Republican Congressional candidate Stephen Labate and Republican state Assembly candidate Edward Ra made pitches on their respective qualifications for office at the Albertson Civic Association on Tuesday night.
“I’m a dad and a soldier,” Labate told members of the Albertson and Williston Park Civic Associations in introducing himself
Labate said his concern for the future of his two young children are a prime reason for his candidacy for the Congressional seat in the reconfigured 3rd Congressional District.
“We’re on the precipice right now. We’re $16 trillion in debt. Government intrusion into our lives has never been greater,” he said. “What we’re doing to future generations is wrong. It’s damn wrong.”
Labata said he favored repealing the “Obama-care” national health act and preserving Medicare. He also called for tort reform and said the federal government’s focus needed.
“What we need to do as a federal government, what we’ve forgotten to do, is incentivize,” he said.
Labate said the Obama administration’s job stimulus effort to date had failed to create a significant number of jobs.
“We can’t depend on the government to do what we need for us,” he said.
He cited his 24 years of military service, including two tours of service in Iraq, at the beginning of his talk. He also alluded to it in closing, brandishing a key chain with dog tags and citing the tenets of the U.S. Army code of conduct, including loyalty, duty, respect, honor and personal courage.
Labate expressed concern about the prospective reduction of military expenditures in the next federal budget.
“You don’t have to be a 24-year military officer to render the importance of defense,” he said. “This is no time for a peace dividend when there is no peace in the world.”
Labata characterized himself as a “fiscal hawk” and said his positions on the issues represented a “stark contrast” to his opponent, Democratic incumbent Steven Israel.
When one civic member asked Labate whether it was true that Israel had conducted a “short sale” on a house he owned, Labate said it was true and criticized Israel for it.
“A ‘short sale’ in my opinion was never meant for a sitting member of Congress who between he and his wife make $300,000,” Labate said.
He said Israel’s house deal was an example of why only 6 percent of Americans have confidence in their congressional representatives.
In Nassau County, the 3rd District will include all or part of Oyster Bay, Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Roslyn, Williston Park, Floral Park and New Hyde Park.
The new 3rd District also encompasses the Queens neighborhoods of Whitestone, Beechhurst, Little Neck, Douglaston, Fort Totten, Bay Terrace and a portion of Bayside.
In introducing himself, Republic state Assembly Edward Ra began by explaining how he came to be running as the incumbent in the reconfigured 19th state Assembly District. The recent redistricting based on the 2010 census had relocated Republican incumbent Thomas McKevitt from the 17th state Assembly District, which formerly comprised most of the territory in the new 19th district, to a new district.
The 19th district includes New Hyde Park, the Willistons, Mineola, Albertson, Carle Place, and parts of Old Westbury, and Glen Head.
Ra cited his participation in the effort to reduce the multi-billion dollar state deficit in his first two years in office.
“Along the way, we adopted a tax cap that I think is going to have a positive long-term effect on reducing property taxes on Long Island,” he said.
He also cited the state legislature’s action to cut back on the MTA Tax and the recent state Supreme Court ruling that deemed the tax unconstitutional.
“One way or the other, we’re going to get rid of it,” Ra said.
He called for what he termed “set-asides” to enable small contractors to work with large industries on Long Island. He said the state needed to be more hospitable to new businesses.
“We’ve taken some good steps through the past two years. We’ve turned the corner,” he said.
He described himself as a lawyer currently in private practice and described he and his wife as “a young couple trying to make do on Long Island.”
Ra said his private life informed his public positions on issues, saying, “Every vote I take, I try to look through those glasses.”
Edward Scott, president of the Albertson Civic Association, said he was unsuccessful in efforts to invite Israel and Daniel Ross, Democratic candidate for the 7th state Senate District seat.
Justin Burke, aide to Republican Sen. Jack Martins, apologized to the civic association members for Martins’ absence at the meeting. He said Martins was part of a group of local officials attending the presidential debate at Hofstra University.
