Find out the candidates the editorial board chose and why.

Opinion

Endorsements

2024ENDORSEMENTSG

The Editorial Board

As misinformation and disinformation continue&nbsp;to corrode our public discourse, Newsday's editorial board&nbsp;seeks to provide Long Islanders with essential information, context and commentary about the 2024 election.&nbsp; 
Every election season, Newsday's editorial board&nbsp;makes&nbsp;recommendations on ballot proposals that affect your quality of life and&nbsp;endorses&nbsp;those candidates&nbsp;whom we think would be the best public servants to lead or&nbsp;legislate. We seek, through&nbsp;a respectful and fact-based methodology,&nbsp;to support those who can best represent Long Island’s interests.&nbsp;We have&nbsp;undertaken this effort throughout the 84 years of Newsday's existence in&nbsp;the spirit of starting conversations, not ending them.&nbsp; 
<h3>How does the editorial board vet candidates and make decisions on whom to endorse?</h3> 
Newsday maintains a strict divide between its news and opinion journalism operations.&nbsp;The editorial board makes its choices after interviewing the candidates,&nbsp;analyzing their views, and conducting&nbsp;its&nbsp;own research and reporting.&nbsp;Political ideology is not a major factor in our consideration, although we favor moderate views over extreme ones.&nbsp;Endorsement decisions are not&nbsp;based on a candidate’s party&nbsp;affiliation. 
Not including the presidential race, by the end of this year's endorsement process, we will have interviewed candidates for all&nbsp;36&nbsp;state and federal contests&nbsp;on the Nov. 5 ballot.&nbsp;Starting after Labor Day, meetings have been held or scheduled&nbsp;with major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the New York State Legislature&nbsp;—&nbsp;all of the&nbsp;64&nbsp;candidates who are actively running this year. 
Candidates’ responses to our questions help guide our decisions but do not determine&nbsp;them. We also consider the candidates’ command of the issues,&nbsp;how&nbsp;effective they are likely to be in office, and whether they are committed to finding bipartisan solutions for the region, state and nation.&nbsp; 
For incumbents, we assess&nbsp;what they have accomplished in office and whether they have followed through on past promises&nbsp;made to voters.&nbsp;For challengers, we look at whatever experience and skills they would bring to the office. 
These interview sessions are especially valuable to the board in helping us identify what issues voters are prioritizing and how we can best use our resources to focus on addressing these particular issues. 
<h3>How does the editorial board work?</h3> 
Newsday is an independent newspaper. Our endorsement choices are not influenced by our owner or publisher,&nbsp;who are&nbsp;not&nbsp;involved in this process. 
The editorial board — which is separate and distinct from Newsday's news operation — is composed of the editors, writers,&nbsp;producers, and cartoonist responsible for the &quot;Editorial and Opinion&quot; section in print and online.&nbsp;All of our editorials, essays, columns,&nbsp;cartoons, and&nbsp;letters to the editor are clearly labeled as commentary.&nbsp; 
This separation of journalistic functions is taken very seriously. Reporters and editors on the news side of Newsday’s operation have nothing to do with endorsements. They are neither present at the candidates’ interviews nor involved in the board’s deliberations.&nbsp;Nor is the board involved in the reporting and writing of the Voters Guide produced by the newsroom. 
In the board’s history, there have been numerous instances when Newsday&nbsp;endorsed a candidate it did not support in a previous or subsequent election. Incumbents may have an edge for consideration&nbsp;but incumbency&nbsp;can cut both ways&nbsp;if their&nbsp;record is a dismal one. That’s because we evaluate each race on its merits. There are contests in which both candidates are qualified, and we then choose the better of two good choices, but we never settle for a poor choice. 
In a race in which we find no&nbsp;candidate would be a suitable or effective representative for Long Islanders, we make no endorsement.&nbsp;Nor do we provide guidance in a race that is not being contested — in other words, in a race with only one candidate, which gives voters no choice. 
We hope our voice offers quiet insight at a time when there is too much shouting&nbsp;and too little&nbsp;meaningful information being given to voters to help them make their choices. In explaining our process, we hope to make it more comprehensible and to give you&nbsp;context and understanding as you read our endorsements in the coming weeks.&nbsp; 
In a broader sense, we are striving to make solid judgments about candidates and issues rather than feed inflammatory slogans. The American discourse, suffused these days with all sorts of overwrought propaganda, needs the kind of factual and uniquely local framework&nbsp;we seek to provide.&nbsp;Without that, democracy can die in broad daylight as well as in darkness. 
We hope that our experience and effort earn&nbsp;your trust.

Editorials

VPMETHOD240927

Here's how we make our endorsement picks

Whether your litmus test is experience,&nbsp;policy or character, Kamala D. Harris is the right choice for the highest elective office in the land. 
Start with the skill set she would bring to the presidency:&nbsp;seven years as the&nbsp;district attorney in San Francisco, six years as attorney general for California, four years in the U.S. Senate, and nearly four&nbsp;years in her current role as vice president.&nbsp;More important than that&nbsp;accumulation of time, however, is what that experience&nbsp;reveals&nbsp;about Harris. 
Her record&nbsp;tells us that she repeatedly took an oath to support and defend the Constitution,&nbsp;and did so.&nbsp;It tells us she respects institutions and will work to protect them, not undermine or destroy them. And it tells us she has a long devotion to&nbsp;public service, which is exactly what it sounds like — service to the public, not to herself. In a crisis, you want someone who understands that they are beholden to the American public, not their own interests. 
That instinct to put the public first&nbsp;also informs her reasonable and moderate approach to issues and policies. 
Harris is a strong and steadfast defender of reproductive rights, and has a holistic view on&nbsp;providing health care rooted in what she calls the &quot;dignity&quot; of each individual. That's a profound&nbsp;starting point. She wants to expand access to health care&nbsp;and expand Medicare benefits to cover long-term care and in-home health services so that people can age in place, addressing a&nbsp;national crisis that is felt profoundly on Long Island. She would cover the cost with the savings achieved by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. She also plans&nbsp;to continue the progress made by the Biden administration in reducing&nbsp;prescription drug pricing, and has vowed not to reduce or cut Social Security benefits. 
<h3>HELP FOR FAMILIES</h3> 
Harris&nbsp;wants to increase the child care tax credit for parents of newborns and&nbsp;help first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down-payment assistance. She&nbsp;has promised&nbsp;not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year, and has made an effective case that the high tariffs former President Donald Trump has proposed will function like a tax by raising prices paid by ordinary Americans for a variety of goods. Countless respected economists across the nation have said her economic plan, which is targeted to the people who most need help,&nbsp;will not raise the deficit as much as Trump's plan. 
Harris does bear&nbsp;some responsibility for the nation’s recent bout with inflation. The policies she and President Joe Biden&nbsp;pursued at the beginning of their administration to help the nation recover&nbsp;successfully from the pandemic — including the long-overdue infrastructure bill and&nbsp;the Inflation Reduction Act — put lots of money into the economy and helped to overheat&nbsp;it. But she also must be given some credit for the apparent easing of that inflation, which economists say would&nbsp;likely accelerate again under Trump's plan. Prices for gas are down, interest rates are lower, and jobs are up. She also deserves recognition for her role in passing that badly-needed infrastructure bill, which is at work now across the country and here on Long Island, and the IRA with its landmark climate change-fighting initiatives. 
Many&nbsp;of her proposals, naturally, will be subject to negotiations with Congress, but understanding Harris' values indicates the tack she will take in those talks. That's especially true for immigration. Biden's administration exacerbated&nbsp;the crisis on the southern border during his first three years in office but has cracked down recently and reduced border crossings. Harris supports&nbsp;tougher measures to reduce illegal immigration but also wants&nbsp;comprehensive reform of immigration policy and&nbsp;an earned pathway to citizenship. She promises&nbsp;to sign the bipartisan border bill negotiated in the Senate that had been on track for approval&nbsp;before Trump blew it up. All of that requires congressional cooperation. 
Harris&nbsp;will preserve the independence of the Justice Department and&nbsp;work to expand rather than&nbsp;restrict voting rights. She won't keep opponents in fear of political prosecutions and never would use the American military against the American people.&nbsp;Her sharp questioning as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee tells us that if there was to be an opening on the Supreme Court, Harris would nominate a strong supporter of liberty and individual rights. 
She seems likely to chart a reasonable and moderate path internationally.&nbsp;She is a reliable ally in&nbsp;NATO and is committed to protecting Ukraine and its fledgling democracy from a predatory Russia. While she clearly supports Israel's right to defend itself, she&nbsp;seems likely to take a harder line with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu as part of her desire to tone down the heat and scale back American military involvement in the Middle East, and she will maintain the Biden administration's current tough stance on China. 
<h3>VALUES ARE CRITICAL</h3> 
While issues and policies are important, values are critical.&nbsp;That’s true not only because values are a barometer of character, but also because they are a guide to a leader's&nbsp;policies and to how someone will react when confronted with unforeseen circumstances — a national calamity&nbsp;such as a pandemic,&nbsp;an international shock like the onset of war, or local devastation or tragedy including another mass shooting, hurricane or wildfire. 
Harris' values are rooted firmly in our nation's tradition and the American experience. 
She is someone who chooses to lift people up, not denigrate them. Someone who seeks commonalities, not division. Someone who looks at our nation as a community of strivers trying to make their country&nbsp;and themselves better, not as a battleground&nbsp;where citizens consider&nbsp;each other an enemy who&nbsp;must be defeated.&nbsp;Someone who doesn’t see people with whom she disagrees as evil, but simply as people with a different point of view. 
Harris understands that the grand and rich&nbsp;mosaic of those&nbsp;who live here is our strength, not our weakness.&nbsp;She is a&nbsp;merchant of hope,&nbsp;not a salesman of fear.&nbsp;She believes in the rule of law and the protection of individual rights, and understands that justice is rooted in both toughness and compassion. She believes in equality of opportunity for everyone, wants to improve&nbsp;the lives of those who are less well-off, and believes in the power of government to help achieve that. 
Let's face it: This is not&nbsp;a typical election. Part of that is because of Harris'&nbsp;opponent, part is her late entry into the race, and part is the divisiveness in our nation. Part of it, too, is the historic nature of her candidacy. Harris was the first woman, first Black person, and first Asian&nbsp;American to serve as vice president, California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. And she'd&nbsp;be the first woman and first Asian American president. But she rarely talks about that. She's running this&nbsp;race on her merits. And on her merits&nbsp;is how she should be judged. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Kamala D.&nbsp;Harris for president.

VPHARRIS241027

Kamala Harris for president

Changing the New York Constitution is a serious endeavor. The aspirations and values to be enshrined in the state’s legal framework should always reflect a deliberate legislative process and an informed decision by voters who understand&nbsp;the consequences that will shape the policies and politics of New Yorkers for generations. 
On all ballots this year&nbsp;is&nbsp;the proposed Equal Rights Amendment called Proposition One.&nbsp;It's being marketed as&nbsp;urgently needed to further protect the state's already expansive access to abortion after the Supreme Court reversed Roe&nbsp;v. Wade and ruled&nbsp;abortion laws were to be determined by each state. But the word &quot;abortion&quot; is&nbsp;nowhere to be found in its text. 
Opponents of the measure are equally overwrought but correct about some of its potential excesses.&nbsp;The amendment would not overrule any existing laws or create any new rights in the state. But it would start in motion&nbsp;a legal process to give the courts much more power to determine these outcomes&nbsp;and to resolve cultural and political fights&nbsp;that currently cannot&nbsp;get majority support in the State Legislature.&nbsp;It is part and parcel of a&nbsp;parallel effort by legislative leaders to reshape New York's top court by stacking it with extremely liberal and activist judges who likely will provide favorable rulings on the litigation that's&nbsp;sure to follow. 
Our deep and disabling partisan divide will&nbsp;not close&nbsp;if either side captures the judiciary to further its&nbsp;social agenda. 
<h3>VAGUE WORDING</h3> 
Proposition One would&nbsp;greatly expand categories that deserve&nbsp;the highest level of protection from discrimination. The new wording is in bold: &quot;No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy be subject to any discrimination ...&quot;&nbsp; 
The phrasing regarding abortion in particular is absurdly&nbsp;vague. In contrast, Ohio voters approved a ballot amendment in 2023 that created new protections for&nbsp;an &quot;individual’s right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions&quot; and specified&nbsp;that this covers birth control, fertility treatments, miscarriage and abortion. Ohio can limit abortion only at the point of&nbsp;fetal viability with exceptions for the health and life of the mother.&nbsp; 
Adopting Proposition One&nbsp;will encourage widespread challenges to existing civil rights and discrimination laws and flood&nbsp;the courts with litigation. Conflicting rulings will&nbsp;destabilize many&nbsp;institutions&nbsp;and individuals as they try to navigate these clashes. 
The amendment, for example, opens the door to&nbsp;judicial activism&nbsp;on contentious issues such as overriding parental control of medical decisions for minors. Challenges to 55-and-older age restrictions for some housing are very likely. Could&nbsp;the age of 18 as legal&nbsp;consent to&nbsp;marry&nbsp;or the cutoff&nbsp;for youthful offender treatment by the courts&nbsp;fall by the wayside? 
Proposition One is an end run around the will of the people to have these choices made by their elected representatives.&nbsp;Our opposition to the amendment is opposition to the&nbsp;process that produced it. The legislature must be the first crucible in which to test social change. Compromise and consensus on evolving cultural norms should be forged by lawmakers reflecting and incorporating the views of their constituents. It is process that keeps us honest.&nbsp; 
ABORTION PROTECTION HIJACKED 
When the reversal of Roe&nbsp;became more likely&nbsp;due to then-President Donald Trump's Supreme Court appointments, steps to safeguard those protections began in New York. The Reproductive Health Act in 2019&nbsp;permitted abortion up until 24 weeks&nbsp;— and longer if needed to protect the life or health of the mother.&nbsp;The next logical step was a constitutional amendment to make sure no subsequent legislature and governor would repeal that law. 
Instead, the most liberal activists in the State Senate moved to make the amendment a grab bag of new civil rights, particularly on gender. The effort&nbsp;was considered too over the top to garner support until the overturning of Roe in 2022. In the uproar that followed,&nbsp;the Senate immediately called a special session to pass the then-dormant Equal Rights Amendment and the Assembly followed.&nbsp;Before any amendment can go on the ballot, it must be passed&nbsp;twice, in consecutive two-year sessions. At the start of a new session in January 2023, it was approved again.&nbsp; 
During that time, there was not one legislative hearing in either&nbsp;chamber, no testimony by legal experts about the scope of what was being passed, or recommendations on a better approach. By the second vote, there was&nbsp;just one hour of debate on the Assembly floor. 
The deliberate shunning of good governance was followed by blatant cynicism. If protecting abortion was so urgent, the Equal Rights Amendment should have been placed on the 2023 ballot. Instead, it was held until this year, a presidential election year when having a&nbsp;pro-abortion measure on the ballot&nbsp;was expected to turn out more voters. 
That delay&nbsp;was a&nbsp;tacit acknowledgment that there&nbsp;is ample time for the legislature to write a better amendment protecting&nbsp;reproductive rights&nbsp;and, we would advocate, same-sex&nbsp;marriage. Instead,&nbsp;voters are being&nbsp;tricked&nbsp;into approving a wide-ranging blueprint that could&nbsp;reshape&nbsp;some of the most foundational&nbsp;and intimate policies that&nbsp;New Yorkers live by. 
Newsday's editorial board&nbsp;recommends a NO vote on Proposition One.&nbsp;

