy, a Port Washington police commissioner who spent 33 years with the Nassau County Police Department, is challenging incumbent Jennifer S. DeSena. 
DeSena, completing her fifth year in office, is a registered Democrat who runs on the Republican line and caucuses with Republicans. She emphasizes her continued efforts to maintain a tax freeze and defends her use of reserve funds to balance the budget. 
DeSena, however, has answered the same questions about town issues with the same unfulfilled promises. That's most obvious when it comes to North Hempstead's Bar Beach. DeSena says she's seeking funding and making plans for long-overdue park improvements, again falling back on the lack of Republican control of the town board in her first two years in office. That's a tired refrain. 
DeSena, 57, of Manhasset, has dealt poorly with difficult issues, such as the proposed New Hyde Park mosque expansion, which ultimately cost the town $900,000 in settlement and legal fees. 
When asked about often-cantankerous board meetings, DeSena told the editorial board she allows 30 minutes of public comment, but complained that residents arrive with a "script" veering into political territory. Regarding the revitalization of the Port Washington waterfront, DeSena said one lengthy official town meeting, combined with more informal private sessions with civic associations, was sufficient. Clearly, the community's concerns have not been assuaged. 
McCarthy, 64, brings to the table a very different mindset, along with deep knowledge of town issues and the promise of clear, capable leadership. Before his election to the civilian board that manages the local force, the Port Washington resident was a Nassau police precinct commander in Manhasset rising to the rank of chief of support services, where he played a critical administrative and leadership role. He said he would be a "consensus builder" and bring decorum and respect back to town meetings. 
McCarthy said he would have held public listening sessions to inform and engage residents on the Port Washington waterfront project earlier. And he expresses valid concerns about the town's use of rainy day funds to balance the budget, rather than growing the economic base in part by attracting new businesses to empty storefronts. McCarthy supports new housing "at all price points" and wants to further improve the building department and communication efforts, including always having calls to the town's 311 system answered by a human. As for the cat shelter, he proposes a study to determine its feasibility. 
McCarthy's candidacy comes at a fraught time for North Hempstead. Many residents are deeply concerned about rising antisemitism and other religious and ethnic discrimination. McCarthy's public safety background and his clear-eyed ability to meet the moment with outreach and action to address those very real fears makes him the right person to take North Hempstead's helm. 
Newsday Opinion endorses McCarthy.

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Sean Michael McCarthy for North Hempstead Town supervisor

Newsday Opinion endorses McCarthy for North Hempstead Town supervisor

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Long-awaited progress is&nbsp;happening at last in the Town of Oyster Bay&nbsp;under incumbent Supervisor&nbsp;Joseph S. Saladino. 
Downtown Hicksville is finally beginning to bloom&nbsp;with new housing under construction,&nbsp;an improved train station hub and&nbsp;overdue overhauls of the Broadway Commons Mall and the old Sears property.&nbsp;All of that progress was first planted with a&nbsp;2017 state&nbsp;revitalization grant&nbsp;secured by the Massapequa Republican. 
Saladino is&nbsp;now eyeing Oyster Bay&nbsp;hamlet for similar growth on its&nbsp;waterfront. The vision is to make the area a "historical destination" with housing, additional&nbsp;parking and&nbsp;bicycle&nbsp;rentals connecting it&nbsp;to the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. He's also working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation on remediating the Commander Oil pier property, a&nbsp;necessary step in a renewal&nbsp;process he hopes to complete in the next two years.&nbsp; 
Saladino, 65, efficiently runs one of the largest towns in&nbsp;America&nbsp;by population. Under his supervision, Oyster Bay has upgraded software for vital&nbsp;digital&nbsp;cybersecurity, created innovative same-day online building permits, and&nbsp;improved the town's bond rating&nbsp;which fell in the 2010s. Town government is also more transparent, with livestreamed meetings at varied&nbsp;times of day and increased digitization of forms and records. 
But Saladino's administration also continues to take some unfortunate missteps, like the&nbsp;ugly episode last year when it&nbsp;mishandled the&nbsp;Masjid Al-Baqi mosque expansion in Bethpage, costing the town millions in legal fees. And Saladino&nbsp;has yet to adequately address concerns about high water bills from private&nbsp;provider Liberty Water&nbsp;and others upset about the prospect of the Propel NY Energy&nbsp;transmission&nbsp;line. There's also the huge missed opportunity at the 77-acre former Sunrise Mall property in Massapequa, where&nbsp;Saladino&nbsp;let an Amazon warehouse move&nbsp;forward. 
His opponent,&nbsp;James T. Hoyle of Glen Head,&nbsp;is a lifelong town&nbsp;resident with experience in hedge funds&nbsp;and venture capital. The&nbsp;28-year-old Democrat's&nbsp;focus is on making the town a place where his fellow Gen Zers can&nbsp;build lives. He's right that there is&nbsp;not enough affordable housing or a first-time homebuyer program. 
This is Hoyle's first run in politics and he has a lot to offer in a public service career, but&nbsp;he would benefit from more local government experience.&nbsp; 
Saladino needs to step up his efforts on the Liberty Water negotiations&nbsp;and, rather than simply opposing the Propel energy line, get down to work on how to&nbsp;mitigate the disruptions. At&nbsp;the closed mall, there is still a chance to reclaim some of it for better use. Saladino should&nbsp;find innovative&nbsp;uses for the other two-thirds of the site still available for development.&nbsp; 
In 2023,&nbsp;we&nbsp;challenged Saladino to&nbsp;get downtown revitalization in Hicksville over the finish line. In 2026, he's getting it&nbsp;done. He's earned the opportunity to build on that success. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Saladino.

