Newsday editorial board's 2008 endorsements

PRESIDENT

Barack Obama

Leading the nation through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, two wars and excruciating anxiety about what the future holds will demand intellect, judgment, pragmatism and the more intangible ability to nourish the American spirit.

The need to make fundamental changes in how we power our cars, heat our homes, pay our doctors, earn our livings and secure our retirements is unnerving. The times demand a president who can see promise beyond the peril and articulate that vision for the rest of us. We believe this profile best fits one candidate in this race for the White House: Democrat Barack Obama.

In this marathon of a campaign, Obama has shown the discipline and demeanor for the job. He has articulated a more compelling vision and strategy for the nation than has Republican John McCain, at a time when both are desperately needed. Obama has railed eloquently against the politics of fear and ideological combat, and promoted inclusiveness and cooperation. He has a strong grasp of the nation's economic problems, a more urgent commitment to the green energy revolution and a better plan for expanding access to health care. On issues such as Iraq, taxes and trade, he should practice the bipartisanship he promises, but has yet to demonstrate, by remaining open to alternative views. Still, on balance, Obama offers the better way forward.

When he launched his improbable presidential run, early impressions of the Illinois senator didn't go much beyond a man with limited experience who could deliver a great speech. Critics derided his ability to charge up a crowd with soaring rhetoric, calling it just talk. But it's more than that. Obama has an uncommon ability to explain and inspire. Those are vital components of national leadership as we struggle to understand and tame the complex economic forces eating away at the value of our homes and nest eggs, and making jobs and credit harder to come by.

Obama's relative inexperience was one reason we didn't endorse him in the Democratic primary, and it remains a concern: He's only three years removed from the Illinois State Senate. We are also critical of his decision to abandon a pledge to tap public campaign financing for his presidential run.

But organizing and running a national campaign is a tough test of executive ability -- one that Obama has passed impressively. We believe that he will be able to draw from his campaign and professional experience to hone conflicting ideas and philosophies into sharp policy prescriptions on the challenges the next president will face over the coming four years.

Energy

Obama demonstrated a noteworthy, clear-eyed approach to this issue last summer, when gas prices skyrocketed. As McCain and others called for a popular, temporary suspension of the federal gas tax, Obama resisted the urge to pander. His view -- that trying to ease the pain of price hikes wouldn't work and would retard efforts to wean the nation off fossil fuels -- wasn't popular. But he was right. And he was willing to take the political heat to advance the nation's long-term interest.

Obama understands the urgency of making the country less dependent on foreign oil, for both economic and national security reasons. He supports an all-out effort to develop sustainable, alternative fuels and green technology. He has also acknowledged the need to expand the use of nuclear power, and has reluctantly come to accept the need to drill more for oil here at home. McCain also supports developing alternative fuels and technology and expanding the use of nuclear power. And he says that the push for energy independence should proceed on all fronts. But he elevated increased domestic drilling to the top of his energy agenda when he made "drill baby drill" a campaign slogan, even though more domestic drilling won't do much to lower gas prices or anything to advance the key goal of energy independence.

Taxes

Given the high-decibel debate over taxes, you'd think there were huge differences between what the candidates offer. There aren't, and in fact, neither plan may be realistic, given the deficit and the economic slowdown. Both Obama and McCain have proposed trillions of dollars in tax cuts over the next decade -- both for individuals and, in different ways, for small businesses. They agree on delivering tax relief for the middle class, defined as taxpayers earning less than $250,000 a year. But that's where Obama would draw the line.

McCain would extend the tax rates for everyone, including those earning over a quarter million a year, and add new corporate tax cuts for good measure.

On Long Island, with our high cost of living, close to 10 percent of households take in $250,000 or more. That's much higher than the national average of 2 percent. So some small business owners would be among those whose taxes Obama would raise. That's of considerable concern locally, because it would hamper their ability to create jobs, thus slowing the Island's economic growth. This is a case where one size doesn't fit all.

Trade

Both Obama and McCain recognize the importance of free trade to the nation's economy. But while McCain's enthusiasm for trade agreements between the United States and other countries is unbridled, Obama seems conflicted. That's troubling.

Obama should reconsider his early campaign pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement in an effort to add stronger worker and environmental protections to that long-settled deal with Mexico and Canada. Free trade is a net plus for the U.S. economy. It would be a mistake to throttle back, particularly now, when the nation is suffering such economic distress. The better approach would be to do more for displaced workers here, such as expanding opportunities for retraining, a worthwhile component of McCain's plan.