VPPROPONE241025

Vote 'no' on Proposition One, the Equal Rights Amendment

Vote 'no' on Proposition One

In this year's election, voters will cast ballots for a range of federal,&nbsp;state and local races, including the president of the United States, U.S. senator, and lawmakers and judges at various levels of government. Those contests will grab the bulk of media and public attention. 
But one of the most consequential choices facing voters in Suffolk County is not between two candidates. It has to do with the quality of our&nbsp;water. It's a test we must not fail. 
For years now,&nbsp;we&nbsp;have witnessed the continuing degradation of the region's water. Abundant scientific research shows&nbsp;that the primary culprit is excessive nitrogen. Much of that comes from&nbsp;the 380,000 outdated, nitrogen-polluting cesspools and septic systems in Suffolk. Over and over, we see the distressing consequences. 
These include beach closures and&nbsp;fish kills,&nbsp;harmful algae blooms that cause&nbsp;red and brown tides, and fouled lakes and bays and harbors devoid&nbsp;of life. Even the&nbsp;drinking water that comes from our precious aquifer is becoming contaminated. 
Suffolk County Proposition Two&nbsp;asks Suffolk residents to approve a 0.125%&nbsp;increase in the county sales tax to fund the expansion of sewers and state-of-the-art septic systems that filter nitrogen out of wastewater. They are essential to the goal&nbsp;of clean&nbsp;water.&nbsp;Throughout the county, our wastewater infrastructure is inadequate. We&nbsp;need sewers in some places where there are none, and we must modernize outdated and failing cesspools and septic systems where sewers are not possible. 
Proposition Two provides a recurring source of revenue to make it happen. 
Let's be clear about what this referendum&nbsp;is:&nbsp;It is the culmination of an&nbsp;effort that has been a full 10 years in the making. It was approved&nbsp;by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the county legislature, triumphing over some hardball politics that now is soon-to-be-cleaner water under the partisan bridge. The proposition has the backing of&nbsp;a wide range of interest groups, from environmentalists to representatives of business and labor. 
Let's also be clear about what this is not: It is not an onerous tax on Suffolk residents. At one-eighth of one percent, the sales tax hike will add 12.5 cents to a $100 purchase, or $1.25 to something that costs $1,000.&nbsp;The proposition, which also extends an existing&nbsp;drinking water protection program&nbsp;and converts a fund that stabilizes sewer rates, would&nbsp;raise some $6 billion through 2060 for sewers, new septic systems, and land preservation, which also works to protect&nbsp;water by banning development on sensitive land above our aquifer. In other words, Suffolk County Proposition Two&nbsp;shows that many people making small contributions adds up to something grand. 
As you make plans for how and when to cast your ballot, stop for a moment to think about how important water is in our daily lives. Water is an essential part of what makes life&nbsp;in Suffolk County — and all of Long Island — so special. We love our beaches and parks, and our farms and vineyards, all of which depend partly or wholly on water. We swim in it, boat on it, fish in it, walk alongside it, dine by it, or simply gaze out at it. We tap our sole-source aquifer to drink and cook and bathe and clean. Our agriculture, fishing and tourist industries are dependent on it. Without water, Long Island simply is not Long Island. It is imperative that we keep it clean. 
Long Islanders&nbsp;have a well-deserved&nbsp;reputation for supporting ballot measures that preserve and protect our environment.&nbsp;Time after time, voters have stepped up to approve local and state bond measures that helped acquire land to establish parks, addressed the impacts of pollution and protected public health, built sewage treatment plants and managed hazardous solid waste, preserved and restored land and remediated brownfields. reduced flooding risks and mitigated the effects of climate change, and most recently, conserved open space and helped water districts filter emerging contaminants from drinking water. 
Proposition Two&nbsp;is another of those critical referendums. Its frustrating&nbsp;legalese might make your eyes glaze over: &quot;Resolution No. 526-2024, A Charter Law Pursuant To The Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act (Chapter 58 Of The New York State Laws Of 2023, As Amended) ...&quot; 
But its content is critically important to our collective future. If you live in Suffolk County,&nbsp;please take the time to find Suffolk County Proposition Two&nbsp;at the end of&nbsp;your ballot and vote yes. 
Our water depends on it.

VPREFERENDUM240929

Suffolk residents should vote yes for clean water

Newsday editorial board: Vote yes for clean water in Suffolk

The 1st Congressional District is like no other on Long Island. Its diversity of landscapes include immense expanses of pine barrens, sprawling tracts of low-lying suburbia, chains of bucolic vineyards and farmland, and breathtaking tableaux of sea and sand. 
Its residents have a unique sense of place,&nbsp;whether one lives on the East End or in the heart of Brookhaven, on the North or South Shore, among the millionaires on the South Fork or with the laborers who work for&nbsp;them. 
Representing such a district requires a deep knowledge of the richness of its quirks and an appreciation for its glorious mosaic. 
Democrat John P. Avlon is a gifted communicator, one of the best we have seen at any level of government on Long Island. He has deep knowledge of our nation’s history and politics and a&nbsp;knack for explaining complex issues. But one issue he has not been able to explain is the matter of&nbsp;where he lives, and one criticism he has been unable to dispel is whether he grasps the intricacies of CD1. 
Avlon, 51, meets the only requirement for Congress — that one lives in the state they represent. He bought a house in Sag Harbor in 2017 and registered to vote in Suffolk in 2020. He also has a longtime residence in Manhattan, where his family lives. He has been unable or unwilling to clearly and convincingly explain how much time he spends at each home, but at least until recently seemed&nbsp;to be a part-time resident of Sag Harbor. 
In pressing this argument, Republican Rep. Nicholas J.&nbsp;LaLota does not come to the table with clean hands. He, too, lives outside the district — in Amityville, about seven&nbsp;miles from&nbsp;the district’s border. He has had three years since announcing his first run for the seat to move into the district but has not done so, despite making promises that he would.&nbsp;He cannot vote for himself in his own race, and is represented by someone else in Congress. 
<h3>KNOWS THE DISTRICT</h3> 
But no one can say that LaLota, 46, does not know the district well, or appreciate its uniqueness&nbsp;or understand its distinct communities and their issues. A lifelong Suffolk County resident, he worked for years at the Suffolk County Board of Elections in Riverhead&nbsp;and as chief of staff to the Suffolk County Legislature. Though he makes disingenuous arguments about where his wife works and other family members live as ways to prove his local bona fides, LaLota&nbsp;does pass the test —&nbsp;with an asterisk for his reluctance to change addresses, if only out of respect for his constituents. 
Avlon lacks a deep understanding of the district. He name-checks officials and communities as a way to build homegrown cred, but cannot discuss local issues with the depth and attention to detail he brings to the national issues with which he is so well-versed from his years as a commentator on CNN. 
On&nbsp;a variety of key issues, though, we agree&nbsp;more with Avlon. He says &quot;abortion should be between a woman, her doctor, and her God&quot; while LaLota supports a state&nbsp;ban on abortion after 12 weeks,&nbsp;albeit with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. This is&nbsp;out of step with the majority view in his district. 
On housing, Avlon says flatly the region needs more. He&nbsp;proposes revitalizing&nbsp;old strip malls by&nbsp;building apartments above commercial spaces, and extending mortgage assistance to first responders, teachers and nurses. LaLota says there is no direct role for the federal or state governments in building housing but he is not opposed to reusing strip malls if the local village mayor, town&nbsp;supervisor&nbsp;and county executive support it, and he does favor creating more first-time homebuyer tax credits. 
<h3>FIGHTING FOR SALT</h3> 
Both candidates say restoration of the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes known as SALT is a core part of their affordability agenda; getting that done likely will depend on which party&nbsp;wins control of Congress. 
Avlon says he will accept the results of this year's&nbsp;election. LaLota says he will accept election results depending on what the courts say. That's an unsettling&nbsp;qualification. 
Both candidates are concerned about issues of flooding and coastal erosion, both support Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah, and both back Ukraine in its war with Russia, though there are nuanced differences in their positions. 
On immigration, both toe party lines. Avlon supports the border bill negotiated in the Senate and killed by former President Donald Trump and advocates for reform that would expand legal immigration.&nbsp;LaLota says the Senate&nbsp;bill was weak and is pushing tougher legislation and the deportation of &quot;criminals.&quot; 
We did not endorse LaLota two years ago. His opponent in that race&nbsp;was&nbsp;deeply knowledgeable about the district's problems and more aligned with our stances on issues. 
There still are many issues on which we disagree with LaLota.&nbsp;But he has a different opponent this time for whose responsiveness we cannot vouch. 
If LaLota wins, we expect him to live up to his word to be a bulwark against his party's worst&nbsp;tendencies to undermine the federal government&nbsp;and act to&nbsp;protect Long Island's interests. We expect him to work hard to bring back the SALT exemption. We expect him, as a Navy man, to help reverse the Coast Guard's disturbing&nbsp;pullback on Long Island, which has been a safety problem for commercial and recreational boaters,&nbsp;and to restore the number of Coast Guard stations and personnel on Long Island. We expect him to work to get&nbsp;Plum Island protected as a national park or monument. 
Most of all,&nbsp;we expect him to be more of the reasonable centrist he claims to be —&nbsp;more centrist than one would expect from someone who boasts&nbsp;that he was the first member of Congress from a purple district to endorse Trump, more in keeping with someone who touts his bipartisanship when it comes to passing legislation. 
LaLota says he is of the district. We expect him to act that way in Washington. 
Newsday's editorial board, with reservations, endorses LaLota.

VP1CD241024

Nicholas J. LaLota, with reservations, for 1st Congressional District

LaLota, with reservations, for New York's 1st Congressional District

POFIRST241022_photos

Rep. Andrew R. Garbarino, running for a third term, takes every opportunity to signal to the public that he puts the needs of New York State and his 2nd Congressional District ahead of partisan solidarity. In August, for example, Garbarino got 17 fellow House Republicans to sign a letter he organized urging Speaker Mike Johnson to stop trying to end all the green-energy tax breaks legislated by Democrats in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 
Garbarino, 40, of Bayport, is cochair of the Climate Solutions Caucus, which is bipartisan and a showcase for his ability to work with Democrats to do what’s in the best interest of a district that has a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. His bid to have Republicans stop dismissing the value of tax credits for green industries — from wind and solar energy to hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture technology — drew instant condemnation from some hard-right colleagues. But Garbarino seems to have a good chance for some success. 
Of the tax credits in the Democratic-crafted Inflation Reduction Act, Garbarino candidly told the Newsday editorial board: “Can we save them all? I don’t think so.” But clearly, he sees merit in saving some. 
<h3>COMMUNITY PROJECTS</h3> 
Garbarino puts front and center the millions of dollars he delivers in community projects, formerly known as earmarks, now included in the federal budget. 
The range of allocations this year included, among others: $3.33 million for the Howells Point Coastal Flood Resiliency Project in the Village of Bellport, $1.5 million for the Brookhaven Sewage Treatment Facility Expansion via the Town of Brookhaven, and $5 million for the Smith Point Bridge via Suffolk County’s Department of Public Works. 
Garbarino’s presence in the House majority, and his seniority among the current Long Island delegation’s three Republicans, give him a leg up on securing local aid. He’s also enmeshed in broader bipartisan efforts. He’s taken up predecessor Rep. Peter King’s push for medical care for those sickened long-term by the effects of the World Trade Center’s destruction in 2001. 
Garbarino also has worked to put his imprint on cybersecurity measures and is immersed enough in the subject to wrestle with strategic concerns. When it comes to the United States’ ability to handle hacking and disruption, he says with some authority, “Our offensive capabilities are a lot better than our defensive capabilities. Adversarial nations have done a better job of putting [the necessary] people into their workforce.” 
He discusses ways to correct that through better training and to reduce bureaucracy and inefficiency in the current reporting system on incidents that can slow down institutional responses to these electronic emergencies. 
People do not know yet how bad a cyber-disaster can be, he warns. 
Garbarino did pay some potentially embarrassing partisan dues earlier this year when he was tapped to carry out Johnson’s futile drive to remove by impeachment Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary. As a follow-up, the incumbent expresses hope for bipartisan progress on border security and immigration. 
<h3>OPTIMISTIC ON SALT</h3> 
He also expresses optimism that even if Republicans prevail in the electionsand maintain control of the House, the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions on federal income taxes that the party imposed during President Donald Trump’s term will be significantly raised if not eliminated outright. Garbarino foresees helping to abate problems with flood insurance for his constituents and preserve water quality. 
This November, Garbarino’s Democratic opponent is Rob Lubin, 29, of Lindenhurst, an entrepreneur seeking public office for the first time. Fluent in Italian and Spanish, Lubin has been a manager for global soccer clubs AS Roma and FC Barcelona. He also founded IN-HOUSE, an online apparel marketplace. 
Lubin said he would seek to address affordability, especially on prescription drug prices, and gun violence, to raise the minimum wage, and to join in efforts to codify abortion rights on the federal level. But while well-intended, Lubin is not well-enough versed yet in the ins and outs of governance to describe in any depth how he might become an independent and effective contender in the future. 
The Newsday editorial board endorses Garbarino.

