Mario R. Mattera for State Senate District 2
State Sen. Mario R. Mattera (R-St. James) is running for reelection. Credit: James Escher
Find out the candidates Newsday's editorial board has selected on your ballot: newsday.com/endorsements2026
Republican Mario R. Mattera, 63, of St. James, is seeking his fourth term in the State Senate. This year Mattera faces Democrat Harjot Singh, 50, of Dix Hills, a lawyer and small-business owner who is making his first run for elected office.
Mattera has a labor background, boasting decades of leadership in Plumbers Local Union No. 200. From the GOP minority in the Capitol's upper chamber, Mattera raises oppositional questions about the energy policies under the Democratic Party's control that need to be answered.
He challenges the planned Propel transmission line until an energy source can be identified. He sees the state's ambitions of green energy goals and quick pressure for EV school buses as impractical and even counterproductive.
He voted against the bill calling for a moratorium on AI data centers, for fear the state will fall behind in the new technology.
On the state budget, Mattera emphatically echoes the GOP legislative minority's essential suburban and rural upstate messaging when he protests that after the legislature voted on a $268 billion budget, billions more were committed to close deficits in New York City and other cities.
Mattera pays close attention to infrastructure, a prevailing issue in the 2nd District. He emphasizes the need to speed up sewer construction to allow for new housing, and is committed to channeling available funds to build sewers. He championed the state funding to replace Asharoken's deteriorating seawall and to raise the main road where flooding is a regular threat. Mattera prioritizes and keeps watch on developments at the former Lawrence Aviation Industries site in Port Jefferson as potential new uses are considered.
Mattera is a presence in his district and responsive to local needs.
Singh, a graduate of Boston University's law school, is an attorney with his own practice in Hicksville and in South Richmond Hill in Queens focused on immigration, business, real estate and family law. In our interview Singh's most salient message was constructive but general: Develop housing and high-tech jobs to keep another crop of educated young adults from leaving Long Island.
"Our children are leaving Long Island. They are being priced out. They can't afford to live on Long Island," Singh told the editorial board. To bring industries like biotech and semiconductors here, he said, "first we need to create housing."
Like many others running for office, he would like to see the tax burden lightened on the middle class to make things more affordable.
Newsday Opinion endorses Mattera.
ENDORSEMENTS ARE DETERMINED solely by the Newsday editorial board, a team of opinion journalists focused on issues of public policy and governance. Newsday’s news division has no role in this process.
