News

Laura Ahearn to Represent New York's 1st Senate District
October 20, 2020
Newsday

In 1976, when "Happy Days" was the top TV sitcom, Evita Peron made a last stand in Argentina and a tech company named Apple filed its incorporation papers, the name Kenneth LaValle debuted on the ballot to represent New York’s 1st State Senate District. LaValle, a Republican whose tireless work on environmental and educational issues earned him 22 consecutive victories, retires this year as the senator for a district that starts at the points of Montauk and Orient and stretches to Center Moriches and Port Jefferson.

The two candidates running to replace him are qualified to represent the district, but one stands out because of her potential to become a major influencer in Albany, and with that gain the clout to bring home the bacon. Democrat Laura A. Ahearn, 57, of Port Jefferson, has never held elective office but she well knows how the game is played. The founder of the Crime Victims Center and Parents for Megan’s Law and a social worker turned lawyer, she has spent 25 years advocating for victims of crime, especially those involving women and children, in areas like sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking.read more

Monica Martinez to Represent New York's 3rd Senate District
October 20, 2020
Newsday

Throughout State Sen. Monica R. Martinez’s first term, she has served as a strong advocate for her district. An immigrant from El Salvador who came to the United States at age 3, Martinez brings a fresh perspective and understands her ever-changing constituency.

The Brentwood Democrat rightly points to district issues she wants to address, including sewers, economic development and even the dreaded Oakdale Merge. Her attention to women...read more

Answers to Your Questions on How to Vote in November
October 14, 2020
Newsday

New Yorkers have three ways to vote in this year’s general election on Nov. 3.

Absentee ballots
This year, any voter may receive an absentee ballot if they are concerned about the spread of COVID-19 at polling places.

Voters may request absentee ballots from their county board of elections by mail, email, fax, telephone or by visiting.

Absentee ballot applications may be downloaded in English or in Spanish at www.elections.ny.gov/VotingAbsentee.html. A voter should complete the application and check "temporary illness or physical disability" for the reason, which would include concern about contracting the COVID-19 virus.read more

Jackie Gordon to Represent 2nd Congressional District
October 14, 2020
Newsday

In his most memorable moments, Peter King — who is vacating New York’s 2nd Congressional District after 14 terms in Congress — was an advocate for his service-oriented constituents. That included the firefighters, police officers and nurses who work long hours and sometimes dangerous ones to keep society ticking, who don't shrink from duty during disaster, be it Sept. 11 or superstorm Sandy.

Many of them had moved to Long Island to carve out middle class lives, the kinds of newcomers whose parents or grandparents might have come through Ellis Island seeking new opportunities, and now they were making good on that gamble here.

It is those constituents and their 21st century dreams who Jackie Gordon is perfectly poised to represent.

Gordon, 55, has already lived a life of service. That includes nearly 30 years in the U.S. Army Reserve as a military police officer. It includes decades as a Wilson Technological Center guidance counselor and Babylon Town councilwoman.read more

Nancy Goroff to Represent 1st Congressional District
October 13, 2020
Newsday
Congressional candidate Nancy Goroff

Nancy Goroff is the best prepared and most knowledgeable newcomer at any level of Long Island politics in years.

The Stony Brook University chemistry professor is a scientist. And she’s running against an incumbent, Lee Zeldin, who twists himself like a strand of DNA trying to support a president who does not believe in science — to the detriment of the nation.

Goroff, 52, a Democrat from Stony Brook who’s on leave from her job for this run, would bring a unique and badly needed analytic perspective to the House — and promises to serve as a resource for all members of Congress on matters of science. Her fact-based background would be particularly helpful in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and other pandemics, and the development of a high-tech corridor centered at Brookhaven National Lab and Stony Brook University.

Goroff would be especially effective in the fight against climate change, one of the primary factors motivating her run. She understands that rising seas, coastal erosion and extreme storms threaten the Mastic-Shirley area, the East End, the Long Island coastline, and our very way of life. Her plan of attack has three planks — set ambitious targets, like being carbon-neutral in energy production by 2035; vigorously use existing technologies in renewable energy, clean vehicles and clean buildings to get there; and invest in research to develop the technologies of the future to be used in the United States and to be exported to other countries to help them improve their standards of living without emitting huge amounts of carbon. It’s a plan that makes sense.read more

VOTERS' GUIDE: General Election, November 3, 2020
October 13, 2020
Newsday

VOTERS' GUIDE

Whether you're voting by mail, voting early, or voting on Election Day, read all about the candidates who are looking for your vote and where they stand on the issues. If you have questions about how to vote this year, read about the 3 ways you can vote.read more