Elaine Phillips, State Senate, 7th District

ELAINE PHILLIPS

REPUBLICAN

BACKGROUND

Phillips, 58, is running for a second term on the Republican, Conservative, Independent and Reform party lines. Phillips received both her bachelor’s degree in political science and her MBA from Penn State University. For more than two decades, she worked in finance, working at MetLife, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. She is a fifth-degree black belt and in 2009, she first became a volunteer instructor at Kwan’s Karate in Manhasset and recently resumed weekly teaching. She served as mayor of the Village of Flower Hill from 2012 to 2016 before being elected in 2016 to represent the 7th District in the State Senate. She lives in Flower Hill and is married with three children.

ISSUES

Philips said that in her first term, she achieved several notable legislative goals, such as sponsoring domestic violence abuse legislation, which keeps guns from known abusers. If re-elected, she said, she intends to continue advocating for residents and seeing through proposed legislation such as allowing select schools to opt out of being designated polling places. She said she is concerned about Long Island’s affordability and that she recently submitted legislation to allow more residents to obtain tax relief. She said she is proud of being able to deliver increased funding for the district’s schools, and for water and aquifer protection. Phillips said she has the experience to help handle upcoming “significant infrastructure projects,” such as the Long Island Rail Road's Third Track plans and the Belmont Park redevelopment. “It is my job to protect my constituents and I will be the person who will make sure that I hold the government and the LIRR accountable during that project,” she said.