Rebecca A. Kassay

BACKGROUND

• Kassay, 37, of Port Jefferson, is a registered Democrat and is running on the Democratic party line in the general election. She is seeking her second term in the Assembly.
• She served as a village trustee for four years and was deputy mayor for two
  of those years. She was director of a youth volunteer program at Avalon Nature Preserve in Head of the Harbor from 2011 to 2017 and ran a bed and breakfast before her election to the Assembly. 

• She received a bachelor’s degree in 2010 from SUNY New Paltz, where she majored in environmental studies and communications.

ISSUES

• Kassay said she is solution-oriented and that if reelected would continue to work cooperatively. She pointed to her work helping Brookhaven Town get funding to repair storm damage to Harbor Road and legislation she sponsored that helped preserve the Setauket–Port Jefferson Station Greenway.
• Kassay said she is proud of several environmental accomplishments, including helping obtain $20 million for expanded homeowner grants for installation of advanced septic systems. She also pointed to legislation she sponsored in the Assembly that added a required portion to the boater safety course that includes a section on whale awareness and how to avoid mammal strikes.
• She said she would continue to seek state assistance to help Suffolk County build more affordable housing, and increase recruitment of first responders and obtain low-interest loans for them.