Voters Guide: New York State Assembly, District 8: Michael J. Fitzpatrick 

MICHAEL J. FITZPATRICK

REPUBLICAN

BACKGROUND:

• Fitzpatrick, 65, of St. James, is running for his 11th term for New York’s 8th Assembly district, representing portions of Islip and Smithtown.
• Before joining the Assembly, he was a Smithtown Town Board member from 1988 through 2002. He is also running on the Conservative and Independence lines.
• He graduated from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. 

ISSUES:

• Fitzpatrick would modify bail reform law to “restore some discretion to judges to take into account dangerousness and threat to the community.” 
• He would keep New York City and the state’s high earners here with tax reform and ease pension burden for local governments with a focus on defined contribution plans for public employees. 
• He would remake the SUNY system as the University of New York, with a flagship institution at Stony Brook and a powerhouse football program driving revenues, state pride and a national brand. It is time, he said, to "make a splash in the higher education marketplace."