Iraq

Both candidates favor a muscular foreign policy, although Obama would be more likely to make the military option a last resort. But on Iraq, they have real differences. Obama has promised to responsibly but quickly withdraw most U.S. troops from the country on a set timetable. McCain resists that plan, which he unambiguously calls surrender.

McCain championed last year's surge -- a big, temporary increase in the number of troops in Iraq that has played a significant role in reducing the violence dogging that nation. There's a lesson in that for Obama, who has been reluctant to acknowledge its success. It would be wiser to allow facts on the ground to determine when U.S. troops are withdrawn -- although the Iraqi government, which is pressing for a fixed timeline, may have more to say about when the occupation ends than the next American president.

Health care

Here, Obama and McCain offer fundamentally different approaches. Both acknowledge that the employer-based system of health insurance is disappearing. But the alternative McCain favors is a deregulated, individual insurance market in which consumers, armed with a tax credit, buy their own coverage. Obama wants to give government a bigger role. He would prohibit "cherry picking," so insurers couldn't routinely deny coverage to people who are sick. And he would establish what he calls the National Health Insurance Exchange, a group that would allow individuals and small businesses to select a plan offering a government-negotiated level of coverage, and buy it at the group rate from a participating private insurance company.

Obama's plan, which includes subsidies based on income, would cover millions more of the uninsured than McCain's approach, and cost little more. Unfortunately, neither plan would do enough to control rising costs, an even more difficult problem than the need to expand access.

Moving forward

It won't be easy for Obama to translate his transformative vision of post-partisanship into concrete change in how business is done in Washington. Particularly if Democrats control the House and Senate as well as the White House. The impulse to ride roughshod over a Republican minority may be hard to resist, but Obama must. And he should stand up to his party's congressional leaders to avoid partisan excesses.

A commitment by Obama to do that is a necessary first step toward post-partisan policymaking. The second would be for him to surround himself with top-notch advisers and a cabinet peopled by the best and brightest, from both parties. He should embrace good ideas, no matter which party produced them, and make competence, not party loyalty, the prime criterion for appointments.

For much of his decades-long career in Washington, John McCain exhibited just that kind of principled bipartisanship. For the good of the country, he bucked his party and joined with Democrats to tackle contentious issues such as campaign finance, immigration and taxes. We cited his "courage, integrity and willingness to take principled and consistent stands" when we endorsed McCain in the Republican primary in February.

But that man got lost in the general campaign. Candidate McCain abandoned Senator McCain's support for comprehensive immigration reform, saying he would no longer even vote for the bill he had previously sponsored. As a candidate, he embraced the tax cuts of President George W. Bush that as a senator he had derided as unaffordable.

While insisting he would always put country first, candidate McCain impulsively picked as his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is not ready to assume the duties of the presidency.

And when the nation was hit by the financial storm, McCain appeared rudderless. He declared the economic fundamentals sound one day and wailed the next that the financial markets were in crisis. Obama didn't have answers, either. But he was calm and deliberative, and helped the process by laying out conditions that an acceptable deal should meet.

McCain has been an outstanding public servant. He responded heroically when held captive in Vietnam. He clearly loves his country. But during this campaign he hasn't given the nation any compelling reason to make him president.

Obama has advanced big themes at a time when the nation faces big challenges. We believe he is ready to be the president of the United States. This editorial board endorses Barack Obama.

CONGRESS

District 1: Timothy Bishop

Rep. Tim Bishop, 58, a Democrat seeking his fourth term in Congress, is a solid, hardworking and increasingly savvy representative for the people of his district in Brookhaven and the East End. He brings a common-sense approach to national issues, such as supporting an important pay-as-you-go discipline to rein in federal spending and stanch the flow of red ink. He supported the recent financial bailout as distasteful but necessary. And from his seat on the House education committee, Bishop played a key role in enacting useful legislation to make college more accessible and affordable for middle-class families.

Closer to home, Bishop has steadfastly resisted any effort to elevate the status of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center so that it would handle more dangerous pathogens. And he sponsored legislation to bring order to the process for siting liquefied natural gas facilities, such as the Broadwater project that he opposed, and which the state ultimately rejected.

His opponent, Republican Lee Zeldin, 28, of Shirley, is an attorney and former U.S. Army officer making his first run for public office. He promises unwavering support for U.S. troops and veterans, consistent votes against tax increases, and a moratorium on earmarks disparaged as pork-barrel spending.

