The Point: Nassau GOP meet to be upbeat — no matter how masked
Nassau County GOP chairman Joseph Cairo. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Nassau Republicans gather Sunday at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale for their annual "kickoff brunch." The $175-per-ticket event ushers in a new election cycle. Expect the mood to be unusually upbeat, insiders say, coming three months after the surprising GOP surge in local elections across Long Island.
County chairman Joe Cairo and other party officials are bound to discuss who might run for what. All speculation is limited, however, by one yet-unanswerable question — how district lines for congressional, Assembly and State Senate lines will look. The State Legislature’s vote on proposed maps remains weeks away with nominations due next month.
Possibilities abound. If the lines are right, Assemb. Ed Ra, a resident of Garden City South, could make a bid for the Senate seat now occupied by Long Beach Democrat Todd Kaminsky. By all accounts petulant in the weeks after losing the race for district attorney to Anne Donnelly, Kaminsky has not officially said whether he will seek reelection; operatives in both major parties believe he will not.
Ra, representing what is now the 19th district, has gathered some seniority in Albany, formerly led GOP floor operations, and is ranking minority member of the key Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
At one time it was a clear step up for an Assembly Republican to go to the Senate, when that chamber was GOP-controlled or at least conducted by a bipartisan coalition.
Now that Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses, the best the party can achieve this year is to break that two-thirds grip, but they are highly unlikely to wrest the majority. Sent a message by The Point through his office, Ra didn’t offer a comment Friday on what he may choose to do.
Sunday’s fete is expected to attract the usual crowd of GOP rank-and-file, chairs, local club members, town, city and village officials, and contributors — potentially more if the recent ballot wins, such as in North Hempstead Town, boost participation. The top category of sponsorship listed on invitations is for $10,000.
As for plans, the Long Island Marriott website says "Signage throughout our hotels … remind guests to maintain social distancing," and that there are "occupancy limits and seating capacities reductions in our restaurants in compliance with local and state mandates, and partitions installed at front desks and food and beverage service lines."
In the restaurant, it’s "masks required at all times," and in the lounge, it says, "masks required for entry" in tune with state restrictions.
But with new County Executive Bruce Blakeman making much of his opposition to certain local COVID-19 restrictions, The Point sought to find out how mandatory mask-wearing might really be inside the locale at Sunday’s fete.
A GOP spokesman replied: "Masks will be available for use."
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
