Our picks for Congress
FIRST DISTRICT 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.
SECOND DISTRICT
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.
THIRD DISTRICT
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 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.
FOURTH DISTRICT
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.
FIFTH DISTRICT
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 the refueling planes 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. How do we make these endorsement decisions anyway? On the Opinion page and online Wednesday, read about the board's process for deciding which candidates get our stamp of approval.
