Longtime Nassau legislator Arnold Drucker won't seek re-election

Longtime Democratic county legislator Arnold Drucker will not seek reelection in November to represent the district covering Jericho, Plainview, parts of Woodbury, Old Bethpage and Farmingdale. 

“It just hit me. It was time. It’s bittersweet. I love being a legislator — it is part of my identity — and representing the only community I have ever lived in,” Drucker, 69, an attorney from Plainview, told Newsday. He said  in a phone interview late Thursday he looks forward to traveling with his wife, Fran, and attending his grandchildren's sporting events. 

His decision comes as candidates begin circulating petitions to get on the ballot. While legislators in Nassau County typically serve a two-year term, voters will go to the polls again after only one year due to a change to the election cycle, bringing them into even years to coincide with federal elections. 

Nassau County Democratic Committee chairman Jay Jacobs in a statement called Drucker "a dedicated public servant and a strong advocate."

“Arnie has served with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to his constituents. I have every confidence that he will continue to make meaningful contributions to our community even beyond elected office,” Jacobs said. 

County Democratic Committee officials say they will back Jared Behr, 41, an attorney and former Suffolk County prosecutor, from Plainview. 

Behr in 2023 lost a challenge to Republican Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino. 

Nassau Republicans had targeted Drucker's seat as one they had hoped to flip in 2025, spending more money on that race in previous years and sending out mailers to residents nearly every other day. The district, which leaned Democratic, was reconfigured to include the edge of Farmingdale where there are more Republican voters. 

Republicans hold an 11-8 majority in the county legislature. Drucker ran in 2025 using new district lines after a court battle voided the 2023 county redistricting map.  

Drucker served 10 years on the legislature preceded by four years on the board of Nassau Community College. He was elected to the legislature in a 2016 special election to fill the vacancy left by Judy Jacobs, a five-term legislator and former presiding officer from Woodbury who died after a fall at the age of 77.

Drucker is currently serving his fifth term after beating Republican candidate Jennifer Gallub-Pravato in a hotly contested race last November. 

Gallub-Pravato, wife of Town of Oyster Bay Receiver of Taxes Jeff Pravato, was a first-time candidate who rented a walk-up apartment within the district she was running in while retaining the five-bedroom house in Massapequa, Newsday reported in September 2025.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.