John K. Mikulin for Assembly District 17

Since being elected to the Assembly in 2018, John K. Mikulin has concentrated on constituent services and being a voice for the interests of his district's residents.

The 38-year-old Republican said the role of the minority caucus is to ask tough questions that can improve bills offered by the majority, a role he embraces particularly as a member of the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee.

He said language tweaks for a bill on stickers placed on natural gas ovens and changes to a rule regarding retainers for real estate agents simply made the legislation better for all New Yorkers.

Mikulin, of Bethpage, is also on the Election Law Committee and voted against this year's change to state law that moved local elections to even-numbered years. A bill he introduced this year requiring a signature and government-issued photo identification for both voter registration and when voting failed to make it out of committee.

Amid heavy attention on national politics, Mikulin is trying to bring the focus back to local concerns in his campaign, like the proposed path of the Empire State Trail. Right now, the walking and biking path is planned to pass through a residential area in his district, behind Long Island Motor Parkway in Levittown. He is exploring alternative routes so the trail can be built without inconveniencing residents.

He introduced several bills to toughen penal law where he thinks bail reform went too far, like jail time requirements for those who violate orders of protection. Another was a proposal mandating life in prison for anyone who recklessly causes the death of a minor, after a 12-year-old was killed by a stray bullet in August while riding his bicycle outside a bodega in the Bronx. Neither measure has advanced, like many of the bills Mikulin proposes.

Still, there are other important ways for lawmakers to make an impact. Nassau University Medical Center is in Mikulin's district and, despite his opposition to the state takeover, his attention and years of pushing for funding have been welcome. He should be persistent about his pledge to get an improved maternity ward reopened. On another major challenge in his district — the Bethpage plume — he should continue advocating for remediation, including the additional cleanup needs that emerged at Bethpage Community Park.

East Meadow Democrat Sunita J. Lofters, 66, is not actively campaigning and did not meet with the editorial board.

Newsday Opinion endorses Mikulin.