Republicans eye Kaminsky's seat, and Kaplan's too

Daily Point

Blood in water for SD9?

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, beaten soundly in his run for Nassau County district attorney two weeks ago, is less than a year away from his next election challenge, should he choose to defend his South Shore seat.

But it’s not entirely certain that he will again seek the seat, which had been reliably Republican under former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.

Kaminsky was badly bruised by DA-elect Anne Donnelly thanks to his involvement with unpopular bail-reform legislation and suffered from a brutal environment for Democrats.

The consensus right now is that the rage that translates into a political advantage appears more likely to fuel Republican wins again in 2022 than a Democratic surge.

A real battle for a wide swath of State Senate seats could be in the offing, and Kaminsky’s seat could be a high-profile target.

Nassau County GOP chairman Joseph Cairo told The Point he is cautiously optimistic about his party’s chances next November and sees Kaminsky and other Long Island Democrats as vulnerable. The Republicans were also heartened by the victory of newcomer Mazi Melesa Pilip over incumbent Democrat Ellen Birnbaum in the Nassau 10th District legislative race. Cairo said it’s part and parcel of the inroads his party is making in the Jewish community, particularly among highly observant and immigrant communities, and it has the GOP pondering a serious challenge to State Sen. Anna Kaplan.

Cairo wasn’t willing to go on the record with GOP names that might challenge either candidate, saying the party is too busy right now finishing up counts while its winners prepare to tackle office, but some names are already being tossed around for a run at Kaminsky, including:

• Atlantic Beach State Assemb. Missy Miller, who has traditionally done well even among Democratic voters.
• Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, who comes with the broad power base and strong connections of a family steeped in politics and the Hempstead Republican crowd.
• Chris McGrath, an attorney who ran against Kaminsky in April and November of 2016, losing both times.

Kaminsky did not respond to a request for comment. But county and state Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said he expects Kaminsky to run, and win.

"Todd has won four elections for that seat, and he’s done a good job for the district," Jacobs said. "They can only hit him on bail reform effectively for so long, and I think it’s about played out. They’ll keep trying with it, of course, but I don’t think it will keep working."

On the political effectiveness of the bail-reform play, a large crowd of Democratic state legislators is hoping Jacobs is right, but a similar number of Republicans say they’re betting he isn’t.

— Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

Post game in Nassau

The big news out of paper-ballot counting in Nassau on Tuesday was County Executive Laura Curran’s loss to Bruce Blakeman by 2,150 votes. But absentee counting hasn’t been all bad for the party, with two come-from-behind wins for the Democratic caucus by Nassau legislators Arnie Drucker and Josh Lafazan.

Lafazan, a Woodbury independent, says that he’s waiting to do a deeper dive by election district but is already gratified that he appears to have won absentees outside those registered to the Democratic Party.

The lawmaker shared close-to-final absentee ballot info for the district showing 612 returned absentees from Democrats, 355 from Republicans, 176 from blanks, and 43 from minor parties.

Since he went into election night down 245 and is now up around 220, that suggests he gained votes from the non-Democratic lines.

It’s an inexact estimate at this point, partially because final data wasn’t immediately available from the county election board, and also because it’s unclear how many Democrats voted absentee for Republican Paolo Pironi.

But Lafazan called the win a "validator" of the kind of bipartisan elected official he wants to be.

County GOP spokesman Mike Deery decried Lafazan’s victory lap "boast" given his slim win. "Clearly, not a mandate for an incumbent."

Yet Nassau Democratic leader Jay Jacobs was still breathing a sigh of relief. Asked if he noticed any patterns about Lafazan and Drucker’s late wins, he emailed, "I noticed we won! After this election cycle I’ll take that."

As for Drucker, the Plainview Democrat said he couldn’t speculate about his win yet without full raw data. He was just "happy with the results" from the total numbers he got Monday late afternoon.

By Tuesday, when he spoke briefly with The Point, he was in Florida. Trying to "decompress for a few days," he said.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Pencil Point

Getting away with it

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Final Point

Next Stop: Elmont

Tuesday marked a rare moment for Long Island, one that brought together an odd coupling of transit workers, hockey fans and elected officials, and one that celebrated a long-awaited public project actually getting done on the Island.

The opening of the new Elmont Long Island Rail Road station — the first new LIRR station to open in nearly 50 years — began with a smooth, celebratory 10-minute train ride from Jamaica to Elmont, as a few invited fans chanted "Let’s Go Islanders" and New York Islanders owner Jon Ledecky, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief executive Janno Lieber, Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin and a group of elected officials, union leaders, former players and others rode into the new station, where they were met by team mascot Sparky and others.

And then, after a series of speeches, they cut a ribbon that read "New LIRR Elmont Station." The MTA board is expected to approve a name change for the station Wednesday that would include both Elmont and UBS Arena in its title.

The cast of characters that gathered Tuesday has come together in Elmont several times over the last several years, for announcements, hearings and, two years ago, the groundbreaking of the nearby UBS Arena at Belmont Park. Many of them likely will gather again on Friday, when the arena is scheduled to officially open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony of its own.

Two years ago, it was former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who stood in the middle of a long line of dignitaries, all holding golden shovels, to break ground on the arena. Tuesday, it was Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin cutting the ribbon with a similar crew — albeit with a few notable additions and one particularly notable absence.

No one mentioned Cuomo’s name, even though the planning and construction of both the arena and the station began under his watch.

Some elected officials, like State Sens. Anna Kaplan and Leroy Comrie and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, got to both break ground in 2019 and cut the ribbon Tuesday.

Others who weren’t included two years ago got their recognition now. Cuomo didn’t include State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, who also represents the area, in the 2019 ceremony. This time around, Kaminsky got his chance to speak.

The station, first announced in July 2019, was completed on time and on budget — a phrase that also has been rare until recently.

"The old MTA, no one would have bet on a project of this magnitude getting done in a single year in the middle of a pandemic," Lieber said.

Then there’s perhaps the biggest change for Long Island — and for the Islanders — that Belmont reflects: the notion that long-discussed plans finally were becoming a reality.

"It’s a very rare thing in government to go from talking about something and having a vision to actually being there when it’s done," Kaminsky said.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

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