Nassau Democrats nominate candidates for district attorney, Hempstead supervisor

Nassau County Democrats on Tuesday night nominated Madeline Singas to run for Nassau district attorney and backed gun-control activist Rita Kestenbaum for Hempstead Town supervisor.

The party's executive committee nominated 55 candidates for county, town, city and judicial races at its convention in Garden City.

Singas, who became acting district attorney after Democrat Kathleen Rice was elected to Congress last year, faces a potential Democratic primary against former Manhattan prosecutor Michael Scotto. The winner will take on the GOP nominee Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray.

"I know what it takes to be district attorney and I have the experience to do the job," Singas said. She called Murray a "career politician" and an "amateur" who has not practiced law in 17 years.

Murray spokesman Bill Corbett responded that Singas "has to resort to attacks because she has no vision" for the district attorney's office.

All seven Democratic county legislators will seek re-election, including Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck), who was shunned by the party last year after making comments viewed as derogatory toward African-Americans. Democrats called for Birnbaum to resign and barred her from the caucus. Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said Birnbaum apologized and "has atoned for her mistakes."

Kestenbaum served on the Hempstead Town Board from 1999 to 2000 and earlier this year lost a special election to replace Democrat David Denenberg in the legislature's 19th District.

"Her enthusiasm, energy and ability to articulate the issues make her a strong candidate," Jacobs said.

Kestenbaum will run against Republican town councilman Anthony Santino. "I've worked inside town hall," said Kestenbaum. "And I know I will do a great job" as supervisor.

Kestenbaum became a gun-control activist after her daughter, Carol, a sophomore at Arizona State University in Tempe, and a friend were murdered in 2007 after returning to their off-campus home from a birthday party. The women were killed by Arizona State student who took his own life.

Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald and Laura Gillen, who ran unsuccessfully in 2013 for county clerk, both passed on a run for supervisor, Jacobs said.

In North Hempstead, Judi Bosworth will seek a second term as town supervisor.

In Oyster Bay, attorney John Mangelli will challenge Republican John Venditto for supervisor.Following is the list of Democratic candidates in county and town races:

District attorney: Singas

County Legislature

1st District: Kevan Abrahams

2nd District: Siela Bynoe

3rd District: Carrie Solages

4th District: Keith Leibowitz

5th District: Laura Curran

6th District: Jim Paymar

7th District: Tova Plaut

8th District: Carl Gerrato

9th District: Mallory Nathan

10th District: Ellen Birnbaum

11th District: Delia DeRiggi-Whitton

12th District: Michael Canzoneri

13th District: Eileen Napolitano

14th District: Sylvia Cabana

15th District: Preeth Dawane

16th District: Judy Jacobs

17th District: Dan Devine

18th District: Dean Hart

19th District: Claudia Borecky

Hempstead Town supervisor: Rita Kestenbaum

Town Council 2nd District: Tammie Williams

3rd District: Carolyn Torres

5th District: Michael Reid

Town clerk: Dino Amoroso

Town receiver of taxes: Gina Arcabascio

Oyster Bay Town supervisor: John Mangelli

Town Council: Robert Freier, Marc Kadushin, Joe Stufano

Town clerk: Anne Rosenbach

Town receiver of taxes: John Capobianco

North Hempstead Town supervisor: Judi Bosworth

Town Council 2nd District: Peter Zuckerman

4th District: Anna Kaplan

6th District: Emily Beys

Town receiver of taxes: Charles Berman

Glen Cove City mayor: Reginald Spinello

City Council: Timothy Tenke, Michael Famiglietti, Robert Machida, Daniel Cox, Eve Lupenko, Michael Zangari

Long Beach City Council: Anthony Eramo, Len Torres, Karen Adamo

Surrogate's Court judge: Angela Iannacci

County Court judge: Tammy Robbins, Steve Jaeger, Scott Banks

2nd District Court judge: Ayesha Brantley

3rd District Court judge: William Hohauser

4th District Court judge: Linda Mejias, Michael Siff

CORRECTION: William Hohauser's name was misspelled in a previous version of this story.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.