Former Maryland governor headlines Grechen Shirley event

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary for president, will headline an Old Westbury fundraiser Tuesday night for Democratic congressional candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley.

Grechen Shirley, 35, a Babylon Village resident, is running to unseat Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) in New York’s Second Congressional District. She will face Suffolk presiding officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Copiague) in a June 26 primary.

Tickets for the reception range from $100 to $2,700. Grechen Shirley, who announced her candidacy in October, raised more than $126,000 through the end of last year. The next filing deadline for campaign disclosure reports is Sunday and covers the first three months of 2018.

O’Malley runs Win Back Your State, a Political Action Committee that supports state and local Democratic candidates. The PAC’s website highlights candidates running for offices, including races for Iowa governor, Nevada lieutenant governor and county executive for Howard County, Maryland.

In a statement, O’Malley called Grechen Shirley, “exactly the kind of fresh voice we need in Washington. She is a proven leader, both on Long Island as a community organizer and around the world as a development expert.”

Other scheduled guests were Diane Yatauro, a former presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, and Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove).

Gregory spokeswoman Daniele de Groot said, “DuWayne has thousands of supporters locally and will proudly pit his support from Long Island elected officials, community leaders, and local organizations against the former Governor of Maryland. We’re not surprised that our New York City opponent had to call in out-of-town support.”

King said in an email, “Tell Martin I say Hello and as for any dispute between the Democrats they can fight it out amongst themselves.”

Shirley, in a statement, called O’Malley “a dedicated public servant and national progressive leader.”

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.