Zeldin has energy and is enthusiastic about public service, but he could do with a bit more seasoning. He presents no convincing reason for voters to replace Bishop, who knows the district intimately, has delivered millions of dollars for local projects and works hard for his constituents. Newsday's editorial board endorses Bishop.

District 2: Steve Israel

This is a race with star power, pitting an incumbent with "A-team" potential against a sharp, savvy Republican challenger. Democrat Steve Israel, 50, is an eight-year incumbent, with a grasp of issues, foreign and domestic, that is broad and deep.

He insists that Washington should live within its means and, mindful of the exploding national debt, favors letting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. He supported the financial bailout, which was odious but necessary. As a former member of the Armed Services Committee, he steeped himself in the needs of the American military. And he's on a mission to wean the nation off oil and to retool the Long Island economy and create jobs locally by making it a force in the new world of green energy.

Republican challenger Frank Stalzer, 51, of Huntington, is president of Astrex Electronics in Plainview, a company that distributes military electronics. He believes in supply-side economics, insisting that tax cuts always produce economic expansion.

Like Israel, Stalzer supported the recent Wall Street bailout as painful but necessary. And the two differ only in nuance on immigration, each supporting a comprehensive approach with tighter borders and workplace enforcement and some sort of route to legalization for the millions of immigrants here illegally. We were impressed with Stalzer and his real political flair. But his support for ever more tax cuts in the face of real needs and record national debt, as well as for an open-ended U.S. presence in Iraq, is the wrong vision for the nation. Israel is practical and bipartisan at a time when more of each is needed in Washington. And with a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, he's positioned to deliver for Long Island -- as he did this year, for instance, by pushing to increase to $5 million the administration's miserly recommendation of $500,000 to protect the Long Island Sound.

We credit Stalzer for carrying the Republican banner against a popular Democratic incumbent, but the board endorses Israel.

District 3: Peter King

Republican Peter King wants to return to Washington for a ninth term, and his popularity in the heavily Republican Third District -- a barbell-shaped area that extends from Long Beach to Babylon on the south shore and then straddles the county line to Glen Cove on the north -- almost automatically ensures the Seaford resident word missing? resident? gets back on the D.C. shuttle.

King's opponent is Democrat Graham Long, a smart and well-prepared newcomer from Glen Cove, but one who's not yet ready to step into the ring with a heavyweight. King is always ready for a fight, however, and once again he's been shadowboxing with Newsday. We've exchanged jabs over the years, which obscures the record that he has been endorsed by this board in five of his last eight races. That's a fact that could crimp his fund-raising appeals.

King, 64, the sole Republican remaining in the Long Island delegation and one of the few left in the state, works well across the aisle to get things done for his district. We wish he were more sensitive to environmental concerns and had a more pragmatic approach to dealing with immigration problems. But if Democrats, as expected, broaden their control in Congress this fall, a strong and nationally recognized Republican voice like King's is needed to help hold them accountable. Long, 25, has little funding and no logistic support from his party. He is fueled, instead, by his love of politics and his enthusiasm for presidential candidate Barack Obama, whose campaign for change inspired him to run.

A planning specialist for Nassau County, Long, who lives in Locust Valley, has an impressive grasp of national issues. Passionate about energy, he would give space-race-type priority to the development of alternative fuel sources. Long is the face of Long Island's next generation of political leaders, but before hitting the national scene, he needs to make his mark locally.

King didn't ask, but he has our endorsement anyway.

District 4: Carolyn McCarthy

Democrat Carolyn McCarthy brings a genuine, down-to-earth style to her job in Congress and has proved amazingly immune to the power lust in the air on Capitol Hill. In the 12 years she has represented Hempstead and North Hempstead, McCarthy, 64, has just gone about her business, pressing the issues that concern her, such as gun control, education and the national nursing shortage.

She scored wins in each of those areas in this Congress. She won legislation to ease the shortage of nurses and nursing professors, and to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for school lunches. Those are not the flashiest of issues, but they are important.

And on her signature interest, gun control, she championed the first major legislation to become law in 14 years. It will provide money for states to update the data they provide to the National Instant Background Check System to improve enforcement of laws prohibiting gun purchases by people who have criminal records or psychiatric hospitalizations, or who are named in restraining orders.

