U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for New York’s 4th Congressional District, but two Republican candidates are vying to challenge her in November’s general election.
Cindy Grosz and Douglas Tuman are the Republican candidates in the district.
The 4th Congressional District is situated in central and southern Nassau County, including Floral Park, Garden City, Hempstead, Mineola, Carle Place, New Hyde Park and Westbury.
Grosz, a Long Island native who attended the Hewlett-Woodmere schools, is a columnist, radio personality and Jewish activist. She has written for publications including The Times of Israel and The Reactionary Times, and is a contributor and co-host on “The Jersey Joe Show.” She is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.
Tuman is the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead. His campaign platform centers around infrastructure improvements, making the community more livable for new families and the elderly and implementing solutions to global warming that align with capitalism.
If Rice wins November’s general election, it will be her fourth two-year term in office. The Garden City resident first beat Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman in 2014 after incumbent Carolyn McCarthy did not seek re-election, which left the Democratic seat open.
Rice’s top priority is helping school districts, small businesses, hospitals and nursing homes recover from the coronavirus pandemic, she told Blank Slate Media in an email.
She said that beyond providing these entities with “targeted financial relief,” she seeks to help them develop and implement plans to avoid recurrent coronavirus surges, as well as to combat future pandemics.
“Long Island is getting ready to re-open, and that’s a good thing,” Rice said. “But we need to make sure that our critical services and local municipalities have the tools they need to operate safely and successfully in the weeks and months to come.”
“We have to do more than just bounce back from this crisis, we need to learn from this experience and become more resilient in the same way that we did after Superstorm Sandy.”
Grosz said that she believes Rice to be “out of touch with her base” in the 4th Congressional District.
“If you compare the accomplishments of another Congressman from Long Island, Lee Zeldin, who is a Trump supporter like myself, you see how NY-04 is losing,” she said.
If elected, Grosz would be the “first religious Jewish congresswoman from either party,” she said. “NY-04 neighborhoods support Judeo-Christian values,” she asserted.
She has helped write legislation “for oversight in classrooms that demand fact over fiction lessons about Judeo-Christian values,” according to her website.
“I have been outspoken and have been working on rebuilding the black-Jewish relationship that Democrats have been destroying for years,” said Grosz. “During the quarantine, I have been involved in discussions to help small businesses in minority communities. I am personal friends with many of the black Republican candidates from all over the country and will work with them directly when we are all elected in November.”
Tuman is backed by the Nassau County Republican Committee.
His campaign platform centers around infrastructure improvements, improving representative democracy and making Nassau County a more affordable place for young families to live, he told Blank Slate Media on Tuesday.
He said that he believes that he would be more attuned to his constituents than Rice is, if elected.
“I don’t think she’s in the community very much,” Tuman said. “She’s in Washington, and not really in her district anymore. I would be in my district, and then going to Washington to represent my people.”
Since Tuman is the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead, which makes up much of the district, he is highly familiar with the communities he would be representing, he said.
In particular, he emphasized that he is familiar with the infrastructure of the communities, which he believes needs improvement. If elected, he would push to fortify the south shore by implementing measures such as installing floodgates. Such initiatives would save the district billions of dollars in potential damage from storms, he said.
“At the end of the day, what really separates me is first and foremost what a congressperson is supposed to do is advocate for their people, and I think we’ve lost sight of that,” he said.
Tuman also plans to take action to make Nassau County a more affordable place to live for young families living in the district or considering moving to the area.
“Nassau is a tough place to live, especially as a young person,” he said. “It has become difficult for young people to start here or to stay here, and I think it’s eroding the fabric of our community. There’s starting to be a bit of a brain drain, as people leave Nassau County and go elsewhere.”
He added that this is unfortunate for older generations in the district, who do not necessarily get to be near their children or grandchildren.
“It’s unfortunate for families as a whole. I think it’s important to make Nassau more affordable so families can stick together,” said Tuman.
In order to work toward this goal, he suggested measures such as simplifying the tax code and eliminating the federal tax cap on state and local property deductions.
“A lot of it has to do with the supply-demand problem with housing,” he added. “There simply isn’t enough housing.”
The last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the June 23 primary is June 16, and the last day to postmark such a ballot is June 23.