VP2CD241004

Andrew Garbarino for New York's 2nd Congressional District

Newsday editorial board endorses Garbarino for 2nd Congressional District

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When Thomas R. Suozzi arrived back in the House chamber after winning the special election in February, he had two words for his fellow members of Congress. 
“Wake up!” 
In that spirited speech, Suozzi stressed the need for bipartisan solutions on issues like the border and inflation. 
Eight months later, Suozzi smartly continues to focus on those messages as he runs to serve a full two-year term, challenged this time by Republican Michael J. LiPetri Jr., a former state assemblyman. 
But Suozzi, 62, is in a very different place than he was before the February special election, when 3rd Congressional District voters resoundingly chose the Glen Cove Democrat seeking to return to Congress after the ouster of disgraced Rep. George Santos. The attention on that race, and the spotlight on Suozzi since, has helped grow his stature, influence and platform, allowing him to further evolve into a significant player in Congress, a position that benefits his district and beyond. 
“People are more interested in what I have to say,” Suozzi told the editorial board. “I’m in the room as part of the conversation.” 
<h3>BORDER FOCUS</h3> 
That’s particularly important when it comes to Suozzi’s focus on the border, which he labels as his top issue. A Homeland Security committee member, Suozzi is working with conservative Texas Republican Rep. Morgan Luttrell to build a coalition of “business, badges and the Bible” with business leaders, law enforcement officials and various religious groups. They hope to establish a new legislative framework, based on a mix of past legislation, that could address securing the border, fixing the asylum system, and modernizing the legal immigration system regardless of who wins the White House and control of Congress. 
It’s that willingness to take the initiative and lead, combined with his ability to reach across the aisle, that makes Suozzi an important voice, particularly in a tightly divided Congress. 
Among Suozzi’s other priorities: a full repeal of the $10,000 federal income tax cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT. The SALT cap, along with other provisions from former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law changes, is set to expire next year. Suozzi said he’ll form another coalition if necessary to make sure that happens. 
Importantly, beyond those larger national issues, Suozzi is relentlessly focused on his district, which stretches from northeast Queens into the northwestern part of Huntington. He speaks in detail about everything from the Grumman cleanup and airplane noise to the Northport VA Medical Center and sewer and water infrastructure. His staff has ramped up constituent services, which too often went unaddressed under Santos, and Suozzi knows every neighborhood and every need because of his experience as the former mayor of Glen Cove, two terms as Nassau County executive, and three previous full terms in Congress before he declined to seek reelection to participate in the 2022 gubernatorial primary. 
LiPetri, an attorney who until recently worked for Park Strategies, the lobbying firm founded by former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, previously served in New York City’s corporation counsel office under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. LiPetri, too, emphasized bipartisanship, pointing to his support of water quality initiatives and his position on abortion as examples of how he differs from his party. The Farmingdale Republican says he’s against abortion after the 24th week, except to save a mother’s life, and does not support a federal ban. Suozzi has supported broader abortion protections, including a federal law that would guarantee access to abortion in all states. 
<h3>MUST SEEK COMPROMISE</h3> 
LiPetri, like Trump, supports the mass deportation of millions of people here illegally without any specific plans on how that would be carried out, and he says Republicans were correct to listen to Trump and reject the bipartisan border bill. When asked about immigration policy for children, known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, LiPetri, 34, rejected the notion that such children should ever have a path to citizenship. He calls himself “pragmatic” but his hard-line attitude won’t help solve the border issues — and it certainly doesn’t speak to a willingness to compromise which will be needed to help solve this problem. 
LiPetri also proposes a crackdown on crime by turning over to the federal government some matters that are traditionally the jurisdiction of state district attorneys, such as killing a police officer specifically in sanctuary cities and surrounding areas. 
Suozzi has the support of the Nassau County PBA. 
LiPetri promises open dialogue and bipartisan compromise. But overlaying that is a constant pushback against those who disagree with him and a sometimes dismissive attitude that won’t serve his district or the nation well. 
Suozzi’s first seven months back in Congress representing the 3rd Congressional District have erased the sad tenure of Santos. District voters chose in February a solid, reasonable, smart leader who has the ear and trust of those in power. Now, Suozzi has to build upon what he started, mixing his attention to the district’s needs with his ability to work from the center to manage complex national challenges. 
The Newsday editorial board endorses Suozzi.

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Thomas Suozzi for New York's 3rd Congressional District

Newsday editorial board endorses Suozzi for 3rd Congressional District

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The 4th Congressional District lies almost entirely in the Town of Hempstead. The local geography is a&nbsp;potent decoder of a contest&nbsp;that could determine control of&nbsp;the House of Representatives. After all, all politics is local. 
This swath of Nassau County captures the dominant&nbsp;political currents of 2024. Will protecting reproductive freedom be a catalyst for suburban women and independents? Are immigration and border security hitting hard because of&nbsp;New York City's&nbsp;struggle to handle an influx of migrants?&nbsp;Will Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket spur high turnout from the district's considerable concentration of minority and Asian voters? Do Orthodox and conservative Jewish voters further consolidate behind Donald Trump amid the reverberations from Oct. 7? 
All are factors. But in the end, the race could be a barometer&nbsp;of&nbsp;voters' tolerance of the culture of brazen nepotism&nbsp;in Hempstead,&nbsp;the heart&nbsp;of the Nassau County Republican machine. 
Republican incumbent Anthony P. D'Esposito, 42, of Island Park, is defending his seat in a rematch with attorney Laura A. Gillen, 55, of Rockville Centre. The race is also another chapter in Gillen's rage against the patronage and crony-contract machine, which led to her startling win in &nbsp;2017 as town supervisor, the&nbsp;first Democrat to hold the job in more than century. 
<h3>STAIN OF NEPOTISM</h3> 
Gillen, who ran then on an anti-patronage, anti-corruption campaign, had good reason to go after nepotism. Earlier that year, D'Esposito&nbsp;was appointed to a seat on the town council&nbsp;while on unpaid leave as an NYPD detective. Soon, he garnered another gig, working full time at the honeypot of patronage, the Nassau County Board of Elections, specializing in security assessments of polling areas. The $100,000 salary for that job was in addition to the $71,000 he was collecting as a councilman. 
Here is what the editorial board wrote at the time: 
&quot;This week in the Town of Hempstead, Councilman Anthony D’Esposito voted to give a raise to his mother, Carmen D’Esposito, a highway department secretary who will earn $88,939 a year. That’s nice work, and the D’Espositos get lots of it. Anthony’s brother, Timothy D’Esposito, got a salary of $92,411 in 2016 as a captain in the town Department of Conservation and Waterways. Anthony’s sister-in-law, Danielle D’Esposito, had a 2016 salary of $52,468 as a tax clerk. And Timothy and Anthony’s dad, Stephen D’Esposito, was&nbsp;chief of staff for Supervisor Anthony Santino, earning $169,000 a year.&quot; 
The family members were all hired before D'Esposito joined the town board, which makes him the&nbsp;beneficiary of nepotism. After he won election to the House in 2022,&nbsp;D'Esposito took the Hempstead culture to the federal level, becoming a&nbsp;benefactor. As The New York Times revealed,&nbsp;D'Esposito put the daughter of someone described as&nbsp;his&nbsp;longtime&nbsp;fiancee&nbsp;on his congressional payroll as a staffer&nbsp;in his local district office a salary of $3,800 a month. Soon after,&nbsp;he&nbsp;hired part-time at $2,000 monthly&nbsp;another woman with whom&nbsp;he was in a relationship. Turns out she also had a full-time job with the town. Was the congressional position&nbsp;a&nbsp;no-show job?&nbsp;If not, D'Esposito&nbsp;had working in his district office both the daughter of the woman he was engaged to and the woman he was currently befriending. 
It was an echo of 2017&nbsp;when D'Esposito, newly&nbsp;on the town council,&nbsp;placed that same fiancee&nbsp;and her son on the Village of East Rockaway payroll. 
In his editorial board endorsement interview, D'Esposito said he did nothing wrong:&nbsp;&quot;There was absolutely no violation&nbsp;of ethics in either hiring.&quot; 
Asked whether he would do it again, he replied, &quot;If there's no ethics violations, there's absolutely no issue.&quot; 
That's disqualifying. 
Ironically, no matter the outcome of the House race,&nbsp;D'Esposito&nbsp;is considered the likely GOP candidate&nbsp;for Hempstead&nbsp;supervisor next year if three-term officeholder Don Clavin opts&nbsp;for a judgeship instead. Asked about his intentions, D'Esposito said,&nbsp;&quot;My focus is on the job that I have.&quot; 
<h3>POLICY GOALS</h3> 
Unlike some&nbsp;GOP candidates, D'Esposito rightly acknowledges that mass deportation of migrants is&nbsp;unrealistic;&nbsp;he believes&nbsp;the focus should be on removing&nbsp;those who break the law. And he was part of a caucus of moderate Republicans who stopped some of their conference's more extreme ideas, like gutting Amtrak funding and ending the sale of mifepristone abortion pills via retail pharmacies or&nbsp;by mail. 
To deal with flooding, a problem in his coastal district, D'Esposito has&nbsp;a creative idea about the federal government and town joining to create special taxing districts for those who live on canals to pay for improved bulkheads. 
Gillen, who served one term as supervisor, is smart,&nbsp;tenacious and relentless in pursuit of her goals. She wants&nbsp;the southern border closed,&nbsp;a speedier determination of asylum claims, and an overhaul to the immigration system that would encourage people to apply in their home nations for legal status to come here. She wants the federal government to&nbsp;reimburse New York for the cost of its migrant relief program. 
Gillen contends the federal government&nbsp;should get more involved with flood insurance programs&nbsp;and wants more funding for water quality&nbsp;improvements, especially in areas of the district with cancer clusters.&nbsp;She wants tougher negotiations with drug companies to lower prescription drugs. Gillen would be a fierce advocate for restoring&nbsp;the IRS deduction for state and local taxes. 
We said two years ago that Gillen was the best choice in the 4th District and we stand by that recommendation. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Gillen.

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Laura Gillen for New York's 4th Congressional District

Newsday editorial board endorses Gillen for New York's 4th Congressional District

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand has been in the U.S. Senate for nearly 16 years. In that time,&nbsp;she has&nbsp;effectively identified herself in the public eye with&nbsp;some important national goals. 
Highly publicized for pushing for strong reforms to prevent and punish cases of sexual violence in the military, she proclaimed progress when procedural changes were folded into the wider annual defense bill. President Joe Biden last year ordered the removal of serious criminal cases from military victims' chain of command. Cases are to be put under the authority of trained prosecutors. She vows to monitor its implementation to see whether it works. 
Gillibrand, 57, has also helped with the repeated renewals of funds for 9/11 medical victims, a key cause for first responders and others.&nbsp;The&nbsp;aid program would be more humane if, finally, it were permanently funded, but this is how it was crafted long ago. She should keep pushing for the change. 
Other reforms Gillibrand urges are&nbsp;incomplete. Controversy and concern have lingered for years over sexual harassment and assault at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. 
Generally, Gillibrand noted to the Newsday editorial board: &quot;Some things take a year or two, some things take five years, some things take a decade.&quot; 
With senior Sen. Charles Schumer serving as&nbsp;majority leader, one can see where Gillibrand, from a purple area upstate, provides interface and stakes out the role of collaborating on bills across the aisle.&nbsp;So despite today's&nbsp;partisan polarization, she seeks common ground with&nbsp;Republicans like Sens. Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Cynthia Lummis. Even modest cases of cooperation can be helpful but Gillibrand&nbsp;often&nbsp;seems to be playing small ball.&nbsp; 
<h3>QUESTIONABLE CHOICE</h3> 
Now, Gillibrand&nbsp;is looking to lead the Senate Democratic fundraising arm next year, a time-consuming deployment in the service of the national party. Her constituents might prefer she expend her considerable savvy and energy on governance and spending time in the state&nbsp;rather than party fundraising.&nbsp;She’s been gaining in Senate seniority and should use it to maximum effect for New Yorkers. 
Disappointingly, Gillibrand has not established as consistent and&nbsp;meaningful a presence on Long Island as she has in Washington. We wrote a critical&nbsp;proviso in our 2018 endorsement: &quot;She’s not a fixture at important events and some local elected officials don’t consider her a go-to representative&quot; for federal assistance. The following year, however, she made a short-lived bid for president that went nowhere and further removed her from connecting with constituents. 
Gillibrand in this election year has done a few conferences and short visits on the Island, but does not seem to give Suffolk and Nassau county issues&nbsp;any&nbsp;priority. Asked about local appearances, she mentioned&nbsp;in our interview a ride-along she took with a Suffolk police department last year but couldn't remember the department's name, and her&nbsp;takeaways from that experience were unclear.&nbsp;It was the Suffolk County Police Department&nbsp;in Yaphank, where she said she learned about&nbsp;ShotSpotter technology and saw all the screens at central command that depict&nbsp;the location of patrol cars and live feeds of surveillance cameras. 
More promising is a Cyber Service Academy scholarship program she helped champion in the annual defense bill that could benefit the students and institutions who choose to sign up. In the House, credit goes to GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino of Bayport. 
<h3>GETS REFLECTED CREDIT</h3> 
As Schumer’s junior partner in the upper chamber, Gillibrand gets reflected credit for his relentless funneling of dollars to&nbsp;New York projects. In July, the two New York senators jointly announced their &quot;earmarks,&quot; or member items, roughly worth more than $50 million across Long Island. That total would be a lot less if it wasn't for Schumer and his leadership role. 
The varied, combined list of projects included sewer system upgrades in both counties as well as road and library improvements, and renovations to the Smithtown emergency operations center. There’s also a grant for digitization at the Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University. 
In this election, Gillibrand’s Republican challenger is Mike Sapraicone, 68, of Seaford, a retired NYPD detective who founded&nbsp;the very successful Squad Security company. This is his first&nbsp;complete&nbsp;run for public office, an ambitious undertaking. 
In an interview, Sapraicone comes off as open-minded and moderate. He says of Schumer: &quot;We may have different political views but he is everywhere. She is not.&quot; He adds: &quot;And, you know, as I go around, everybody's saying she's missing in action.&quot; Gillibrand, however, insists otherwise, that she’s accessible and present. 
On guns, Sapraicone says background checks are crucial. On migrants, he said sensible rules must be imposed. On abortion, he says that, yes, it should be decided by the states but &quot;I’m not happy with the law in New York. I think it’s too liberal.&quot; He rightly shies away from single-issue litmus tests at confirmation on future decisions&nbsp;of judicial&nbsp;appointees. 
Sapraicone&nbsp;shows common sense, intelligence and an appealing willingness to listen and be flexible. He knows Long Island well, but we doubt he can enter office next year with a studied, independent grasp of the challenges he’d soon face in Washington. 
Newsday's editorial board&nbsp;reluctantly&nbsp;endorses Gillibrand.

