Nassau Dem Committee gives boost to Raynor's bid to oust Hooper
Deputy Assembly Speaker Earlene Hooper during a school board meeting at Hempstead High School on Aug. 13. Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz
Following through on a promise, the Nassau County Democratic Committee has given a significant money transfusion to a challenger trying to unseat longtime Assemb. Earlene Hooper in a party primary.
The committee has supplied $30,818 to the campaign of Taylor Raynor, a business analyst and Hempstead education activist. That means Raynor has $43,000 on hand for the final month of the campaign – considerably more than the $9,748 Hooper reported in a campaign-finance statement filed this week. The primary is Sept. 13.
Backing a challenger to an incumbent is an extraordinary step for a county committee.
But Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs said he would so following an outburst by Hooper (D-Hempstead), the deputy speaker, in which she accused Raynor of benefiting from “plantation” politics. Raynor and Hooper both are African-American. The video was posted online by several news outlets.
Jacobs said Hooper should apologize; she didn’t. Hooper, an incumbent since 1988, accused Jacobs of propping up Raynor’s campaign.
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