Republican Jack Martins, 41, is a lawyer who has been the mayor of Mineola since 2003. He is moderate in philosophy, and pragmatic in approach, and is essentially in synch with McCarthy on issues such as gun control, the need for the federal government to live within its means and for a comprehensive approach to illegal immigration that includes a route to citizenship for those here illegally. Martins nonetheless charges that McCarthy is out of touch with the district, an allegation that doesn't ring true.

Martins is a thoughtful, effective government official who has managed Mineola well while delivering on major housing and other development projects. He's one to watch in local politics. But he has not made a compelling case for unseating a unique and popular congressional incumbent. Newsday's editorial board endorses McCarthy.

District 5: Gary Ackerman

The argument in this race is as much about Israel and Iran as about local issues.

In his 26th year representing the north shore of Queens and Nassau, Gary Ackerman, 65, is getting to pursue his greatest passion with clout, as chairman of a subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

Elizabeth Berney, a feisty 53-year-old securities fraud and product safety attorney from Great Neck, says one of the main reasons she is running is to oppose Ackerman's push for funds for the Palestinian Authority. He says it would help Mahmoud Abbas govern more openly and effectively; she views Abbas as a terrorist committed to Israel's destruction.

Berney also takes a harder line against Iran, saying the United States should supply Israel with equipment it needs to successfully bomb Iran's nuclear plants. Ackerman sponsored a resolution urging more nonmilitary pressure on Iran. But its wording could have been construed as calling for a naval blockade, an act of war. Critics -- including this page -- called him on it. Fortunately, he ultimately recognized that flaw and is clarifying the language. He says he doesn't want to start a war, and he favors "full engagement" with Tehran "at appropriate levels."

They agree on the need for the recent Wall Street bailout legislation. But on health care, Ackerman favors a single-payer approach that Berney warns can lead to a "socialist system."

On local issues, Berney's Web site is silent. Ackerman has delivered over the years, for instance, with funds for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Ackerman is credible when he says international relations is a local issue for his constituents, many of whom "call their homeland someplace else." He's more reasonable than Berney on the Middle East, and reliable on issues at home. We endorse Ackerman.

SENATE

District 1 (East End, Brookhaven)

Running for his 17th term, Republican State Sen. Kenneth LaValle, of Port Jefferson, has no opponent this year. LaValle, 69, is chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee.

District 2 (Huntington, Smithtown, Brookhaven): John Flanagan

The last time Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) ran for re-election, he beat a smart young opponent with a brief but compelling biography, Brooke Ellison. Seeking office for the first time, she created excitement in her party and a scare for Flanagan.

This time, his challenger, Mike De Paoli, 61, of South Setauket, has a diverse biography, including service in Vietnam, teaching, emergency management, home improvement, and several runs for office. But, unlike Ellison's, it's a low-buzz campaign.

Flanagan, 47, of East Northport, has spent a lot of his time on the future of the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center, which he and the community want to be nothing but a park. He has managed to get $29 million in funding to clean up the site, but he's in a running battle with Carol Ash, the state parks commissioner, to get a study of the remediation costs done. In the current fiscal crisis, he'll have to fight hard to keep that money from disappearing and to keep the remediation on track.

Flanagan has been a serious player in making sure Long Island gets its share of school aid. And he now sits on the board that reviews MTA capital projects. That's a key spot for Long Island, with its need for major projects such as the third track on the Main Line and East Side Access.

De Paoli is bright and energetic, and he certainly has a broad background. But this is not the time to lose a senator who has shown consistent growth of late and is well grounded in issues of major importance to the Island. The editorial board endorses Flanagan.

District 3 (Islip, Smithtown, Brookhaven): Caesar Trunzo

This is the one everyone has been watching. It pits state Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood), a Senate veteran, against an accomplished Democratic challenger, Brookhaven Supervisor Brian X. Foley of Blue Point. Surprisingly, it's not an easy choice.

It's clear that Foley, 50, stuck in a cobra-and-mongoose struggle with a GOP majority on his town board, wants this seat badly. In fact, he says he's been preparing for this run for 15 years. And it's equally clear that, even though his administration made positive changes in the town in the two years before Republicans narrowly won back control of the town board, Foley is more suited to a legislative role than an executive one.

Trunzo, 82, has kept being re-elected because he delivers for his district. But his nearly four decades in Albany have given him a jaded perspective on what it's possible to accomplish there. More than once during a joint appearance by Trunzo and Foley before this board, Trunzo responded to an idea of Foley's by referring to it as a dream. Ouch!