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Kirsten Gillibrand, with reservations, for U.S. Senate

Gillibrand, with reservations, for U.S. Senate

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Nine of the State Senate's&nbsp;63&nbsp;seats are apportioned&nbsp;to Long Island. Seven are held by Republicans and&nbsp;two by Democrats, whose party enjoys a supermajority. Party alignments are significant,&nbsp;yet the city-suburban divide can&nbsp;transcend those labels as Long Island representatives from both parties often collaborate to get local issues addressed. 
The most significant and contentious issues next year are the same in both the Senate and the Assembly. Heading the list: How will the state determine&nbsp;the amount of money it sends to each school district&nbsp;as it seeks to revise&nbsp;an opaque funding formula&nbsp;that hasn't changed in 17 years? Will the new formula take into account declining or increasing enrollment, mental health needs, English language learners, and inflated housing prices that can make Long Island communities appear wealthier and less in&nbsp;need of funding? 
Candidates&nbsp;asking to be sent&nbsp;to Albany for a two-year term&nbsp;universally say affordability is a top concern. Will the effort to provide free lunch to every&nbsp;K-12 student get over the finish line?&nbsp;Candidates are telling voters about ways to decrease regulations for small businesses and&nbsp;incentivize construction to create more housing. Most eschew&nbsp;the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's&nbsp;congestion pricing plan but few have realistic suggestions for funding regional transit without it. 
Mitigating the impacts of more severe storms has surged to the top of many candidates' agendas. Top of mind are suggestions on tapping into state and federal funding for infrastructure projects that can&nbsp;mitigate flooding and storm impacts,&nbsp;and regulating the insurance market to make sure homeowners can obtain and afford coverage. 
Another overarching issue is the use of state funds to assist New York City in dealing with the influx of migrants seeking asylum. While candidates from both parties say&nbsp;the federal government should pay and many argue it's&nbsp;time for the state to end its support, almost all acknowledge&nbsp;the complexity and frustration of dealing with the problem. As crimes in most categories are falling post-pandemic, there is recognition that further adjustments to bail laws&nbsp;are needed to keep repeat offenders off the streets. Many candidates deplore&nbsp;the Senate's embarrassing conduct in torpedoing the nomination of Hector LaSalle as chief&nbsp;judge and manipulating the selection and confirmation process to install someone with an activist liberal ideology. 
In making our endorsements,&nbsp;a key criteria was analyzing&nbsp;how well a candidate&nbsp;can advocate for their district and assessing whether they&nbsp;have&nbsp;the skills,&nbsp;track record and spirit of bipartisanship to effectively meet the many challenges facing New York.&nbsp;

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New York State Senate: An overview of our endorsements

New York State Senate: An endorsements overview

New York's&nbsp;1st Senate District stretches west from&nbsp;the Twin Forks to Stony Brook&nbsp;on the north to a&nbsp;slice of Eastport&nbsp;on the south,&nbsp;an area with many distinct features&nbsp;and needs. At&nbsp;the forefront is the necessity&nbsp;of&nbsp;protecting Long Island's&nbsp;unique ecosystem while balancing the demands of&nbsp;agriculture and tourism, constructing workforce housing, mitigating the impacts of severe storms, and nurturing a flagship state university&nbsp; 
Republican Anthony H. Palumbo, 54, of New Suffolk, has demonstrated in his first two terms that he understands these challenges and can provide the necessary leadership for his district and the legislature at large.&nbsp; 
Palumbo, along with&nbsp;Assemb. Fred Thiele, was&nbsp;instrumental in paving the&nbsp;way for November's referendum for Suffolk County voters to raise&nbsp;much-needed funding to protect&nbsp;water quality through increased wastewater&nbsp;treatment. 
He understands the need for the state to tackle the looming problem of insurance coverage for weather disasters, suggesting&nbsp;a pot of state money to be put aside when claims are denied by insurance companies.&nbsp; 
Palumbo increased his stature as a legislative leader last year when majority Senate&nbsp;Democrats shamelessly&nbsp;torpedoed Gov. Kathy Hochul's&nbsp;nomination of Suffolk's Hector LaSalle&nbsp;as the state's chief judge so they could install someone with a liberal political agenda. When the Democrats stacked the judiciary committee to block LaSalle's nomination from coming to the floor,&nbsp;Palumbo filed and won a lawsuit that embarrassed Senate leadership into holding a confirmation vote. 
Although LaSalle lost, Palumbo's actions exposed the tawdry strategy of Democratic lawmakers manipulating the judicial selection process to engineer changes in criminal law and procedure.&nbsp;Soon afterward, the state's newly realigned majority overturned the conviction of Harvey Weinstein, eliminating evidentiary rules that made it easier for prosecutors to obtain convictions, especially in rape cases. If elected, Palumbo said he will make it a priority to pass legislation that would restore the admissibility of such evidence. 
A former Suffolk County assistant district attorney, Palumbo also understands the need to make a few more fixes to&nbsp;criminal justice statutes to enable&nbsp;prosecutors to comply with pretrial evidence release and give judges more discretion&nbsp;in setting bail. He is the deputy floor leader for the GOP conference and ranking minority&nbsp;member of two of the&nbsp;most powerful committees, Codes and Judiciary. In four years, Palumbo has built relationships across the aisle to get the needs of his districts addressed. 
Democrat Sarah S. Anker, 60, served on the Suffolk County Legislature for 12 years&nbsp;before being term limited. Starting as a&nbsp;community activist in Mt. Sinai, where she lives, Anker has built a strong environmental record. For more than two decades, she has been advocating for increased water quality protections and demanding&nbsp;the state map hazardous coastal erosion zones to help&nbsp;local governments develop policy for&nbsp;areas not suitable for construction. To increase the housing supply, Anker wants the state to incentivize construction of planned young adult communities, much like over-55 developments.&nbsp; 
Unfortunately, Anker is unlikely to be a strong voice opposing some of the excesses of the Democratic majority that often ignores suburban&nbsp;needs. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Palumbo.&nbsp;

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Anthony Palumbo for New York State Senate 1st District

Palumbo for New York State Senate 1st District

Mario R. Mattera has spent his two terms in the State Senate making connections — with those in his own party, with those across the aisle, and with local, state and federal&nbsp;officials from whom he needs support. 
That talent has served the St. James Republican well, particularly when it comes to fulfilling his district's needs even as a member of the Senate minority. Mattera, 61, understands the intricacies of the 2nd District and can speak in detail about individual communities' needs and how he meets them. His construction background&nbsp;and deep support of&nbsp;unions&nbsp;are particularly valuable when it comes to housing and infrastructure. His support of the Melville Town Center proposal, which could add housing and a mix of uses along Maxess Road south of the Long Island Expressway, and his willingness to fight for the larger improved sewer pipe that may be needed are welcome. 
Mattera has&nbsp;worked tirelessly on securing an agreement between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Suffolk County and the state Department of Transportation regarding plans for a rail yard at the former Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson. And&nbsp;his experience and knowledge will likely help Huntington Town and the village of Asharoken address the broken-beyond-repair seawall that protects a critical roadway. 
Mattera&nbsp;disappoints when he exploits&nbsp;the complex issues of criminal justice law and&nbsp;state funding to help migrants in New York City. A&nbsp;more measured and nuanced view would help make progress toward resolving these concerns. Mattera has done that before in bucking&nbsp;his party. Early in his first term, for instance, he was the sole Republican to vote &quot;yes&quot; on stricter gun control measures, partly in response to two constituents — Linda Beigel Schulman and the late Michael Schulman, the mother and stepfather&nbsp;of teacher Scott Beigel, who was killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting.&nbsp; 
Democrat Craig G. Hershkowitz is an attorney who previously worked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice. He also&nbsp;served as assistant counsel to former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and as an administrative law judge in New York City. The Northport Democrat is particularly thoughtful when it comes to understanding the reasoning behind the need to stop over-incarceration. He welcomes state incentives for housing construction&nbsp;and supports congestion pricing&nbsp;in the hopes of adequately funding the MTA. 
Hershkowitz, 43, too often resorts to&nbsp;ideology instead of pragmatism in trying to bridge political divides&nbsp;and lacks a granular knowledge of&nbsp;the 2nd District, but his commitment to public service is impressive. 
This is our&nbsp;first endorsement of Mattera. But in the last four years, the labor leader has grown into the job.&nbsp;He should use his skill set to continue to navigate and negotiate the complex bureaucracy&nbsp;of Albany on behalf of his district, starting with infrastructure issues in public transit, housing and coastal resiliency. In particular, his plans to bring state DOT officials to Lawrence Aviation in the hope&nbsp;that showing them the property will convince them to resolve outstanding concerns are critical to the area's future. But a more measured voice on complex issues that would work toward&nbsp;resolving rather than inflaming them, along with a continued willingness to cross the aisle,&nbsp;would serve him well. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Mattera. 
CORRECTION: State Sen. Mario Mattera is a business agent with Plumbers Local Union #200. His status with the union was incorrectly described in an earlier version of this endorsement.

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Mario Mattera for New York State Senate 2nd District

Mattera for New York State Senate 2nd District

Every legislative body needs someone like Dean Murray. He's the one wagging his finger, the persistent scold, the person&nbsp;who reminds you about following process, the one who won't let go of an important issue&nbsp;until it's solved. 
It's a typical role for someone in the minority party, as Murray's Republicans are in Albany, but he also has been able to get things done by partnering with Democrats. 
In his first term, Murray, 60, a former assemblyman from East Patchogue, worked&nbsp;with Kevin Thomas (D-Levittown) to get passed Angelica's Law, which decreased from 10 to five the number of driver's license suspensions needed to charge someone with a felony for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The law was named for Angelica Nappi of Holbrook, who was 14 when she was killed by a driver who had more than five previous license suspensions. Murray also teamed with Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn) to successfully pass a measure to allow Suffolk County police, firefighters and EMS personnel to&nbsp;carry and administer lifesaving&nbsp;epi-pens to reverse cases of&nbsp;anaphylactic shock. 
Angelica's Law reflects Murray's interest in substance abuse issues, like drunken and drugged driving and the fentanyl and opioid epidemic. One bill he is sponsoring would put xylazine, also known as tranq and an increasing factor in drug overdose deaths, on the list of depressants designated as controlled substances. He also is concerned about what he says is a &quot;huge increase&quot; in drivers&nbsp;who have been using marijuana fleeing from&nbsp;accidents they were involved in. When pot was legalized, Murray says penalties for leaving the scene of a fatal accident should have been increased; he's written legislation to boost&nbsp;that from a Class E&nbsp;felony to a Class B&nbsp;felony with a minimum sentence of 10-to-15 years. 
Like many lawmakers, Murray hears from constituents concerned about affordability. And like many lawmakers, he says &quot;there's no easy fix.&quot; His grab-bag of suggestions includes municipalities and agencies hiring&nbsp;more people to reduce overtime and cut costs, switching to a hybrid sales/state income tax to fund schools, and giving&nbsp;the state comptroller more oversight to unearth&nbsp;waste in state contracts. 
Murray also would like to reform the state's judicial selection process so lawmakers vote on individual appointments, rather than a batch of nominees all at once. And he is urging his constituents to approve&nbsp;the Suffolk County water quality referendum on the ballot. 
Given the breadth of his interests and initiatives, perhaps it is no surprise that&nbsp;Murray would like to see a longer legislative session in Albany. It typically ends in June. &quot;I have no problem with a fall session,&quot; he said, &quot;the&nbsp;world doesn't stop turning.&quot; 
Murray's opponent, Democrat Michael L. Conroy, is not actively campaigning. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Murray.

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Dean Murray for New York State Senate 3rd District

Murray for New York State Senate 3rd District

Since her return to the State Senate two years ago, Monica R. Martinez has had to adapt — to a changing district, a changing Senate, and her own changing role. 
She describes&nbsp;the experience as &quot;very different&quot; since her first stint in Albany from 2018 to 2020 when Democrats took control of the chamber.&nbsp;Now, as the sole Suffolk County senator in the majority,&nbsp;Martinez, 47, has embraced the opportunity to take a stronger leadership role. She has collaborated&nbsp;with city Democrats and her Republican colleagues from Long Island&nbsp;to make sure Long Island's needs are met in Albany — work she describes as &quot;educational, inspirational, transformational.&quot; 
Martinez, of Brentwood, represents a majority-minority district and has sought to meet the&nbsp;needs and interests of the various communities&nbsp;she represents.&nbsp;That includes working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority&nbsp;to make&nbsp;safety improvements at the Brentwood Long Island Rail Road station and getting funding&nbsp;for&nbsp;a planned&nbsp;YMCA in Wyandanch,&nbsp;where she wants swim safety classes offered. 
She also adds an important nuanced voice on larger issues like&nbsp;housing, where she says&nbsp;we need a better definition of what's &quot;affordable&quot;&nbsp;on Long Island and a better formula for the income criteria used to determine that.&nbsp;She says any revamp of the education funding formula must include the needs of&nbsp;increasing populations of English language learners, and supports&nbsp;added safety and security measures,&nbsp;including more training for school safety officers and security guards.&nbsp;Martinez also played a critical role in getting the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act onto this year's&nbsp;ballot. 
Martinez has repeatedly demonstrated her independence — fighting&nbsp;city-sponsored initiatives that could harm the region,&nbsp;like rent control-style measures that could damage&nbsp;Long Island's efforts to add more housing;&nbsp;supporting&nbsp;judicial discretion in&nbsp;bail reform to create a system that is fair and that promotes public safety; and advocating that&nbsp;the state must address&nbsp;the needs&nbsp;of migrant families who've arrived by the busload in New York City. Admirably, she bucked her own party by supporting Hector LaSalle as chief judge of the state's Court of Appeals. 
Martinez'&nbsp;independent streak&nbsp;is much needed in a chamber where her party has a supermajority, and her effort&nbsp;to build&nbsp;relationships&nbsp;with her GOP colleagues is needed to advance Long Island causes. 
Republican Teresa J. Bryant, 61, of Central Islip, is not actively campaigning.&nbsp; 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Martinez.

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Monica Martinez for New York State Senate 4th District

Martinez for New York State Senate 4th District

Voters in the 5th Senate District have a choice between two well-qualified candidates&nbsp;who tilt different ways on party-line issues but are clearly committed to representing district needs in Albany. 
Incumbent Steven D. Rhoads&nbsp;is finishing his first term. Partly due to his earlier seasoning in the Nassau County Legislature, the Bellmore Republican has a working familiarity with his district and infrastructure issues. As a longtime volunteer firefighter and lawyer for first responders, he prioritizes&nbsp;public safety bills. He is still pushing&nbsp;to support and expand to other schools the&nbsp;Nassau Community College S.A.F.E.R. program that provides free tuition for volunteers on ambulances&nbsp;and in fire departments&nbsp;and auxiliary police. He backs another measure with a Democratic co-sponsor that extends for one year eligibility for a death benefit to survivors of public employees who died of COVID. He said not everyone entitled was aware of this substantial fund. 
Democrat Lisa Lin of Merrick is a sharp newcomer to campaigning for public office but comes from government service. She’s a supervising court attorney in Queens&nbsp;who offers perceptive analysis of judicial&nbsp;issues, including smart and specific ways to amend&nbsp;bail and discovery laws. Lin, 38, has young sons in the public schools and an acute interest in getting the right amount of state aid to Long Island school districts as the formula is revamped. She's also rightly focused on affordability.&nbsp;As a strong moderate voice in the Senate majority, Lin would bring fresh&nbsp;ideas and a needed suburban balance to that city-dominated&nbsp;caucus. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Lin.

