Kaiman to face off with incumbent DeSena for his former job as North Hempstead supervisor

Jon Kaiman will try to reclaim the position he previously held as North Hempstead's town supervisor by running against incumbent Jennifer DeSena after most recently losing a bid to be the Democratic nominee for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

DeSena confirmed Tuesday that she would run for reelection and said she looked forward to comparing her record to Kaiman's.

“I think that when I was elected it was to open the government and become more transparent, and I believe there is still interest in continuing in that direction,” DeSena also told Newsday.

Kaiman, who served as North Hempstead supervisor from 2004 to 2013, told Newsday in an exclusive interview Monday about his intent to again seek that job and that he would bring "a new vision on how to approach town government" after working in state and county government.

"I have this whole new world of experience," he added.

Kaiman, 60, of Great Neck, has worked as a deputy county executive in Suffolk since 2017 and also previously chaired the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.

Prior to his Suffolk County job, the Democrat was a special adviser to then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, where he helped coordinate the Superstorm Sandy recovery effort.

Last year Kaiman lost a congressional primary to Robert Zimmerman, whom now-embattled Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) defeated in the general election.

DeSena, 53, of Manhasset — a registered Democrat who caucuses with Republicans — has held the North Hempstead supervisor role since 2021.

She became the first Republican-supported town supervisor in more than 30 years after former Supervisor Judi Bosworth announced in early 2021 that she would not seek reelection.

Since DeSena's 2022 inauguration, the North Hempstead leader has vowed to tackle delays in the town's building department and prompted the Nassau County comptroller to audit the department to “identify and address any mismanagement of departmental operations and any potential misconduct or irregularities that may exist.”

She put forth a $162.8 million budget for 2023 that included a 5% decrease in general fund taxes and led the effort to begin broadcasting town board meetings on a North Hempstead TV channel.

On Monday, Nassau County GOP spokesman Mike Deery called Kaiman a "serial tax hiker who presided over a building department scandal" while reacting in a statement to Kaiman's intention to seek the supervisor role again.

“Voters have rejected his brand of tax and spend extremism and mismanagement,” Deery added. “Voters have welcomed Jen DeSena's tax cut budget and her transparent approach to municipal leadership.”

But North Hempstead Democratic Leader Wayne Wink Jr. on Monday touted Kaiman’s prior initiatives in the town, such as its 311 hotline, where residents can file complaints and ask questions, and a separate program he created to provide service to the town’s senior population.

“So many things that Jon was able to accomplish as town supervisor, it seems now more than ever we need those types of programs, and we need to be able to continue to build on that type of success and Jon seems like the ideal candidate to do that,” Wink also told Newsday.

DeSena, who ran on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, defeated Wink when she won her two-year term.