Ex-Marine fights 3-term incumbent in 13th Assembly District

Former Marine Corps officer and Iraq War veteran Robert Germino Jr. of Glen Cove is ramping up his campaign to unseat three-term state Assemblyman Charles Lavine in what could be a tough battle.

To encourage 13th District voters Germino has put up signs around the city of Glen Cove, including some informing voters: "We're going out of business! Lavine must go! He sponsored the MTA payroll tax. Hurry! Offer ends on Election Day!"

Not a simple process

But Lavine, 63, a Democrat who is also on the Working Families and Independence party lines, said, "Democracy is not a simple process. Government, which is full of checks and balances, often seems frustrating and unduly complicated. [But] understanding the complexities involved is essential to being an effective legislator. So is the ability to have the respect and trust of colleagues on both sides of the aisle."

Lavine, also of Glen Cove, and Germino are running in a district that has 38,784 registered Democrats, 26,895 Republicans and 20,568 unaffiliated voters.

The district is made up of Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Glenwood Landing, Bayville and Old Bethpage, as well as parts of Glen Head, Locust Valley, Mill Neck, Oyster Bay, Centre Island, Cold Spring Harbor, Syosset, Woodbury, Plainview, Bethpage, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Westbury/New Cassel, Jericho, East Hills, Greenvale, Roslyn, Roslyn Heights and Roslyn Harbor.

Germino, 30, a Republican who is also running on the Conservative Party line, said he is running because "Lavine has failed dismally" on his promise to "fix Albany."

"We sent him to fight the Sheldon Silver machine; instead he became part of it. Mr. Lavine votes in lockstep with [Assembly] Speaker Silver and the New York City Democrat bloc. He was the only non-New York City representative to sponsor the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax," Germino said, adding that such legislation forces schools, municipalities and businesses to pay the MTA more money for less service.

Fighting the 'machine'

Germino, who was picked as a top aide by the previous county executive, a Democrat, has continued in a similar role under County Executive Edward Mangano, a fellow Republican.

Germino, who graduated from Hofstra University in 2002 with a bachelor's degree, enlisted in the Marine Corps the next year, became a commissioned officer in 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in 2007. He was discharged in fall 2008 as a second lieutenant and is now a captain in the Marine Corps Reserve.

He has said that, if elected, he will fight the "Albany dysfunction," work to "reform the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and repeal the payroll tax," push for "property tax and spending caps" and "stop the mandates" burdening local governments.

"Let's not give Mr. Lavine a fourth opportunity to fool us," he said. "We need a bulldog and not a lapdog to battle the Sheldon Silver machine. . . . I'll fight for the people of the 13th A.D. and not the Lower East Side of Manhattan."

Lavine, a criminal defense lawyer who has stopped practicing since going to Albany, offers a litany of accomplishments in the Assembly: "I have delivered on-time budgets for five of my six years, [where] New York had not had an on-time budget for 20 years in a row before my taking office. I fight for reforms including impartial redistricting and for campaign finance reform designed to lessen special-interest money."

During the campaign, Lavine has leaned on his Assembly record to reach voters. He said he has received praise from environmental advocates and authored several bills that were passed, such as the Cold War Veterans Tax Exemption that reduces the property taxes of those who served in that period.

"I authored and got passed the red-light-camera law that saves lives at dangerous intersections and contributes $26 million to Nassau County's treasury - dollars that don't have to be added to our overburdened property tax bills," Lavine said.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1969 with a degree in English literature. He earned a juris doctorate in 1972 from New York Law School. He has been a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of New York, a partner with a Forest Hills law firm, and a sole practitioner in criminal defense. He served on the Glen Cove Planning Board and was elected to its city council.

Lavine raised $127,863.00 and spent $99,906, while Germino raised $14,572 and spent $4,992, both as of Oct. 1, the most recent financial filing date.