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Lisa Lin for New York State Senate 5th District

When State Sen. Kevin Thomas decided not&nbsp;to run for reelection, in part due to the redrawing of the 6th District's lines, the departure of the only Nassau County member of the Democratic&nbsp;State Senate majority&nbsp;created an opportunity for new leadership in a district with critical needs. 
Vying for that key spot are Nassau County Legis. Siela A. Bynoe and Nassau County Deputy County Attorney Thomas Philip Montefinise. 
Bynoe, who has ably served in the minority of the county legislature for a decade, understands intimately the communities in the newly drawn Senate district, which overlaps her county legislative district. She highlights Nassau University Medical Center as her top priority, saying she'd support state intervention if the current management isn't &quot;compliant&quot; with the terms the state dictated in exchange for funding, and she would back additional legislation geared to helping the hospital. Bynoe thoughtfully suggests adding housing to the NUMC campus, moving the&nbsp;A. Holly Patterson nursing home to NUMC and replacing it with new research facilities and additional housing. 
Bynoe, who turns 57 this month, also carefully assesses the possibility of a casino resort at the Nassau Hub. The winner of this race&nbsp;will have a key appointment to the Community Advisory Committee tasked with deciding whether the Hub casino's application&nbsp;moves forward in the selection process. As a county lawmaker, the Westbury Democrat voted to assign the Hub lease to Las Vegas Sands last year but was hesitant&nbsp;about taking&nbsp;a definitive position on a casino there due to the county legislature's&nbsp;role in the state environmental review process. But Bynoe told the editorial board that if environmental concerns are fully mitigated, she would choose a committee member who'd be &quot;open&quot; to the importance of the tourism, economic development and&nbsp;jobs a casino resort could bring. 
&quot;I think this is our last chance to do something impactful,&quot; Bynoe said.&nbsp; 
Montefinise, 32, also held back on fully expressing his views on a Hub casino, citing his role as a deputy county attorney. He said he's not opposed to the idea but would listen to those who are and look at &quot;all interests,&quot; including job creation, safety, tax dollars, and the needs of surrounding communities,&nbsp;in determining whom to appoint to the&nbsp;committee. He was also careful about taking a position on NUMC, saying it was &quot;not my decision to make.&quot; 
The Oceanside Republican pointed to public safety, including bail reform and the need for improved discovery laws, as one of his top issues. He criticized&nbsp;fines for work-zone speeding and other similar monetary penalties&nbsp;while still saying he hoped to maintain safety,&nbsp;but he offered no specific plans. He opposes congestion pricing, saying there are other ways to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. And he talks of incentivizing housing production but was unable to provide details or suggestions&nbsp;as to where or how.&nbsp; 
Bynoe, a former school board trustee,&nbsp;laments the proliferation of charter schools in the district and wants to shore up public school funding, especially for less-wealthy districts. She also rightly notes that her experience in the county legislature&nbsp;minority could serve her well as a suburban Long Island Democrat who will have to &quot;cajole and convince colleagues&quot; in Albany,&nbsp;where city Democrats are dominant. 
This district needs a strong, capable voice&nbsp;who can express suburban needs in the Democratic majority. Bynoe has the experience, knowledge and confidence to be that voice. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Bynoe.&nbsp;

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Siela Bynoe for New York State Senate 6th District

Bynoe for New York State Senate 6th District

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The power of incumbency for an elected official is strong when it is based on experience — a deep understanding of how to extract results from the messy process of governing. That’s the calling card of Republican incumbent Jack M. Martins, the mayor of Mineola for eight years and a state senator for five years before leaving the seat in a losing bid for Congress in a 2016 race against Tom Suozzi. Martins defeated Anna Kaplan in 2022 to return to Albany. 
Kim Keiserman, 53, a former social studies teacher, is making her first run for office. An established community organizer and the Democratic political leader in Port Washington, where she lives, Keiserman says the district will better benefit from a representative in the chamber’s majority. 
The 7th District abuts New York City and many of its residents commute to it, which greatly elevates regional issues such as public transit funding, public safety, and aquifer protection. Keiserman said she would be a moderating force in the city-centric majority and pointed out that she declined the endorsement of the liberal Working Families Party. Martins, 57, of Old Westbury, says that without former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to blunt the progressive wing of his party, suburban needs and sensibilities have been ignored by Democrats. 
Both candidates are opposed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to toll driving into Midtown Manhattan but differ on how to cover the $1 billion gap from the loss of that revenue. Keiserman wants to fund it with further MTA bonding; Martins counters that the transit agency already spends $3 billion in debt service and instead supports a closer look at trimming spending, and he questions whether all projects in the capital plan are sustainable. They agree on the need to expand the train yard at the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington station so more service can be offered. 
Affordability is cited as the number one concern of residents, along with increased housing supply and better environmental stewardship, but the candidates different on how to reach those goals. Martins, whose tenure as Mineola mayor led to a sweeping transformation of its downtown with better access to the LIRR and more housing, says it is “absolutely” necessary to build more transit-oriented development and increase the tax base. He said the state can best accelerate this process by funding revitalization studies that could persuade communities of the benefits of targeted development. Keiserman said increasing housing was extremely important but could only suggest “stakeholder meetings” to” identify the obstacles.” 
On addressing water quality, Martins said more state money should be tapped to build sewers and to find ways to incentivize homeowners to install new septic systems in North Shore areas where sewers are impractical. 
Martins has a more specific list of ways to address flooding and rising water table concerns that include better maintenance of recharge basins which collect water overflow, more storm sewers, and the reexamination of building codes. Martins adds that he has met with local water officials to see whether inactive wells in Queens could be restarted to lower water tables in western Nassau. Martins also noted that, to assuage community concerns, he has been meeting with the firm installing new underground transmission cables to upgrade the region’s electrical grid capacity and building new substations to minimize disruptions. 
Keiserman has a record of advocating for better water quality protection and would seek more money from Albany to remove nitrogen and other contaminants, while sponsoring a public information campaign about overwatering and overfertilization of lawns. 
When it comes to the planned overhaul of how the state funds education, neither candidate wants funding decreased if enrollment declines but Martins has a specific list of ways to overhaul the process. He wants to recalibrate the portion funded by property taxes, arguing that the current formula based on home values overestimates what people can pay. 
The thrust of Keiserman’s candidacy is that in the Democratic majority she would be suburban “loud and proud” in fighting the city-centric majority. Martins counters that making progress on issues important to the district is not party-based but rather incremental and based on building relationships and mastering the details of legislating. He’s the better bet. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Martins.

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Jack Martins for New York State Senate 7th District

Martins for New York State Senate 7th District

For the second consecutive election cycle, voters in the 8th District face an unfortunate choice. They must decide between a deeply problematic candidate and one who is not actively campaigning. 
The former is incumbent Alexis Weik, a 52-year-old Republican from Sayville. The latter is Democrat Francis R. Dolan, whose name is on the ballot but who is not really running. 
Weik did some modest work on the environment in her second term, helping villages learn what funding was available via the state environmental bond act, and she is working to restore wetlands, which are critical natural storm barriers. 
But her environmental advocacy is overshadowed by her divisive stances on critical issues. 
When it comes to public health, elected officials bear great responsibility. Weik’s views on vaccinations are very troubling. She rejects what she calls “mandatory medicine,” opposing any state legal requirements that children be vaccinated to attend school — though such requirements have kept schoolchildren safe for decades. She has authored a dangerous bill which would remove any enforcement power from schools and instead allow parents and doctors to make their own decisions about whether to vaccinate kids. Her statements now and in the past have spread harmful misinformation and misrepresented overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and other immunizations. Weik’s dismissal of vaccines poses a risk to the community. 
Weik’s response to the state Department of Education’s requirement that public schools phase out their use of Native American mascots was similarly disappointing. Weik noted she had planned to spotlight her environmental priorities this term, but switched to the mascot ban because her goal is to “follow my district,” an unfortunate lack of leadership. She said she tried to bring together local Native Americans and school superintendents to restart a conversation about eliminating mascots tied to the Native American community. She expressed her disappointment in the outcome of the meeting, but it is apparent that instead of creating a safe space for meaningful dialogue, the meeting she organized failed to acknowledge long-standing concerns of the Native American community about the hurt they felt from the use of such mascots. 
Asked what legislation she’d like to work on in a third term, Weik instead criticized “harmful” legislation of the past and suggested the State Senate majority is “following this pro-criminal kind of agenda.” Weik said she wants “better policies” — but was not more specific. 
Given the district’s Republican lean and, unfortunately, no active Democratic opposition, Weik’s stances likely will not stop her from returning to Albany. 
Voters deserve a real choice in this race. Newsday’s editorial board makes no endorsement.

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No endorsement in the New York State Senate 8th District

Newsday editorial board makes no endorsement in the New York State Senate 8th District

The 9th Senate District stretches along the Nassau-Queens border from Floral Park to Long Beach, covering communities from the Five Towns to Valley Stream to Oceanside. It's a diverse district with myriad&nbsp;needs that requires a representative&nbsp;who understands the peculiar ways of Albany. 
In her first term, Patricia M. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick has shown she can&nbsp;do just that. 
The Malverne Republican's most significant challenge was navigating&nbsp;Equinor's proposal to build a wind farm off the coast of Long Beach — which the community opposed.&nbsp;She was right to criticize the company's lack of communication and community involvement and to battle back when outside senators attempted to circumvent her.&nbsp;Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick said that while Equinor's effort was not the answer, she's not opposed to offshore wind&nbsp;as long as the proposal reflects local&nbsp;input. 
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick seeks similar community input on&nbsp;plans for&nbsp;a casino at the Nassau Hub, since some neighborhoods in the 9th District could be affected.&nbsp;But Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick&nbsp;notes that despite some community opposition, she recognizes the casino's potential job creation opportunities and broader economic impact&nbsp;and would support the effort. 
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, who turns 59 this month, also understands the need for housing, citing the potential for redevelopment efforts in Inwood, for example. She&nbsp;supports universal school meals and has proposed using state funds to put a mental health professional in every school. 
James Lynch is a psychiatrist who emphasizes that the state is &quot;well-off&quot; and suggests additional Albany funding as the magic wand for nearly every&nbsp;district&nbsp;and Island-wide need. Albany, he said, should fund magnet and specialty schools across Long Island,&nbsp;renewable energy priorities,&nbsp;housing incentives, and more. But the Stewart Manor Democrat, a former village trustee, lacks specifics and an understanding of the state budget's complexities and constraints. 
Lynch, 59, said he rides the Long Island Rail Road&nbsp;and personally favors congestion pricing, but would oppose it in Albany to accede to his constituents' wishes. &quot;I'm assuming that's my job,&quot; he said. He also strongly opposes a casino at the Nassau Hub, saying it &quot;serves no economic value to the people of Nassau County&quot; and that public land should be limited to &quot;public benefit&quot; purposes. 
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick has proved herself to be a strong, able&nbsp;voice. That voice will be important on coastal resiliency&nbsp;and other&nbsp;issues critical to her communities;&nbsp;prioritizing that will be key. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick.

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Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick for New York State Senate 9th District

Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick for New York State Senate 9th District

The New York State Assembly has had such a lopsided Democratic majority for so long that there is&nbsp;no suspense over which party wins the majority,&nbsp;just over which&nbsp;coalition&nbsp;will dominate&nbsp;the agenda. 
In 2022, the split between the major parties in Albany’s lower chamber was 107 to 43. Republicans as part of the red wave of discontent that November picked up five seats, making the partisan totals 102 to 48. But this still left Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) in command of a veto-proof two-thirds majority. 
There are&nbsp;policy tensions among&nbsp;leftists, progressives and moderates and, relevantly for Long Island, between urban and suburban districts. Nassau and Suffolk counties remain an important base for the Republican caucus headed by Will Barclay from the upstate village of Pulaski. That requires local legislators&nbsp;to be nimble in making alliances with Democrats who are the only route to getting their bills to the floor for a vote. 
On Long Island now, 14 of 22 Assembly seats belong to Republicans. Democrats in a blue state like New York are always confident that a presidential election brings majority turnout and lifts their chances in races down-ballot. Deputy Majority Leader Michaelle Solages, an Elmont Democrat, notes several regional seats the party is looking to flip or retain to boost suburban muscle. 
Voters who cast ballots for the top elected positions but don’t proceed further to other races forfeit a chance for local impact. As before, key issues include important changes to how Albany funds schools, incentives to increase the&nbsp;housing supply, criminal justice policies, and how to fund and maintain our mass transit system. 
For the&nbsp;legislative session beginning in January, climate change and its consequences should get&nbsp;intensive discussion and debate, especially on the topic of renewable energy. To slash pernicious carbon emissions, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates that the state derive 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Yet, school districts say meeting the goal&nbsp;of a fully electric fleet of&nbsp;buses by 2035 is impossible&nbsp;under current rules and conditions. 
Gov. Kathy Hochul has already acknowledged the challenging question of just what green-energy changes are affordable to the state and its taxpayers, which could depend to some degree on how quickly they must be made. The Public Service Commission says the 70% goal can’t happen until at least 2033. The Business Council of New York State would like the whole plan redone. 
The ramping up of electric bus manufacture, the approval of wind generators, lithium battery safety, solar and nuclear power, and nitrogen technology will have their own places in sorting out the plans. There are many moving parts to this sprawling work in progress, and the time to act is short. 
Of course, how to deal with these climate goals and timelines will depend not only on input from the Assembly but also from the Democratic-dominated State Senate and Hochul’s office. It’s one area where nonpartisan practicalities must take precedence, and your say can come through these smallest units of elected state government.

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New York State Assembly election endorsements overview

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The 1st Assembly District is unique in its geography and demography, with its extensive coastline jutting into the ocean, its bucolic farmland and vineyards, and its immense wealth juxtaposed with pockets of residents who are struggling.&nbsp;It faces&nbsp;major issues, from the outflow of middle-class residents who can no longer afford to live where they grew up&nbsp;to&nbsp;the ravages of erosion from a changing climate, problems that require a breadth of experience and depth of thinking. 
For 30 years, that's what Fred W. Thiele Jr. brought to the seat and he was one of Long Island's most effective legislators.&nbsp;With Thiele retiring, 1st District voters must choose&nbsp;between two candidates who also are deeply rooted in the district. 
Democrat Tommy John&nbsp;Schiavoni, 61, of Sag Harbor, is a lifelong district resident and a Southampton Town councilman. He has served on a variety of municipal boards,&nbsp;taught social studies and government in the Center Moriches school district for 30 years, and received a hands-on education in his family's plumbing and heating business. 
Republican Stephen F. Kiely, 49, of Mattituck, is the&nbsp;town attorney for Shelter Island and can match Schiavoni in his municipal experience. 
Both candidates acknowledge the region has a housing crisis but Kiely sees no role for the state in solving it.&nbsp;He opposed the controversial Liberty Gardens proposal in Tuckahoe&nbsp;that would have added 50 units of workforce and veterans housing, 
Schiavoni voted for the proposal not only for its&nbsp;desperately needed affordable housing but also because he sees the refusal to make smart housing choices&nbsp;as linked to its school enrollment crisis.&nbsp;Schiavoni says 24 of 27 public school districts in the area he would represent are losing enrollment, a trend that could be reversed by attracting more families. That can only happen, he says, if they can find housing that is affordable. It's a good example of his ability to think big and see how problems are interconnected. 
Both candidates understand the threat of coastal erosion but when asked about the Army Corps of Engineers' plan to protect the coastline, Kiely said he is not an environmentalist and would&nbsp;&quot;have to defer.&quot; As town councilman, Schiavoni helped negotiate easements for the project&nbsp;and says the state can help local governments with shoreline protection&nbsp;but that&nbsp;sand replenishment&nbsp;won't be enough;&nbsp;retreat, especially in Montauk, must be on the table. 
Kiely's extensive background as a land-use attorney is well-suited for local office but too narrow to deal with the range of challenges he would face&nbsp;in Albany. 
Both understand well the 1st District's issues but Schiavoni has a wider-ranging skill set and the enthusiasm,&nbsp;inquisitiveness and imagination needed to solve them. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Schiavoni.

