At 37, Republican Edward Ra, of Garden City South, is seeking his fifth term.
In his first four terms, Ra has moved up fast in the minority conference in the Assembly. He now holds the No. 3 post in the leadership, and before that he was the ranking minority member on the Education Committee.
In a chamber dominated by Democrats, Ra has been an effective advocate for his district, working across the aisle on education standards and state testing as well as aircraft noise.
He opposes consolidation of school districts to reduce costs, but broke with Republican orthodoxy to support the Child Victims Act, which would extend the civil statute of limitations to 50 years old and the criminal statute of limitations to 28 years old for victims of sexual assault.
He opposes the Reproductive Health Act, which Democrats say would codify abortion protections provided by Roe v. Wade. Ra said the bill eliminates references and protections for the unborn and removes abortion from the New York penal law.
We disagree with Ra on the Reproductive Health Act, but give him high marks for promoting a nonpartisan state office modeled on the federal Congressional Budget Office to score the impact of pending legislation.
Ra is opposed by Billy Carr, 43, an electrician and resident of Williston Park, where he serves as a village trustee.
Carr said he considers affordability and the opioid crisis to be the No. 1 issues in his district. He also promised to bring more money in school aid back from Albany to help make his district more affordable.
Carr, who has served as a CYO volleyball coach, said he would seek to keep schools open later to allow more children to participate in sports as a way to combat opioid use.
He said he supported term limits on legislators to reduce government corruption, the Child Victims Act and a “red-flag” bill that would allow parents, teachers and police to pursue a court order to take guns from people considered dangerous.
We agree with Carr on many issues and believe he would bring a good deal of common sense to the job. But we believe he is lacking in knowledge on too many issues before the Legislature.
Blank Slate Media endorses Ra.
