Nassau will have 4 state legislative primaries; Suffolk will have 2 primaries
Voting booths at the Great Neck House in Great Neck during early voting on Nov. 2, 2023. Credit: Dawn McCormick
ALBANY — Nassau County will have four Democratic primaries in June for state legislative seats, officials said Thursday as the counties around New York State finalized their ballots.
Suffolk County will have a Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District between John Avlon and Nancy Goroff; the winner will take on Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville). Also, in the 4th Assembly District, Skyler Johnson, head of the Suffolk County Young Democrats, will face Rebecca Kassay, the Port Jefferson deputy village mayor, in a Democratic primary.
This is the week for state and county election officials to certify ballots — deciding who qualified or who did not by gathering enough petition signatures — for the June 25 primaries.
On Wednesday, the state Board of Elections took action on a host of contests, including disqualifying several hopefuls who wanted to enter the Democratic or Republican primaries for U.S. Senate and clearing the field for the party-backed candidates, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican Mike Sapraicone.
Locally, Nassau was set to certify Democratic primaries for two Assembly districts and two State Senate seats, Democratic Elections Commissioner James Scheuerman said Thursday.
In the 6th Senate District, two Democrats will battle to replace State Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Levittown), who is not running for reelection: Assemb. Taylor Darling (D-Hempstead) and Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe, of Westbury.
The district is considered the most overwhelmingly Democratic Senate district on the Island.
A third candidate, Carmen Pineyro, was disqualified for a lack of valid petition signatures, Scheuerman said. Would-be candidates can try to sue through state courts to get back on the ballot.
In the 7th Senate District, Kim Keiserman, a North Hempstead housing commissioner, will run against Brad Schwartz, a former television and film editor. The winner will take on State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) in a district in which Democrats have an enrollment advantage.
In the 21st Assembly District, a swing district, Judy Griffin, of Rockville Centre, is trying to run for a seat she once held. But first, she must face Pat Maher, of Baldwin, in a primary. The winner will face Assemb. Brian Curran (R-Lynbrook), who unseated Griffin in 2022.
With Darling running for State Senate, two Democrats have qualified to run to replace her in the overwhelmingly Democratic 18th Assembly District: Noah Burroughs, a Hempstead Village trustee, and Lisa Ortiz, president of the Lakeview Library Board.
Editor's note -- An earlier version of this story omitted the 4th Assembly District primary in Suffolk County, because of incorrect information provided to Newsday.
