Editorial: No endorsement in 9th Assembly District

Gilgo, southeast Babylon, southwest Islip, south Oyster BayFrom the rapid pace at which he ticks off his accomplishments, to the stack of mailings, pamphlets and pages listing his work in the Assembly, Republican incumbent Joseph Saladino might give residents new to the vastly redrawn 9th District the idea that he is very effective.

He's not.

Saladino, 50, a lifelong Massapequa resident, tends to sponsor legislation that piggybacks onto the headline of the moment, such as "Jonny's Law," a bill that would require all parents to drug-test their children in grades nine through 12. No other member joined him. Another of his proposed bills reads, "Any bill containing an unfunded mandate shall bear the words UNFUNDED MANDATE on the face of the bill."

Unfortunately, his Democrat challenger, Jay Cherlin, 60, of Massapequa, displays a shallow grasp of statewide issues. Cherlin, who works for the Long Island Coalition of National Health Planning, is knowledgeable about health care and wants to curb Medicaid costs. But his primary focus, enacting a single-payer health care plan for New York, is unrealistic.

Newsday makes no endorsement.