Monica Martinez for New York State Senate 4th 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 the experience as "very different" since her first stint in Albany from 2018 to 2020 when Democrats took control of the chamber. Now, as the sole Suffolk County senator in the majority, Martinez, 47, has embraced the opportunity to take a stronger leadership role. She has collaborated with city Democrats and her Republican colleagues from Long Island to make sure Long Island's needs are met in Albany — work she describes as "educational, inspirational, transformational."

Martinez, of Brentwood, represents a majority-minority district and has sought to meet the needs and interests of the various communities she represents. That includes working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make safety improvements at the Brentwood Long Island Rail Road station and getting funding for a planned YMCA in Wyandanch, where she wants swim safety classes offered.

She also adds an important nuanced voice on larger issues like housing, where she says we need a better definition of what's "affordable" on Long Island and a better formula for the income criteria used to determine that. She says any revamp of the education funding formula must include the needs of increasing populations of English language learners, and supports added safety and security measures, including more training for school safety officers and security guards. Martinez also played a critical role in getting the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act onto this year's ballot.

Martinez has repeatedly demonstrated her independence — fighting city-sponsored initiatives that could harm the region, like rent control-style measures that could damage Long Island's efforts to add more housing; supporting judicial discretion in bail reform to create a system that is fair and that promotes public safety; and advocating that the state must address the needs 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' independent streak is much needed in a chamber where her party has a supermajority, and her effort to build relationships with her GOP colleagues is needed to advance Long Island causes.

Republican Teresa J. Bryant, 61, of Central Islip, is not actively campaigning. 

Newsday's editorial board endorses Martinez.