With Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) leaving her seat to run for Town of North Hempstead supervisor, the Legislature’s 10th district is an open contest.
But Democratic nominee Ellen Birnbaum (Great Neck) does not appear to be facing much competition.
Birnbaum, the Town of North Hempstead’s Director of Intermunicipal Coordination, is facing off against New Hyde Park-based accountant Jane Centrella (R), according to the candidate listing on the Nassau County Republican Committee’s Web site.
But Centrella is yet to leave a mark on the campaign trail.
“I have not seen or heard from her,” Birnbaum said. “The only thing I’ve heard is that she hasn’t agreed to come to the League of Women Voters debate.”
Neither candidate will be participating in the debate scheduled for Wednesday night, as the league requires all candidates to participate.
Birnbaum said she would have attended had Centrella joined the debate.
“Jane Centrella and [Ellen] Birnbaum will not be debating,” League of Women Voters spokesperson Lynda Adams said. “We have been able to reach [Centrella] just to find out she cannot attend.”
Adams also said Centrella was not scheduled to participate in the league’s Oct. 29 debate.
Centrella, who ran unsuccessfully for Town of North Hempstead Receiver of Taxes in 2011, did not respond to an interview request.
She also does not appear to have a campaign Web site, and has no legislative campaign committee registered with the state Board of Elections, according to the board’s Web site. Her candidacy links back to the county Republican committee, meaning that no information is available about her donors or expenditures.
Centrella’s apparent absence from the campaign trail has left Birnbaum with a one-sided contest as she seeks to represent the 10th District, which under a newly redistricted electoral map includes Great Neck, Herricks, Manhasset, North Hills and parts of North New Hyde Park.
“I’ve been doing a lot of door-to-door,” Birnbaum said. “I’ve been campaigning with other candidates as well, but a lot of it on my own.”
Birnbaum, who as of Sept. 30 had raised $13,253 from individual donations, partnerships and one $1,500 donation from a branch of the Service Employees International Union, had not yet spent money on the race by the end of September, according to her most recent campaign finance filing.
She said she would have another fundraising event on Oct. 24, and that donors had been receptive.
“It’s going well so far,” Birnbaum said.
In an interview, Birnbaum endorsed several policy positions she shares with Democratic County Executive candidate Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), including reforming the county’s tax assessment system, boosting downtown areas with transit-oriented development and expanding affordable housing.
When pressed on how she would address the county’s debt load, which has drawn criticism from state financial watchdog the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, Birnbaum said she would not support raising the county property tax levy, which has remained frozen under County Executive Edward Mangano’s (R-Bethpage) administration.
“Nobody wants to see increased taxes,” said Birnbaum, adding that she would prefer to cut waste and broaden the tax base to address the county’s financial issues. “We have to try to work with what we have and try to fix the problems.”
Birnbaum, who is running on the Democratic, Independence, Working Families and Green lines and has been endorsed by women’s groups and several unions, did stray from the Democratic party line when discussing the development of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Democrats have voiced reluctant support for Mangano’s recently announced deal with Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner, which would see the county receive a cut of revenues following a privately financed revamp of the aging area.
While Democrats have called the project insufficiently ambitious, Birnbaum voiced support for the partnership with Ratner.
“I think in this case private investment was the right way to go,” Birnbaum said. “I look forward to being part of an exciting new time in Nassau County where we’re creating key Long Island destinations.”