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Joseph S. Saladino for Oyster Bay Town supervisor

Newsday Opinion endorses Saladino for Oyster Bay Town supervisor

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During his first run for town supervisor, Jerome Halpin was criticized for being critical of Riverhead's four-year streak of piercing the state's property tax cap. Then-Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard said Halpin should do himself "a favor and look at the budget online ...&nbsp;do your homework, be smart, educate yourself." 
Halpin beat Hubbard last year by just 37 votes, and then took his opponent's advice. The result? Riverhead's proposed 2027 budget, the first under Halpin, stays under the tax cap. 
Now, Halpin, 54, of Riverhead, an independent running on the Democratic Party line, is back on the ballot, seeking reelection a year later because of a change in state election law. His challenger is Riverhead Councilman Kenneth T. Rothwell, 55, of Wading River. 
Rothwell told the editorial board that Riverhead had reached a tax "plateau" after the town's previous actions piercing the cap. Last week, he and his fellow Republican councilmembers countered Halpin's budget with amendments that would bring the budget further below the tax cap. 
Rothwell has championed increasing staffing to improve town services after reductions caused by COVID-19, and as a volunteer firefighter, he knows the needs of the EMS community. He's also worked to get state money for downtown revitalization grants, a critical need for Riverhead's future. 
That revitalization focuses on the Long Island Science Center property on East Main Street. A resolution authorizing the town to pursue eminent domain passed 3-2 in August, with Halpin voting against it and Rothwell for it. Rothwell said the town had already given the nonprofit another year to raise money to preserve the center, and in the interest of downtown revitalization, the town had to expedite the property's redevelopment. Halpin agreed on the property's importance for revitalization, saying he "didn't fault the board" for its decision. 
Rothwell is right that the town needs to resolve issues with the Riverhead school district about its school resource officer program. He wants to continue the program but questions why taxpayers from other school districts in the town should continue to pay for Riverhead's security. Halpin said the town's "legal team obviously missed a few things there, and they fixed that ..."&nbsp;They agreed that the town and school district must continue to collaborate to keep the program. 
Halpin and Rothwell agree on several of the larger issues pressing Riverhead — the need for clean water, getting Enterprise Park at Calverton out of court and into development, upgrading Long Island Rail Road access, and improving downtown parking. 
In fact, during their endorsement meeting with the editorial board, Halpin and Rothwell agreed more often than not. They both take issue with the Suffolk County Water Authority for its handling of the North Fork Water Main Project. The town board voted unanimously earlier this month to require SCWA to comply with town zoning regulations for that project, further evidence the group can work as a unified front. 
Under Halpin's stewardship, the building department implemented electronic permitting and the town offered an retirement incentive. 
Rothwell should continue to push reforms and initiatives, as he has successfully done. But Halpin deserves the opportunity to finish what he started. 
Newsday Opinion endorses Halpin.

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Jerome Halpin for Riverhead Town supervisor

Newsday Opinion endorses Halpin for Riverhead Town supervisor

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Newsday Opinion's 2026 Nassau County Legislature election endorsements

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For the first time since 2015, Suffolk County will soon have a new chief financial officer and fiscal overseer. Current Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr., a Republican, is term-limited after 12 years. 
Republican Daniel P. Losquadro, the Brookhaven Town highway superintendent, is running for county comptroller and being challenged by Democrat Jonathan D. Estreich, a private attorney and major in the Army Reserve. 
Losquadro has more municipal experience compared with Estreich, a former county prosecutor making his first run for office. But maintaining the good faith and credit of the county’s finances is more complex than plowing roads. The comptroller’s office will require Losquadro to act impartially in overseeing contracts, deny the county legislature superfluous budget requests, and leave politics at party headquarters. 
The office also requires fairness in auditing contracts, especially those the county’s more vulnerable populations rely on, like temporary housing, social services, and domestic violence and substance abuse services. 
Losquadro, 54, of Shoreham, said he paves roads in all of the town’s neighborhoods, regardless of the political party enrollment of the residents. Voters will need him to prove his independence by sniffing out possible fraud and corruption, whichever road it may lead down. 
The county’s $4.59 billion budget dwarfs the roughly $64 million Losquadro oversees. If elected, he will need to learn fast on the job, a hugely important position with oversight of contracts and investing. Municipal finances across the nation face rising budgetary pressures, on pensions, fuel and cybersecurity. Suffolk County is no exception. The next four years — the length of the comptroller’s term — will likely entail significant challenges, both foreseen and yet unknown. A steady, disciplined and principled leader is needed. 
Losquadro’s deep ties to Brookhaven’s Republican machine and Republican politics across the Island, however, raise eyebrows. His incredible fundraising prowess reveals his political acumen. But fundraising doesn’t equate to strict financial oversight and adherence to laws. Losquadro, if elected as the county’s top financial watchdog, will need to remain independent from donors, vendors and contractors seeking to influence the system. 
Estreich, 46, of Dix Hills, is an experienced prosecutor with good ideas, who brings an outsider’s perspective. But his financial oversight and management experience is limited. He deserves credit for refusing to bow to party leaders and choosing to remain in the comptroller’s race. He was initially named the Democratic Party candidate for the State Senate and later switched to run for comptroller. Then, Estreich says, party leaders tried to push him off the ballot behind the scenes, but he resisted. He is a principled man who should seek elective office in the future, perhaps starting at the local level to learn the ins and outs of the process. 
This office requires someone with financial expertise. Estreich’s relevant government experience is in investigating financial fraud. 
Newsday endorses Losquadro.

All of Newsday Opinion's 2026 election endorsements so far

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