Steven D. Rhoads

BACKGROUND

• Rhoads, 57, of Bellmore, is a registered Republican and is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines in the general election. He was elected in 2022 and is seeking a third term.
• He was elected to the Nassau County Legislature in 2015 and served until leaving for the Senate. Rhoads attended Wantagh public schools and graduated from SUNY Albany in 1991 and from Hofstra Law School in 1994. He worked in the Nassau County Attorney’s office and became deputy bureau chief of tort and civil rights litigation before leaving for private practice in 1999.
• Rhoads is a member of the Wantagh Fire Department, the Lions Club, Kiwanis and Knights of Columbus.

ISSUES

• Rhoads said his primary focus is on public safety and affordability. He co-sponsored legislation to repeal cashless bail and has supported restoration of judges’ discretion to keep violent offenders in jail pending trial. He said he has supported robust increases in police funding and opposes a new state law prohibiting local police agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
• Rhoads said he has sponsored legislation to address anti-Semitism and hate crimes, as well as legislation to protect children from addictive social media algorithms.
• He said he believes the explosive growth in the state budget and poor policy choices in Albany have contributed to New York’s affordability crisis. He said he has supported legislation to create tax-free savings accounts for first-time homebuyers, and a measure to repeal the state’s electric school bus mandate.