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Tommy John Schiavoni for New York State Assembly 1st District

Schiavoni for New York State Assembly 1st District

Seeking her third term, Jodi A. Giglio, 56, continues attentive and effective advocacy for a district centered around Riverhead that is facing all the challenges of a burgeoning area, including how to keep its distinctive feel of Long Island past while transitioning to the future. 
Giglio has met those challenges, getting $20,000 to keep the historic but tiny Baiting Hollow library and others like it in good repair while directing more aid to the bustling library in Riverhead. She is monitoring the needs of the Riverhead school district where student capacity has maxed out but residents turned down bonding for expansion. Giglio, a Republican from Baiting Hollow who served on the Riverhead town council for a decade, said the current study of how schools are being funded should look at paying for busing students to nearby districts that are losing population. 
Giglio is passionate about her work to help people with disabilities. She has strived to bring more attention to independent group home living and the need to raise salaries to draw more health care workers to these facilities. A major success last year was a new law giving those with intellectual and developmental disabilities a limited real property tax exemption. “It passed unanimously and it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t work with the minority leader and the majority to get it on the floor,” she said. 
Giglio supports prevailing wage and site safety protection for workers so they are not exploited by shady contractors. Recent flooding and erosion in Rocky Point was a wake-up call, she said, for the state to map recharge basins and sumps so maintenance schedules can be set for these sites to better hold runoff rain water in extreme weather events. Such maps are critical to flood prevention efforts and she should focus on getting such a plan approved next session. 
Giglio joined a group of 30 state lawmakers who traveled to Denmark to look at wind turbine development with Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute to better understand how to transition to a clean energy economy, which she says is key to Long Island’s sustainability. 
Democrat Tricia L. Chiaramonte, 53, of Manorville, is not actively campaigning. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Giglio.

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Jodi Giglio for New York State Assembly 2nd District

Giglio for New York State Assembly 2nd District

Joseph P. DeStefano, 64,&nbsp;is running for a fourth term in the 3rd&nbsp;Assembly District. If he is returned to Albany, the Medford Republican says he hopes to work on legislation that requires voters to show&nbsp;photo identification when casting ballots, and on measures that categorize certain crimes against state and local law enforcement officers as hate crimes. 
DeStefano, a Medford Fire District commissioner and volunteer firefighter, has been a prominent voice for emergency responders in Albany.&nbsp;One bill he sponsored that was passed and signed into law recognized 911 dispatchers as first responders, expanding their benefits. &quot;Public safety is my wheelhouse,&quot; he told Newsday’s editorial board. 
Earlier&nbsp;this year, he voted for tweaks to the state retirement system for public employees, increasing their benefits. That could mean increased costs for municipalities and increased taxes, but DeStefano said it was needed to&nbsp;incentivize&nbsp;more people to join the public workforce. 
DeStefano also plans to continue trying to get passed bills that raise the age limit at which judges must retire, increase&nbsp;driver safety by increasing training course requirements,&nbsp;and give judges more discretion to set&nbsp;bail.&nbsp;He supports renewable sources of energy, and helped pass bills required for the Town of Brookhaven and Suffolk County to move forward on the Sunrise offshore wind project. 
DeStefano supports ways to extend or modify&nbsp;the state's climate goals&nbsp;to make them more attainable.&nbsp;On school funding, DeStefano said that dropping school enrollment should not be tied to funding, citing inflation costs. 
DeStefano's district has been redrawn and no longer includes Gordon Heights and Patchogue, but no matter its lines, he is well-informed and knowledgeable about the needs of his new&nbsp;constituents. He is cognizant of the urgency surrounding the issue&nbsp;of coastal flooding, especially in areas of Mastic Beach, and spearheads meetings with local officials and the Army Corps of Engineers on ways to mitigate flooding in the region. 
DeStefano is being challenged by Trina R. Miles, a&nbsp;Democrat from Mastic Beach, who is not actively campaigning. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses DeStefano. 
CORRECTION: Joseph P. DeStefano is&nbsp;an active Medford Fire District commissioner and volunteer firefighter. His status was incorrectly described in an earlier version of this endorsement.

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Joseph P. DeStefano for New York State Assembly 3rd District

DeStefano for New York State Assembly 3rd District

Two years ago, the red wave that swept Long Island claimed the seat of Democratic Assemb. Steven Englebright, who had served since 1992. 
Port Jefferson Republican Edward A. Flood, previously an assistant town attorney for Brook-haven Town, beat Englebright by less than 700 votes. 
But Flood has had few accomplishments in two years even for a minority member, pointing to grants he got for the Gordon Heights Fire Department and the VFW in the district and a Flax Pond cleanup with Democratic Assemb. Steve Stern. Flood falls back on tired generalities, saying residents’ quality of life has deteriorated and blaming bail reform. Last month, Flood was disbarred as an attorney due to “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” per the Second Appellate Division. Flood, 42, blamed the decision on missing paperwork. 
This year, 4th District voters have a promising alternative in Democrat Rebecca A. Kassay. A trustee and deputy mayor for Port Jefferson Village, Kassay, 35, owns a bed-and-breakfast in the village, giving her insight into hurdles faced by small business owners. 
Importantly, in her village role, she has spotlighted environmental concerns, with a particular and appropriate focus on flooding and flood mitigation. Kassay recognizes that constant sand replenishment to fight erosion and protect roads, homes and infrastructure is not sustainable. With Brookhaven’s landfill closing, Kassay said she’d prioritize reducing waste, including moving forward on efforts to make producers of packaging responsible for its reuse or recycling. 
Kassay understands tweaks should be made to criminal justice reforms, while noting that crime is declining. She speaks with authority about sewer and infrastructure needs and hopes to repurpose blighted commercial areas into “walkable, vibrant communities.” 
Kassay promises that serving as a lawmaker would not just be a full-time job, it would be her “lifestyle.” The district would benefit from that kind of attentive representation. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Kassay.

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Rebecca Kassay for New York State Assembly 4th District

Kassay for New York State Assembly 4th District

Although he’s in the Republican minority, Douglas M. Smith&nbsp;of Holbrook has established the kind of influential role that would make&nbsp;a useful niche for any Long Islander in the Legislature. 
As the ranking GOP member on the chamber’s education committee, Smith’s job is to wade into the granular intricacies of the state’s funding formula for school districts statewide. With longtime budget expert Robert Megna&nbsp;heading the Rockefeller Institute of Government effort to update the Foundation Aid formula for schools, 2025 could be a big year for reform in that area. Smith already has met with Megna to discuss crucial details. Understanding the process is key to advocating for the Island's needs. 
Last year Smith, 34, helped push back against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s starting budget position of linking declining enrollment to cuts in annual state assistance. 
Going forward, Smith sees as important factors to be considered in the&nbsp;new formula: a widely perceived need to upgrade physical security in all districts,&nbsp;a long-overdue update of demographic data in measuring fund&nbsp;distribution, and funding for students with disabilities. 
Now completing his third full term, Smith has a Democratic challenger&nbsp;this year, 57-year-old Michael A. Reynolds of Lake Ronkonkoma, whose&nbsp;experience includes Teamsters union membership and involvement, managing trucking and distribution operations, and teaching in public schools as well as private consulting. Reynolds says that in school funding, there is a need to control expenses and cap top salaries. This is his first run for public office. 
Both candidates see environmental issues and water quality as key, especially in the struggle to clean up Lake Ronkonkoma so it is suitable for swimming. On transit funding, Smith stresses as do many others a need to crack down on fare evasion; Reynolds calls for a fare hike for New York City Transit and better management accountability. Smith shows he’s given some thought to the ups and downs of removing trash by rail&nbsp;and the need for jurisdictions to come together on a new solid waste plan. 
The incumbent shows a continuing willingness to work with the Democratic majority in Albany and community leaders to get&nbsp;results. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Smith.

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Douglas M. Smith for New York State Assembly 5th District

Smith for New York State Assembly 5th District

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After 22 years in the Assembly, Philip R. Ramos finds himself the dean of the Long Island delegation with a title — deputy speaker&nbsp;— that&nbsp;reflects that longevity&nbsp;and his steady ascent in the chamber. Being in leadership, he says, has made a difference, especially in&nbsp;negotiating the state budget. 
&quot;There's no way we have 150 assemblymen at the table,&quot; Ramos said. &quot;Being in leadership puts me at the table, allows me to make sure that my district's needs&nbsp;are taken care of.&quot; 
The Brentwood Democrat has indeed been bringing home the bacon, working with the Republican administration in the Town of Islip to identify targets for aid. &quot;I&nbsp;would say 80% of what I do and the town does has nothing to do with ideology,&quot; Ramos said. &quot;Is there a Republican way to fix up a park or, you know, a Democratic way&nbsp;to repair Washington Avenue? There isn't, right? It's just a matter of rolling up&nbsp;your sleeves&nbsp;and agreeing to work together and getting it done.&quot; 
Ramos, 68, delivered&nbsp;$2 million&nbsp;for a spray park in Roberto Clemente Park and $700,000 for a skate park there after a long cleanup of waste that had&nbsp;been illegally dumped there, a cleanup Ramos also helped fund. He got about $400,000 to repair Washington Avenue and $620,000 to build a playground and reduce vagrancy at troubled Ross Park in Brentwood. 
The outlays are part of his relentless focus on constituents, the prism through which he views most issues. On Gov. Kathy Hochul's ill-fated housing plan, Ramos applauded her attempt to override local zoning codes that stymie&nbsp;affordable housing. &quot;Housing codes have been&nbsp;used to exclude&nbsp;people of color,&quot; Ramos&nbsp;said. &quot;We see that all over Long Island. It is not by chance that we have such segregated&nbsp;communities. And if we rely on local governments to be more liberal in allowing&nbsp;rental properties and more housing that's affordable, it's not going to happen. Because in their minds, that attracts poorer people and attracts people that they&nbsp;don't want in their communities.&quot; 
He especially wants to see the return of the governor's proposal for accessory dwelling units, which he says would allow district residents&nbsp;reeling under the weight of high mortgages and taxes to stay in their homes. 
Ramos opposes Hochul's plan to reexamine the foundation&nbsp;aid formula for school funding; he says the current formula is an &quot;equalizer&quot; between well-funded school districts and those with less money.&nbsp;&quot;It makes all the sense in&nbsp;the world, it makes sense for our country, for our community,&quot; Ramos said. &quot;Anytime we educate the&nbsp;population, we are helping the economy, we're helping families, we're resolving&nbsp;problems. But there seems to be a hesitancy when it comes to doing something that&nbsp;benefits communities of color.&quot; 
Ramos' plans for another term center on infrastructure improvements in his communities, especially downtown areas.&nbsp;That raises property values and, he said, the fortunes of his constituents. &quot;Their home is&nbsp;the nucleus of their future,&quot; Ramos said. &quot;Their home is the equity they need to get their&nbsp;children's education. Their home is the money they need if they want to start a&nbsp;little business.&quot; 
His opponent, Republican Daniel Mitola, is not actively campaigning. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Ramos.

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Philip R. Ramos for New York State Assembly 6th District

Ramos for New York State Assembly 6th District

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Encompassing much of Suffolk County's South Shore and Fire Island, the 7th Assembly District is a&nbsp;poster child for threats to the region's coastal resiliency, erosion, rising sea levels and flooding issues. Jarett C. Gandolfo is attuned to those concerns, recognizing the need for funding for buyouts and for infrastructure improvements that can better prepare the Island for future storms. 
The Sayville Republican, who is completing his second term in Albany, considers sewers and wastewater infrastructure a high priority, especially when it comes to efforts to build additional housing. He's open to considering newly revised plans&nbsp;to redevelop the Island Hills golf course in Sayville, saying they are a &quot;massive improvement&quot; over previous attempts. 
Gandolfo trumpets issues that hit close to home for him — including the continued expansion of universal pre-K and confronting the extraordinary expense of child care. Last year, Gandolfo, 34, introduced a &quot;blueprint for child care&quot; that would allow for a regionalized cost factor in the state's employer-sponsored child care plans, so&nbsp;Long Islanders' ability to participate wouldn't be constrained by the region's higher income compared with upstate. Disappointingly, Gandolfo didn't seek a partner from across the aisle to help move the valuable proposal forward. 
Garrett J. Petersen, a technology specialist at the Developmental Disabilities Institute, is passionate about special education funding, accessibility improvements on the Long Island Rail Road, and reform&nbsp;legislation to eliminate some health care costs and ease the process of seeing specialists and getting medical care. 
There's little daylight between Petersen, an East Islip Democrat, and the incumbent on issues like education, environmental protections and&nbsp;public transit funding, although Petersen, 42, does rightly push back on what he calls &quot;irrational fear&quot; regarding crimes committed by migrants.&nbsp;While not ready for Albany, Petersen's political instincts and skills are solid. 
Gandolfo is a capable,&nbsp;moderate young voice in the GOP conference. In a new term, he should&nbsp;develop stronger relationships with Long Island Democrats who could assist him in getting important legislation passed.&nbsp; 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Gandolfo.&nbsp;

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Jarett Gandolfo for New York State Assembly 7th District

Gandolfo for New York State Assembly 7th District

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Michael J. Fitzpatrick continues to champion fiscal discipline and causes&nbsp;in which he's long believed, including pension and collective bargaining reform. That voice of reason stood out even more as his colleagues in both parties juiced&nbsp;Tier 6 pension benefits that increased employer contributions, putting more pressure on taxpayers. 
Fitzpatrick&nbsp;argues that &quot;Tier 6 is not broken.&quot; There is little doubt he will continue to be a strong voice against further efforts to increase or expand pension benefits.&nbsp;His fellow Assembly members would be wise to listen. 
The St. James Republican also has a thoughtful take on Metropolitan Transportation Authority&nbsp;funding. He suggests&nbsp;that a lower congestion pricing fee, or one focused on trucks during peak hours, could be a better way to start. And Fitzpatrick, 67, rightly says that changes to MTA work rules must be part of rethinking the authority's broader budgeting issues. 
Fitzpatrick reflects, in detail, on the needs of his district's communities, and has secured funding to address them, despite being in the minority conference. He's ready to continue that effort, particularly when it comes to helping his district secure sewer infrastructure funds so additional housing and other development can emerge. And he continues to press for changing the name of&nbsp;the State University of New York to the University of New York to improve its standing nationally. 
St. James Democrat Steven J. Basileo focuses&nbsp;his argument on the notion that as a member of the Assembly's majority, he could have more success than Fitzpatrick. He advocates repurposing strip malls into multifamily housing using state incentives. He would support a state mandate for accessory dwelling units, but only in municipalities that meet certain criteria. Basileo, 24, has a public policy background and understands the data and research behind many of the Island's concerns, but lacks the practical ideas and approach for how to address them. Basileo is right, however, to note the importance of providing voters with a choice — and his presence as a newcomer in the race&nbsp;is welcome.&nbsp; 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Fitzpatrick.

