Presidential candidates bring battle to North Shore

Noah Manskar

The race for the White House took center stage in Nassau County over the past week, as nearly every presidential candidate made Long Island stops leading up to New York’s April 19 primary election.

The flurry of activity is unusual, as New York has never played such a large role in both the Republican and Democratic primaries, Nassau Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs said.

“Now when we go to the polls to vote, which we’re going to do, it isn’t just fulfilling our civic duty,” Jacobs said. “It is actually engaging it something that will matter.”

Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich started the week of stumping with April 4 town hall events at Hofstra University and the Paramount in Huntington. He’ll also speak at Great Neck Synagogue on Saturday.

Former President Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, at the Vault nightclub in Elmont on April 5, flanked by U.S. Rep. Steve Israel of Huntington.

Israel joined Hillary Clinton at a discussion on gun violence at Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington Monday before stops Newsday’s Melville office and a Democratic fundraiser in Holbrook.

GOP frontrunner and Queens native Donald Trump followed with an April 6 rally at Grumman Studios in Bethpage. As is common at his rallies, a group of about 200 protestors gathered outside.

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas did not visit Long Island, but Cruz’s wife Heidi stumped for him at his campaign’s Mineola office Monday afternoon between stops in Melville and Bellmore.

Sanders held campaign events in New York City and upstate.

New York’s primary plays a crucial role in both races, as Cruz and Kasich try to staunch Trump’s momentum and Sanders tries to maintain his after winning eight straight contests. Trump and Clinton hold significant leads in recent state polls.

Jacobs, a Clinton supporter, said he thinks the campaigning “helps energize the whole political process.”

“It certainly helps motivate the voter turnout and I think you’re going to see a larger than usual primary vote, which is good,” he said.

 

Reach reporter Noah Manskar by e-mail at nmanskar@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @noahmanskar and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.

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