So the choice is between an incumbent who sees getting things done in Albany as a lost cause -- the sad thing is, too often he's probably right -- and a challenger with a lot of ideas -- some of them insufficiently detailed -- but an inflated estimate of what a single senator can do.

In the end, it comes down to this: On balance, we think a GOP-controlled Senate will probably be better able to protect Long Island interests in this current fiscal crisis. So we endorse Trunzo.

District 4 (Babylon, Islip)

On paper, this is a race by newcomer Tanya Gilliard, a 35-year-old Democrat from Wyandanch, to unseat 19-term incumbent, state Sen. Owen Johnson, 78, of West Babylon. But in fact, there is no real race here at all. Gilliard, a Town of Babylon employee, has allowed her name to be placed on the ballot, but neither she nor Johnson is actively campaigning. This farce dates back to Richard Schaffer's days as the Town Supervisor in Babylon. The town was in a jam, and Johnson helped Schaffer get out of it in a way that earned Schaffer's undying gratitude. Now as Suffolk County Democratic chairman, Schaffer has prevented Johnson from any real electoral challenge for years. Newsday's editorial board believes strongly that real contested elections are vital to democracy. Therefore, in this race, we make no endorsement.

District 5 (Huntington, Oyster Bay): Carl Marcellino

State Sen. Carl Marcellino is chairman of the Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee, but he's received little support this year from major conservation groups. That's a rallying cry for his challenger, Matthew Meng. Democrat Meng, 56, an 18-year resident of East Norwich, also points out that of the 100-plus environmental laws that the Republican incumbent touts in his campaign literature, many are extensions and clarifications of existing laws.

We find Marcellino's record shepherding key bills through this important committee to be decidedly mixed. The 65-year-old Syosset resident was successful in reforming the state's brownfields legislation, and we were pleased when he worked to stop New York City from pumping treated water into the Lloyd Aquifer. But he has failed to deliver on cap-and-trade legislation to regulate carbon emissions. And so far, the Senate has refused to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which this page favors. It would add deposits to bottled water, juice and tea containers to encourage recycling. But Marcellino sees it as a "money grab" out of the pockets of beverage makers, since it would enable the state to recover from beverage makers all the nickels they now keep when people don't bother to recycle.

Marcellino promises that a compromise bottle bill will be passed next year. He also says a much-needed e-waste bill will be passed soon. Those would be important developments; the Republican Senate majority that is known for delivering school aid to Long Island needs to deliver more for the environment, too. Marcellino, a former school teacher, has shown himself to be a hard worker who knows the ropes in Albany. So we hope he keeps his word -- we'll be watching.

Meng, president of the East Norwich Civic Association and owner of The Little Garage auto repair shop, is a civic activist who wants to protect the environment and Long Island's quality of life. His heart may be in the right place, but he hasn't articulated a compelling case for turning out a 13-year veteran who does have some important legislation under his belt. We endorse Marcellino.

District 6 (Central Nassau): Kemp Hannon

State Sen. Kemp Hannon isn't a doctor, but he plays one in Albany. OK, he doesn't actually play a doctor, either. But in his 18 years in the New York State Senate, Republican Hannon, 62, of Garden City, has become Albany's resident health care expert.

That expertise, honed as chairman of the Senate Health Committee and the Health Budget subcommittee, has made him one of the most respected figures in the legislature -- a sentiment that is surprisingly bipartisan and particularly valuable right now. The economic downturn savaging state tax revenues will force Albany to make deep spending cuts. In health care, that needs to be done with an educated touch to avoid real harm to hospitals, nursing homes and Medicaid.

That makes him a tough opponent for Democratic challenger Kristen McElroy, 34, a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor from Garden City, who's making her first run for public office.

She wants to bring common sense to Albany where, she says, career politicians have lost touch with ordinary Long Islanders battered by high taxes. She promises a focus on education and criminal justice, where she sees a need for better drug treatment and re-entry programs for inmates to reduce recidivism.

Both McElroy and Hannon would cap property taxes. And on an issue that resonates in this district along the spine of Nassau County, they both want to see Industrial Development Agencies retooled to better serve the purpose of economic development.

But Hannon fills a key niche in Albany. Last year, for instance, after a Long Island anesthesiologist endangered patients by routinely reusing syringes and contaminating multiuse medicine vials, Hannon was influential in the push to strengthen infection control enforcement and to fashion a tougher, more open system of doctor discipline. Because of his insight on a range of issues, his effectiveness in passing useful legislation and especially his command of complex health care issues, the Newsday editorial board endorses Hannon.

