Arnold W. Drucker for Nassau Legislative District 16

The 16th District includes Old Westbury and Brookville northeast to Syosset and Woodbury and south to Old Bethpage.

Arnold W. Drucker, 66, tends to push for legislative initiatives on many fronts at once. The Plainview Democrat is seeking his fourth full term since taking office in 2016. He plays up bipartisan cooperation and an ability to work with Republicans in the chamber majority to achieve results. Drucker is an attorney with a practice in Queens.

Opposing Drucker for the seat in the revised 16th District is Republican James S. Asmus, 64, of Syosset, whose campaign statements reflect his successful private-sector career in the construction field. Asmus has served as an elected commissioner of the Jericho Water District, and makes the need for infrastructure development a large part of his messaging.

The big issues both candidates cite from their different perspectives include sidewalk repair, the expense and scarcity of affordable housing, and the difficulty of travel and traffic. 

Asmus essentially suggests that well-planned improvements from better roads to sewers must be carried out before bringing in too many people to use the infrastructure. Big concerns for both candidates include road congestion and flooding; Asmus puts more emphasis on using private expertise in that planning.

Drucker shows a nuanced sense of the county's fiscal challenges. He urges ending the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's control period — but says that due to bond refinancing, NIFA itself will be around for 20 years, enabling it to keep playing a needed monitoring role.

Drucker knows the process. Over the years he has sought to make progress against housing discrimination, vaping by youth, and other problems.

For the Hub casino proposal, Asmus withholds judgment before seeing results of the plan’s environmental impact review. Drucker expresses confidence that if the Las Vegas Sands project is approved it would be “transformative” for the surrounding area. The incumbent expresses urgency for rewarding opioid treatment contracts and for hiring a qualified expert assessor to create a fairer property-tax system.

Drucker says he’s seeking reelection because “there’s a lot of unfinished work to do. No other elected official has the unique connections to the district that I have.”

Newsday endorses Drucker.