Gary B. Port, a lawyer and retired Army lieutenant colonel, is running for the state Assembly in the 19th District for the fourth time. He lost the first three races, but this time, he said, is different because of the district’s demographic changes and the importance of the election.
“This is the most important election since 1860,” Port, a Democrat, said. Getting as many Trump supporters out of office as possible is vital in Port’s mind. “Anyone who is a Republican and isn’t speaking against him has to go down,” he said.
Port said the Republican incumbent, Assemblyman Ed Ra of Franklin Square, was unwilling to speak out against President Donald Trump. Since there is a global pandemic going on, and the state and Nassau County face fiscal deficits, Port asked why Ra was not lobbying Trump and the federal government for assistance.
“Why isn’t he saying to the president that our people are dying?” Port said. “I haven’t heard jack from him.”
Port criticized Ra for writing opinion pieces in local news outlets criticizing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of schools. Port said Cuomo has done his best under the circumstances to make a plan to safely open schools and “bring people together.”
Ra told Blank Slate Media that he does not agree with Port’s characterization of him.
“Like nearly all Americans, I want Republicans and Democrats in Washington to put partisan differences aside and deliver a substantial aid package that makes school districts and local governments whole,” Ra said. “My opponent thinks that being a state representative means lobbing demands at the White House. I take my job more seriously than that.”
Ra also said he has distributed personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and meals to frontline workers in the district.
Ra has beaten Port three times, in 2012, 2014 and 2016. In the most recent of those elections, Ra received 61 percent of the vote to Port’s 38 percent. In 2014, the gap was wider, with Ra receiving 69 percent of the vote to Port’s 31, according to Ballotpedia.
Port claims that the partisan gap in the district has narrowed since then. He said it now contains roughly 30,000 Democrats, 35,000 Republicans and 24,000 independents.
Port is passionate about issues such as affordability, which he said he believes will worsen with the pandemic and economic recession. He sees a need to change some of the economic factors of the county. He said special districts and unfunded mandates are putting stress on municipal governments. He said special districts should be consolidated to alleviate the problem.
The 19th District take in parts of all three towns in Nassau County. It stretches as far north as Glen Head and covers parts of Old Westbury as well as most of Williston Park, Mineola, Garden City and West Hempstead.
Port also said school districts take up huge amounts of money. One reason for that, he said, is administrators’ large salaries.
“By the time you’re done with administrators you’ve got a million dollars in the school budget,” Port said.
He supports putting a cap on school administrators’ salaries, an opinion he acknowledged is probably not popular.
In a news release announcing Port’s intention to run, he pledged to work with the state Legislature to “combat the crushing financial burdens Long Islanders are facing such as debt from student loans.”
Port said taxes in the county are too high. He said he worries that the solution that communities come up with to fill the fiscal hole left by the pandemic is going to be to raise taxes even more and put more pressure on middle- and working-class people.
A better approach, Port said, is to create an equitable tax structure. He said he doesn’t believe taxing billionaires excessively is the solution either. If that happens, he said he thinks the ultra-rich will simply leave the area.
“You don’t want to just raise them on every group you can. There’s got to be class equity. At the same time, you can’t just raise them on the billionaires so much that they leave,” Port said.
On police reform, Port said some of the issues brought up by recent national protests have been what police have been talking about for years. Port said even before the protests he had known police officers who said they don’t feel equipped to deal with people suffering from mental health ailments and some domestic incidents.
“They’re not equipped for it. You became a police officer and you end up having to do something else,” Port said.
Port would like to see municipalities reallocate resources so police don’t have to be a catchall for every incident. He said social workers that are more suited for mental health situations could be a better response. Port said he would like to see a separate department for traffic enforcement as well.
Port served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for 28 years and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is a founding member of the law firm Port and Sava, which practices divorce and commercial law. He has also done legal work for veterans in the area.
He was an assistant professor at Hofstra and helped to set up the veterans legal service clinic, which provides free legal service to veterans in need. In particular, Port has assisted veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and substance disorders.