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Michael J. Fitzpatrick for New York State Assembly 8th District

Fitzpatrick for New York State Assembly 8th District

Republican&nbsp;Michael A. Durso, who is closing out his second term, has found a path to success — and it starts with a willingness to build relationships with those in the Democratic majority. 
Durso points to his recent discovery that state tax credits available to anyone who lives in certain senior housing developments in the district and beyond were about to expire. If the tax abatement&nbsp;established 25 years ago expired, residents in those complexes&nbsp;would see their taxes explode, Durso said.&nbsp;So he turned to Assemb. Steve Stern, a Democrat, to carry his bill to renew the credits. The move worked, and Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed the bill. 
It's a story that exemplifies Durso's strengths. But Durso, 44,&nbsp;of Massapequa Park,&nbsp;hasn't had the same luck with one of his other signature issues: an effort to increase the state's reimbursable aid for BOCES teachers, so they can be paid more. Durso advocates for expanding technical programs and providing&nbsp;more students across Long Island with career and technical education opportunities. Durso has pushed for the increased funding every year&nbsp;to no avail. It's unclear why his pleas have fallen short, he said, but he pledged he wouldn't stop pursuing the matter.&nbsp; 
Durso is similarly passionate about the need for universal school meals — a subject that has broad bipartisan&nbsp;support&nbsp;but still hasn't made it through the full legislature. There, too, Durso said he hopes to find members of the majority who can help him push it forward.&nbsp; 
Durso represents coastal communities and thoughtfully recognizes the need for a more&nbsp;in-depth conversation about next steps when it comes to rising seas and increased flooding risks. He's open to the idea of a coastal commission that could address some of Long Island's needs on a regionwide basis. 
As Durso continues to navigate&nbsp;the difficulties of belonging to the suburban minority in a Democratic and&nbsp;often city-centric Assembly, he should find more ways to build coalitions to advance the region's goals. 
Democrat Steven J. Dellavecchia is not actively campaigning.&nbsp; 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Durso.

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Michael A. Durso for New York State Assembly 9th District

Durso for New York State Assembly 9th District

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Steve Stern says improved infrastructure is key to moving communities forward and he has the receipts. 
The millions in state grants he has obtained have led to road improvements in downtown Cold Spring Harbor, and the $22 million announced in 2022 for sewers in Huntington Station is starting to show results. A long-established community outpatient facility, now branded Northwell Health Center, has moved to New York Avenue with a $1 million grant Stern obtained, making it directly accessible to the residents it serves. 
A Dix Hills Democrat who turns 56 on Oct. 30 and first won this seat in a 2018 special election, Stern values a bipartisan approach to governing and works with GOP colleagues to sponsor bills affecting their districts in a chamber where his party controls the majority. 
Importantly, Stern is working with the governor’s office to streamline the cumbersome application process by which local communities can get access to state money to build more housing. He supports building transit-oriented development on state property but has proposed a bill that would transfer title of those parcels to local governments to determine what type of housing works best. He must ensure there is a guarantee that housing is actually constructed. 
If the Melville Town Center plan moves forward to turn the Huntington Quadrangle hub of office space into housing and retail, Stern said he will work to obtain funding to expand sewers along Route 110. Yet he is not taking a position on the Quadrangle project until he sees specific plans. 
Stern says the upcoming overhaul of the school funding formula is needed, and argues that the cost of English language learners, students with disabilities, and mental health needs should be data points in an “objective” school aid formula that looks beyond enrollment numbers, a wise approach. 
Dix Hills Republican Aamir Sultan, 57, who is making his second run for this seat, is a machine learning and artificial intelligence specialist. He supports building workforce housing and more job training, and wants to end the state’s support for migrants bused from the southern border. Sultan says tougher laws are needed to keep criminal suspects in jail. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Stern.

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Steve Stern for New York State Assembly 10th District

Stern for New York State Assembly 10th District

When Assemb. Kimberly Jean-Pierre announced last spring that she would&nbsp;not seek reelection after a decade representing the 11th District, constituents hoped&nbsp;for a successor who would continue the&nbsp;work she began. 
Two strong candidates are now looking to fill her role — Democrat Kwani B. O'Pharrow,&nbsp;of West Babylon, and Republican Joseph R. Cardinale, of Amityville. 
Both O'Pharrow and Cardinale are retired New York City police officers. Both support a statewide universal free school lunch program, incentives to build more affordable housing, and funds for improved infrastructure. And both are thoughtful, capable public servants. 
Cardinale, 70, advocates for further changes to the state's bail laws, arguing that crime continues to be a significant problem. He opposes congestion pricing, saying funding should come from sources that don't adversely impact Long Islanders, and says the red light camera program&nbsp;should be replaced by police patrols. He points to the billions of dollars spent to help migrants in New York City as a pot of money that could be used for education aid,&nbsp;improved infrastructure, and additional district services&nbsp;— while seeking federal funds to address&nbsp;the migrant crisis.&nbsp; 
O'Pharrow, who works in&nbsp;the Brentwood school district,&nbsp;has a more nuanced understanding of the complex issues he thinks should be part of any reworking of the education funding formula, including mental health, emotional health and&nbsp;&quot;wraparound services&quot; for students in need. He suggests&nbsp;speaking with individual communities' leaders to determine&nbsp;whether red light cameras are needed,&nbsp;and would support the program's renewal&nbsp;if they are. O'Pharrow, 53, advocates providing state resources to support migrants in New York City and on Long Island, noting that&nbsp;children who've come to communities like Brentwood require schooling, afterschool care and other services and should not be denied. And the U.S. Navy veteran speaks passionately about his commitment to seniors and to veterans. 
O'Pharrow also deems the region's mass transit system a priority, saying&nbsp;he would&nbsp;back a congestion pricing plan if it meant&nbsp;upgrading the Long Island Rail Road and mass transit more broadly. &quot;I'm looking at long-term goals here for New York City and the Island as a whole,&quot; O'Pharrow said.&nbsp; 
O'Pharrow has a better&nbsp;understanding of his district's neighborhoods,&nbsp;a willingness to listen to residents' perspectives, and a readiness to lead. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses O'Pharrow.

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Kwani B. O'Pharrow for New York State Assembly 11th District

O'Pharrow for New York State Assembly 11th District

His party does&nbsp;not control the Assembly, but Keith P. Brown&nbsp;has found a way to be successful in his four years in the chamber by&nbsp;heeding&nbsp;advice given to him by his predecessor, fellow Republican Andrew Raia:&nbsp;&quot;You can get things done in the minority, you just can't be proud.&quot; 
Brown's strategy&nbsp;is to achieve his goals by getting Democrats to sponsor his legislation and by working beyond the traditional role of an Assembly member&nbsp;to help his community.&nbsp;He's built&nbsp;a strong record doing just that. 
As the ranking member on the Assembly's Standing Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Brown has continued his work on addiction and substance abuse with a particular interest in co-occurring disorders — for example, a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder that often are treated separately instead of as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. Brown says that's a mistake. He&nbsp;put together a coalition of experts, community members and lawmakers, held meetings, and produced 14 bills, including a co-occurring disorder patient bill of rights, that he wants to continue shepherding&nbsp;through the State Legislature. 
Brown, 56, an attorney from Northport, also is working to help communities along the 60 miles of Long Island Sound coastline in his district prepare better for coastal erosion and the effects of storms like the one in August that drenched the North Shore in Suffolk, causing considerable damage. One way has been to help match local municipalities with grant opportunities, which resulted in pending applications for more than $2 million in funding. He also secured $350,000 in grants for the Halesite Harbor Walk.&nbsp; 
Another environmental passion has been the Suffolk County water quality referendum that is on the November ballot. Brown said he is encouraging his constituents to vote for it. 
He is an ardent opponent of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority&nbsp;congestion pricing plan now put on hold by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a proposal he says is &quot;just another tax.&quot; Brown says MTA officials &quot;have to fix their own store&quot; by cutting costs and streamlining operations and supports a control board for the agency. He also says the agency should work harder to boost ridership to increase revenues. 
Brown says affordability is the main concern he hears from voters in his district, but he defends his vote for Tier 6 pension sweeteners for public employees that likely will result in higher taxes by saying the improvements are needed to attract people to public service. He said the effects of the changes should be tracked and that the data&nbsp;be examined to see whether the reform functions as the&nbsp;incentive he expects it to be. Brown says&nbsp;the extra cost could be offset by reducing waste and fraud in the state budget, specifically&nbsp;in Medicare funding. 
Brown noted in particular a shortage of planners and commercial plan examiners in local government and said is working with Touro University&nbsp;and Stony Brook University on shortening a joint planning degree program from seven years to six. 
His Democratic opponent, Thomas J. Cox, is not actively campaigning. 
Brown is diligent and effective and deserves another term. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Brown.

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Keith P. Brown for New York State Assembly 12th District

Brown for New York State Assembly 12th District

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After 20 years in the Assembly’s Democratic majority, Charles D. Lavine of Glen Cove is a seasoned&nbsp;fixture in Albany. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he's a major player on key bills. 
One high-profile example: The state Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction in a 4-3 decision — and declared that the trial court wrongly admitted evidence of prior sexual acts as alleged in other cases. Reacting to the ruling, lawmakers who support aggressive prosecutions of serial&nbsp;sex offenders&nbsp;looked to change the evidence standard for future cases.&nbsp;Lavine says that because the ruling and reaction came in April there wasn’t enough time or &quot;bandwidth&quot; in the 2024 session to act on a reform bill. Lavine, 77, vows to try again in the next session, if reelected. &quot;I hope we’ll be able to get enough of a consensus,&quot; he said of the need to balance the view of many caucus&nbsp;members who do not want to give prosecutors more tools.&nbsp; 
Lavine also follows closely&nbsp;the reaction to criminal law reforms of the past few years. When it comes to today’s toughened rules for discovery and disclosure — which, if violated, can kill a prosecutor’s case — Lavine sees a need to ensure that judges fully understand the amount of discretion they have to &quot;transfer data and evidence to defense counsel.&quot; 
Lavine faces a rematch against his 2022 Republican opponent, Ruka Anzai, 47, of Jericho. She’s a longtime information technology professional. Her stated views on public issues align with the GOP conference, particularly on crime, taxes and migrants. For example, she is sticking with a sweeping demand to fully repeal bail reform.&nbsp;Anzai came to the U.S. from Japan in 2006 and resided here legally before becoming a citizen in 2020, as she noted in our interview. 
Anzai says she believes public schools should &quot;focus more on traditional education&quot; — and expresses her personal doubt that legalizing marijuana was a good idea. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Lavine.

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Charles D. Lavine for New York State Assembly 13th District

Lavine for New York State Assembly 13th District

David G. McDonough has been a capable public servant since his election to the Assembly in 2002. As a member of the minority, the Merrick Republican&nbsp;has provided good constituent service and Newsday has supported past&nbsp;candidacies. 
But the 14th District needs more vigorous representation than McDonough, 87, is now able to provide. McDonough has a tendency to talk about past accomplishments&nbsp;and answer questions by rehashing the issues&nbsp; without offering his&nbsp;ideas about how to address them. His constituents would be better served by someone more oriented to the future. 
Fortunately, they have a choice. Democrat&nbsp;Ellen M. Lederer DeFrancesco, 54, of Oceanside, is making&nbsp;her first run for public office. A&nbsp;former New York City teacher, she uses her mantra — &quot;Saying 'I don't know'&nbsp;is a strength, not a weakness&quot; — as a spur&nbsp;to dig deep into issues. When a&nbsp;would-be constituent complained about the $40 per day jury duty pay, her research found the figure dated to&nbsp;the late 1990s and she promised to push for a hike. 
As befits her background, education is a passion.&nbsp;She supports efforts to revamp the Foundation Aid formula by which the state funds public schools; the metric must account for special education and English language learners, she says, and should reflect rising or falling enrollments. She backs universal pre-K as one answer to the affordability crisis. Other elements include building more affordable housing sustainably by converting zombie homes and empty buildings, which she says will help keep young people from moving away, and paying child care workers a living wage. 
She supports the state's efforts to bring offshore wind energy to Long Island but deplores Equinor's strategy in trying to site&nbsp;a cable landing&nbsp;in Long Beach. Lederer DeFrancesco says she could back&nbsp;a different plan&nbsp;to land a cable on state land at Jones Beach&nbsp;if an alternative route to bring the power to the grid — perhaps up the Wantagh or Meadowbrook parkways — was devised.&nbsp;She also advocates for a different approach to congestion pricing in New York City:&nbsp;&quot;Maybe make it incremental, maybe ease into it,&quot; she said. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Lederer DeFrancesco.

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Ellen M. Lederer DeFrancesco for New York State Assembly 14th District

Lederer DeFrancesco for New York State Assembly 14th District

In his first two years in Albany, Jake Blumencranz worked on bills to protect property owners against squatters and increase road safety by categorizing aggressive driving as a class E felony. Both are worthwhile endeavors. 
But he falls short on other critical issues. The Oyster Bay Republican, 28, calls for increased oversight of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority but doesn’t understand MTA operations or how the transit agency serves the 15th District. He correctly recognizes the housing shortfall in his district, yet offers no ideas to address it. To meet the state’s green energy goals, he supports building small nuclear reactors upstate and more state investment in green hydrogen generation. 
Voters have a worthy alternative. Democrat William L. Murphy, 41, of Farmingdale, has a fresh, self-styled populist perspective. An attorney and legal studies professor at St. John’s University, he previously worked as a federal court litigator for a Long Island-based labor and employment law firm. 
Murphy suggests addressing the affordable housing shortage by capping private equity’s purchase of single-family homes and the concentrated ownership of rental apartments, both of which he says drive up costs. He wants to expand the income threshold for the state’s child care tax credit to include more families as a way to address the affordability crisis. On the effort to change the state formula for doling out education aid, Murphy wants a “fresh start” using updated data to make allocations and focusing on getting more resources to children with disabilities. 
Murphy is similarly full-throated in advocating for health care issues. He wants to develop a bill of rights for both patients and doctors that would crack down on medical insurance companies he claims are “owning our doctor’s offices” and making money on the backs of patients and doctors. But when it comes to the use of state funds for migrants in New York City awaiting determination of their asylum claims, Murphy’s rhetoric of “send the buses back” is unrealistic. 
Overall, his edgy voice and impatience with the status quo could produce some change in Albany. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Murphy.

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William L. Murphy for New York State Assembly 15th District

Murphy for New York State Assembly 15th District

Gina L. Sillitti of Port Washington is running for a third term as a member of the Assembly’s Democratic majority. She clearly has a solid knowledge of her district and an open ear for what’s on her constituents’ minds. 
Her ideas on how to increase state funding for schools include factoring in the high cost of living here and boosting aid for English language learners. She knows the impact of flooding on North Shore communities and the need to push for major funding for sewer lines and hookups. She helped obtain a $5 million grant for a Plandome Road sewer line and is focused on getting more infrastructure dollars to improve deteriorated roadways. For Long Island Rail Road riders, Sillitti has been their primary champion in the ongoing effort to better match Port Washington line schedules with commuter needs. 
In an overwhelmingly urban party conference, Sillitti seeks to craft alliances and collaborate with colleagues from other suburban areas on such matters as housing development and infrastructure needs. 
In the next Albany session, Sillitti, 46, says she has several goals. For one, Sillitti sponsors a bill intended to strengthen confidentiality under which first responders, who are particularly subject to stresses and strains from their difficult jobs, can participate in peer-to-peer support programs that help them cope. 
Sillitti is facing Republican Daniel J. Norber of Great Neck, a 45-year-old businessman who cofounded and heads Imperial Movers, a New York City-based moving and storage company. Norber expresses particular concern about ambient marijuana odors coming from Queens, the quality of life in Manhattan, and the rise of hate crimes, but doesn’t specify a legislative strategy for making a dent in those problems. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Sillitti.

