Village of Flower Hill Mayor Elaine Phillips said Tuesday she was considering a run for state Sen. Jack Martins 7th district seat after meeting with Republican members of the state Senate last week.
“With Senator Martins running for Congress, I am exploring a run for the state Senate and believe that, as a member of the Senate, I will be in a position to continue my work in the village to reduce property taxes, protect the environment and provide every child with an opportunity to succeed,” Phillips said in an email.
Martins filed FEC papers in January 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.
Phillips was re-elected for her third term as mayor of Flower Hill in March.
She said she went to Albany to meet with Martins and members of the Republican Senate Conference about a potential run for the 7th district seat.
Democrat Adam Haber announced in February he was stepping down from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority board to seek a second bid for the state Senate’s 7th district seat.
Since losing first time around to Martins in 2014, Haber, an East Hills restaurateur and former bond trader, said he has developed greater name recognition from his work on the NIFA board and as a Roslyn school trustee, which would give him an advantage in the race.
He is still the lone candidate to officially enter the race.
Efforts to reach Nassau GOP spokesman Michael Watt were unavailing.