District 7 (Northwest Nassau): Craig Johnson

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer helped state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Pt. Washington) wrestle this seat away from the Republicans last year in a hard fought special election, after Michael Balboni left to become the state's director of homeland security. Spitzer's gone, but the fight for this district is even nastier now, as Johnson seeks election to his first full term against GOP opponent Barbara Donno, the mayor of Plandome Manor.

The candidates have competing proposals on how to deliver property tax relief, but neither is totally realistic in explaining how taxes can be lowered while school spending remains at record levels.

Johnson, 37, a bankruptcy attorney and former county legislator, supports a property tax cap along with a "circuit breaker" provision that gives a tax credit based on income. While this would eliminate the inefficient and increasingly inadequate STAR rebate checks, he isn't specific on how the state would recoup the income lost through the circuit breaker.

Donno, 62, served nine years on the Manhasset school board and has an impressive record of community service, which she says put her in a better position to know the district's needs and solve its problems. She calls a property tax cap "a gimmick" and instead claims her property tax plan can continue STAR checks while increasing state aid to schools -- an increasingly unlikely prospect in the current economic downturn.

Both candidates support pension reform for new public employees but have the same knee-jerk opposition to a third track for the LIRR.

While Johnson still needs to work on his playing-well-in-the-sandbox skills, he has a sharp mind and a solid grasp of the state's fiscal challenges. Johnson is the better choice to guide development in Elmont and at Belmont Park. The editorial board picks Johnson.

District 8 (South Nassau, West Suffolk): Charles Fuschillo

During a decade in the Senate, Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) has made a reputation by attacking the major problems of smoking and drunken driving, even if it angered fellow Republicans.

Now, if his party can hold its majority, he would like to shift his focus from health and consumer protection to become chair of the Transportation Committee. This would be good for Long Island because as Fuschillo said, and we agree, "We need a greater share of the money for infrastructure capital programs."

His opponent, Carol Gordon, a community activist and former patient advocate at the Veterans Affairs, agrees that MTA funding is a priority issue, but says she doesn't know the details. On some other key issues, she disagrees with Fuschillo, but is similarly vague on fine points.

Fuschillo, for example, supports a property tax cap, but not a circuit-breaker provision, which he says would cost the state $2.5 billion in lost revenue. Gordon prefers to look into trimming high administrative costs in schools, school consolidation and changes in the tax assessment system, to achieve taxpayer relief. She says she's no expert on spending matters and would "convene a team of people who know more to study it and listen to what they say."

Fuschillo, 48, supports "member items" -- funds doled out to individual legislators to award to local organizations and agencies -- as an effective way to bring services that the government doesn't provide. Gordon says the money should go into one pot, and that agencies should apply for grants.

Gordon, 55, of Massapequa, would bring interesting credentials to the legislature, but her knowledge of issues seems skimpy. The energetic and effective Fuschillo gets the board's endorsement.

District 9 (Southwest Nassau): Dean Skelos

In taking on Dean Skelos, challenger Roy Simon has entered a contest against one of the three most powerful men in Albany. This is a first-time race for Simon, 59, a Democrat and Hofstra University law professor. He says he is running, in part, to make state government more accessible. The West Hempstead resident comes well-armed with policy prescriptions for boosting public transportation, reigniting the economy and shifting school funding to reduce property taxes.

Incumbent Skelos, 60 of Rockville Centre, rose to lead the Senate's Republican majority in June after 14 years as deputy leader. He has repeatedly corralled Long Island senators to vote as a bloc, and last spring they defeated former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposed 40 percent reduction in school funding for the Island. Skelos also led an effort in August to pass a package of school spending reforms that includes a 4 percent cap on annual school tax growth.

Simon argues that Republicans have been in charge for decades, and Long Island has close to the highest property taxes in the nation. To help pay for schools, he would raise income taxes on people making more than $1 million a year. Also, Gov. David Paterson has denounced Skelos' action on the tax cap -- even though it was Paterson's idea, the governor says Skelos moved too quickly, prohibiting a compromise with the Assembly.

In his new role, Skelos must think about achieving real change, not politically advantageous one-house bills. He is promising greater transparency in Senate deliberations, and we'll be watching to see that's so. Having a Long Islander lead the Senate during these challenging economic times is an important opportunity. The editorial board endorses Skelos.

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