Democrat Adam Haber announced Saturday he would step down from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority board and seek a second bid for the state Senate’s 7th district seat — this time, he said, with a different result.
Since losing first time around to current state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) in 2014, Haber said he has developed greater name recognition from his work on the NIFA board and as a Roslyn school trustee, which gives him an advantage in the race.
“I’ve learned, unfortunately and fortunately, that a lot of it is name recognition,” he said. “My work in the community with charities, the school board and NIFA, that will really help with my name recognition.”
Martins filed FEC papers last month to create a campaign committee to run for the 3rd Congressional district’s seat just two days after U.S. Rep. Steve Israel announced he would step down at the end of his term in November.
The Old Westbury resident and former Mineola mayor had been considering a congressional run for several months and began discussing it more seriously after Israel’s announcement, campaign strategist E. O’Brien Murray said.
Haber, an East Hills restaurateur and former bond trader, is the first candidate to officially announce he would run for state Senate.
The 7th state Senate district includes Mineola, Roslyn, Westbury, New Hyde Park, Williston Park, Garden City Park, Manhasset, Great Neck, Port Washington and parts of Floral Park, Franklin Square, Elmont, Valley Stream, Carle Place and Hicksville.
Haber said one of the biggest issues he sees in the campaign is the need to fight corruption in the political system.
“In NIFA, I was able to see deeper into how government functions on an executive level,” he said. “I realized that the corruption is systemic and there is a lack of understanding of how to run things financially for the benefit of the people.”
After a jury found former Republican state Sen. Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, guilty on all bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges, Haber said it “excited” him to enter into the race.
He added that corruption makes him “nauseous.”
Haber gained notoriety in 2013 for receiving 41 percent of a primary vote against former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Edward Mangano for Nassau County Executive. Mangano defeated Suozzi by 18 percent of the vote in the general election.
Haber said part of his work serving on the NIFA board has been to improve the county’s finances, which includes helping “streamline the contract process and make it more transparent” and subjecting the county’s budget to a quarterly review.
NIFA voted on Dec. 4 to move forward with the county’s 2016 budget, on the condition that the county meet quarterly targets to fully close an $81 million deficit.
Haber said it was the first time such a plan had been implemented.
He said he be stepping down from his role with NIFA after the board’s March 2 meeting to focus on his state Senate run.
Similar to his 2014 campaign, Haber said, public education was still a major issue.
“We don’t get the resources for public education on Long Island that the rest of the state gets,” he said. “I’m going be the guy kicking and screaming the loudest saying ‘we need these resources for our kids.’”
While Haber said he was not sure how much money he had left over from his 2014 campaign, Senate Democratic spokesman Michael Murphy said he had “close to” $100,000.
Haber added he would begin fundraising next month.
“It will be a fully funded campaign that is only going to take money from people who want good government and don’t expect personal favors, because that’s not going to happen,” he said.
“I’m committed to do this because I love where I live. I’ve seen how my efforts have helped in other areas,” he added. “When people start believing in local government, they’ll start investing again. I want to see Nassau County succeed and thrive again.”