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Gina L. Sillitti for New York State Assembly 16th District

Sillitti for New York State Assembly 16th District

For John K. Mikulin, one of his most significant successes&nbsp;continues to be one of his most pressing concerns. 
Over three full terms in office, Mikulin said,&nbsp;he&nbsp;has consistently advocated for — and, with help from other lawmakers, obtained — state funding as needed for water treatment and cleanup&nbsp;to address the contaminated plume at the former Grumman facility in Bethpage. But the Bethpage Republican says he&nbsp;will continue pushing to make sure the site is fully cleaned up. 
Mikulin, 36, is&nbsp;similarly vocal regarding possible changes&nbsp;to the formula that determines state aid for&nbsp;education. Even districts with enrollment declines must still&nbsp;provide&nbsp;services, he argues, for things like mental health and special needs. He hopes to raise pay for special education teachers, therapists and others&nbsp;who work at group homes or elsewhere in the field. He hopes state&nbsp;incentives will spur housing construction in areas like Bellmore and Hicksville. 
On Nassau University Medical Center, Mikulin notes he was able to secure funding for its newly upgraded catheterization lab, a welcome&nbsp;effort. But his argument&nbsp;for state funding for the hospital without addressing its management or governance is too simplistic. Mikulin said the state has to work with the county and NUMC&nbsp;to develop a path forward. But he&nbsp;must be ready to advocate for the proper management of&nbsp;NUMC before more&nbsp;funds are allocated. He can be&nbsp;an important voice for patients and county taxpayers&nbsp;as Nassau&nbsp;and state officials negotiate a path forward. 
Democrat Harpreet&nbsp;S. Toor said he has lived in East Meadow since 1994. But&nbsp;he made two runs for New York City Council, in 2010 and 2021, saying he&nbsp;used&nbsp;his office address in Richmond Hill and that of a cousin in Queens, while still supposedly&nbsp;living in East Meadow. Toor, who is Sikh, wants to work on behalf of other immigrant families. &quot;My intent is to make us normal,&quot; Toor said. &quot;People should not be turning their heads and looking around when I or somebody looking like me passes by.&quot;&nbsp;Toor, 69,&nbsp;is passionate about health care, noting that his wife passed away from breast cancer, and about protecting the right&nbsp;of religious New Yorkers to wear appropriate head coverings and other garb. 
Mikulin has always&nbsp;prioritized constituent service to his district.&nbsp;If he can add his&nbsp;spirited voice to larger concerns, both the district and the region would benefit. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Mikulin.

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John K. Mikulin for New York State Assembly 17th District

Mikulin for New York State Assembly 17th District

One major difference of perspective between Noah Burroughs, 48, of Hempstead Village, and Danielle Smikle, 27, of Freeport, in this race for an open seat involves schools in the district — in which both candidates are involved. 
Burroughs, a Democrat, has had some celebrity. He was signed in 2001 by the NFL New York Jets but was injured in the preseason and later was affiliated with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He says he values those days for the relationships they helped him build. Now, for more than 20 years, he has taught in the Hempstead public schools from which he graduated. He also serves on the Hempstead Village trustees board, and belongs to the New York State United Teachers union. 
Burroughs sees charter schools in the district as diverting resources from public school budgets. His &quot;top priority&quot; would be &quot;finding a way for a charter school to fully fund itself&quot; without &quot;pulling away&quot; dollars from public school districts in Hempstead, Uniondale and Roosevelt, which face significant challenges. But he adds that he does not oppose charters in and of themselves, only the funding method. 
Smikle, the Republican candidate, teaches at the Academy Charter School in Uniondale. Overall, her goals include working to help make educational and curriculum reforms that increase future employment opportunities for students. She is certified as a software engineer, and teaches at a high school level. 
Smikle, herself a product of Freeport’s public schools, says she’s fine with exploring alternative funding sources for charters. &quot;I do support charter schools especially if the district they are in is failing,&quot; she says, in which cases parents should have choices. She also sees wasteful practices in schools generally, such as in food services, that could be reformed. 
On the Las Vegas Sands casino proposed for the Nassau Hub, Burroughs makes a salient point: Sands would do well to financially support transportation infrastructure in Hempstead Village and nearby communities such as Garden City and East Meadow. Local job opportunities would help residents, he notes, so job placement plans and aid to local fire services should be closely monitored as the project advances. Smikle also supports a casino — as long as it means opportunities for jobs and business development for district residents. 
Both candidates recognize the need to proceed realistically on measures meant to address climate change. Burroughs seems to have a good sense of the affordability issues for residents involved with this big transition to green energy. 
On Proposition 1, the state’s so-called Equal Rights Amendment, Smikle expresses more skepticism of what it may mean if it passes, while Burroughs tilts toward supporting it as a protection of women’s rights against potential abbreviations from the national right wing. 
Burroughs and Smikle are running to succeed Democratic Assemb. Taylor Darling, who declined to seek reelection to run instead for State Senate, but she lost a party primary in June. 
Smikle has much to recommend her — an unjaded and forward-looking view as a young professional that hopefully finds and keeps her in public service. But Burroughs has developed potentially valuable contacts and familiarity with governance from his school involvement and presence since 2022 as a village trustee. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Burroughs.

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Noah Burroughs for New York State Assembly 18th District

Burroughs for New York State Assembly 18th District

As the State Legislature is poised to consider potentially significant changes to the state's Foundation Aid Formula for education, Republican Edward P. Ra has a critical role to play. 
Ra, the ranking GOP member on the Assembly's Ways and Means committee, understands the ins and outs of education funding, from assessing&nbsp;the regional cost index and poverty measures&nbsp;to considering mental health services and&nbsp;special education. Ra, who has met with Robert Megna, former state budget director and current&nbsp;head&nbsp;of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, which is undertaking the school funding analysis, said he is prepared to work with his colleagues to &quot;make sure Long Island is not negatively impacted.&quot; 
Ra, who lives in Garden City South, provides a thoughtful, measured analysis of&nbsp;the region's public transit funding needs. In the wake of Gov. Kathy Hochul's decision to halt the start of congestion pricing, he wanted a series of hearings this summer and fall to assess alternatives and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's fiscal strength. 
Ra, who will turn 43 just before Election Day,&nbsp;is equally insightful and careful in his analysis of whether a casino resort should be built at the Nassau Hub, which lies in the 19th District. The district's representative will have an appointment to a&nbsp;key community advisory board. Ra said he sees benefits and concerns regarding the casino resort idea, and would&nbsp;choose someone with &quot;an open mind&quot; who would&nbsp;meet with the surrounding communities to understand all viewpoints. 
Williston Park Democrat Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, 47, said he opposes&nbsp;a casino resort at the Hub, as he worries about traffic, safety and the siting&nbsp;of a casino near multiple academic institutions.&nbsp;Jindal, who ran against Ra two years ago, suggested the Hub instead be home&nbsp;to affordable senior housing and&nbsp;recreational services. Jindal is passionate about improving&nbsp;quality of life and opportunities for district residents, but&nbsp;lacks a solid understanding of the state's legislative process and district needs&nbsp;and how to meet them. 
Long Island needs Ra's voice, knowledge and leadership, particularly in the education funding battles to come. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Ra.

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Edward P. Ra for New York State Assembly 19th District

Ra for New York State Assembly 19th District

The 20th Assembly District became the center of a windstorm last year&nbsp;over a proposal&nbsp;to build a wind farm off the coast of Long Beach. The development team's lack of communication and insufficient attempts to seek community input&nbsp;increased residents'&nbsp;concerns and&nbsp;ultimately led to the project's downfall. That&nbsp;controversy is a backdrop for this contest. 
Both Republican incumbent Eric Ari Brown and Democratic challenger Tina M. Posterli&nbsp;opposed the project. But&nbsp;they have very different approaches to the offshore wind&nbsp;issue, and to the broader environmental concerns the district faces as well as&nbsp;many of the state's other challenges. 
Brown, of Cedarhurst,&nbsp;weaves a web of at-times baseless fears,&nbsp;theories and assumptions&nbsp;that likely will stop him from offering support for any wind project. The blades' fiberglass&nbsp;would shed into&nbsp;the oceans and the&nbsp;turbines would hurt birds and marine life in the area, he says. And he contends that drilling into the earth's core&nbsp;causes seismic impacts while pipes under the city streets&nbsp;would increase electromagnetic field exposure. 
Brown, 56, says&nbsp;he supports climate-related infrastructure improvements, but lacks&nbsp;any specifics for what he would prioritize for state funding.&nbsp;He emphasizes his connections to key players in state government and within agencies like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to illustrate how he can&nbsp;get what the district needs, but has few new ideas on how to handle key issues like MTA and education funding. 
Brown, who was voted into this seat in a special election in 2022, has a complicated mix of public and private roles. He serves as deputy mayor and trustee for the Village of Cedarhurst, where he also chairs&nbsp;the architectural review board, and he runs a family construction company, R. Brown Realty Corp.&nbsp;While he assures skeptics there are no conflicts of interest,&nbsp;there is a valid question as to whether there are enough hours in a day for him to adequately serve the whole district and the state. 
Posterli, of Long Beach,&nbsp;has worked with conservation groups&nbsp;Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance, and says she&nbsp;supports&nbsp;offshore wind. She emphasized developer Equinor's &quot;lack of transparency&quot; as a central reason for her opposition to the original project. She voices&nbsp;concern about the state's RAPID Act, which would&nbsp;streamline the environmental review and permitting process for renewables, as she wants to make&nbsp;public input&nbsp;prominent in any moves the state makes. 
Posterli, a former member of the Long Beach City Council, gets granular when it comes to the&nbsp;infrastructure improvements needed in the district,&nbsp;and can enumerate every community and the specific issues she would try to address, from aid for&nbsp;continuing cleanup and&nbsp;protection efforts for&nbsp;Reynolds Channel&nbsp;to flood protection in Point Lookout. 
Posterli also shows a deep understanding of the efforts to assess the state's Foundation Aid formula for school funding. A former Long Beach school board president, Posterli fought last year's proposed cuts and now wants to be sure local school districts aren't harmed because of a skewed view of property wealth. Posterli, 58, advocates for expanding affordable housing requirements in larger developments and&nbsp;supports utilizing state land for housing. 
Posterli says&nbsp;if elected, the Assembly would be her full-time job. Constituents&nbsp;would benefit from her smart, energetic presence&nbsp;in Albany and in the district. 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Posterli.

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Tina M. Posterli for New York State Assembly 20th District

Posterli for New York State Assembly 20th District

Over the last six years, the 21st District has flipped from red to blue and back to red again as two knowledgeable candidates have fought to represent it. Lynbrook Republican Brian F. Curran won the seat in 2010 and held it until 2018, when Judy A. Griffin, a Democrat from Rockville Centre, unseated him. Four years later, Curran returned, beating Griffin by 138 votes. 
This year, it’s Griffin trying to make a comeback, looking to win the seat from Curran again. 
Griffin, 61, emphasizes her past accomplishments, pointing to her advocacy for revisions to bail reform and legislation that prohibited teachers from carrying guns in schools. She said she hopes to pick up where she left off, with legislation to increase penalties on young offenders involved in the illegal gun trade. She suggests finding “corporate sponsors” to help defray the costs of New York’s efforts to move to electric vehicles and renewable energy. Griffin says she would continue to advocate for the municipalization of water to areas served by Liberty Water and cited past studies in calling for cuts to the Long Island Rail Road’s managerial ranks, which she deemed “excessive.” Griffin, who hopes to include special education and mental health in any revamp of the Foundation Aid formula for education funding, wants to see a separate legislative working group address the formula, saying it could start now, rather than negotiating changes during the short and busy budget session. 
Curran, who will turn 56 on Nov. 1, sees education funding as the “single biggest topic” that can affect the district. He supports revisions to the regional cost index and a new formula that accounts for the cost of increased security and mental health services. Curran points to bipartisan efforts he helped lead to transfer the Guy Lombardo Marina from the Town of Hempstead to the Village of Freeport — an effort, he said, that will lead to improved upkeep and better use of the marina. He’s committed to the state’s effort to move away from fossil fuels but thinks the timetable should be rethought, citing both a lack of necessary infrastructure to achieve the goals and the possibility that ratepayers will be forced to absorb added costs too quickly. Curran also embraces state attempts to incentivize new housing construction, including using state-owned property for housing. He thoughtfully notes that such land should stay within the state’s control, however, because transferring it to local government control would “defeat the purpose” and could stymie housing production. 
Curran has been willing to examine his past positions and shift them when warranted. He said he was initially opposed to municipal control of Liberty Water, noting he generally hasn’t seen examples where a government takeover improved something that had been in private hands. But Curran said after multiple conversations with key stakeholders and meetings, and watching how Liberty Water has operated in his district, he now supports municipalization and said he would do what he could to push it forward. 
While there’s rarely much daylight between the two candidates on issues that matter to Long Island, Griffin’s focus seems stuck in the past, in recalling what she did while in office and in promising more of the same. Curran has a better handle on the current landscape — and a better sense of how to move the district and the region forward. 
Newsday’s editorial board endorses Curran.

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Brian F. Curran for New York State Assembly 21st District

Curran for New York State Assembly 21st District

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Michaelle C. Solages is emerging as an influential leader in the Assembly which only increases her stature as a voice for Long Island. She is well aware&nbsp;the region&nbsp;is not getting its fair share of spending for roads, schools and housing and wants to play a larger role in organizing the entire&nbsp;delegation to press leadership for more funding. 
Included in that view of regional needs&nbsp;is increasing the reimbursement rate for safety net hospitals, which would especially be a&nbsp;boon for the Nassau University Medical Center. Another top budget priority is fully funding&nbsp;universal prekindergarten for all school districts as well as steering more dollars to a&nbsp;Long Island resource center for training more teachers and aides to staff these programs. Concurrent with that push is increasing the funding for Nassau and Suffolk schools to&nbsp;make free lunches available for all students. 
Solages, 39, has made access to health care her calling card and her focus now is to increase the stipend paid for&nbsp;medical leave, as well as job protections for those who take those leaves. The Elmont Democrat is also deeply concerned about the gambling addition problems spurred by mobile betting as well as providing more funding for behavioral programs to help those in trouble. Acknowledging that mobile gambling is not going away, she wants some of that&nbsp;revenue to fully&nbsp;fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan. 
Solages, who is seeking her seventh term, has been on a leadership path within the Assembly, most recently serving as deputy majority leader and as elected chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. With her considerable seniority, if reelected, she wants to be head of a committee to further develop her legislative skills and clout.&nbsp;&quot;I do want to become a chair. I want to be able to have a pulse on legislation and policy and I want to do more,&quot; she said in her endorsement interview. That can only benefit the Long Island region. 
While Solages has a large statewide portfolio, her sights stay focused on&nbsp;local issues such as keeping pressure on Belmont Park&nbsp;project developers to get the doors opened on the&nbsp;Elmont community center&nbsp;that was part of the deal for state support for UBS Arena. 
Republican Ian Joseph Bergstrom, 32, of Floral Park, is an attorney who works for Nassau County. He is not actively campaigning.&nbsp; 
Newsday's editorial board endorses Solages.

All of Newsday's 2024 election endorsements

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