Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker is taking issue with his Republican opponent Jennifer Garber’s past as a registered Democrat, while Garber claims the legislator is not as accessible as he says.
Drucker and Garber are running to represent the areas of Old Westbury, Roslyn Heights, Plainview, Old Bethpage, Jericho, Syosset, Woodbury and Hicksville in the 16th District.
Drucker takes issue with Garber running on the Republican line while having been a registered Democrat for most of her life.
“She’s a Democrat running as a Republican,” Drucker said.
He said that he had heard “from unofficial sources” that she had changed her party registration to Republican on Sept. 27, which Garber confirmed.
“I re-registered, because I don’t think the Dems are representing our views at a local level,” Garber said. “Even though I have differing ideas on a federal level, I think the Democratic Party is supporting the wrong things locally.”
Garber disputes Drucker’s pledge that he is accessible to his constituents outside of campaign season, taking particular issue with his “call-in” sessions.
“A major thing he touted in his advertising is his accessibility to constituents,” Garber said. “He has call-in hours, but they are phone interviews where only a limited number of people can call, and you have to pre-register. He’s only making himself available for certain hours. That’s not accessibility in my book.”
“I have had a dozen town halls, I have had 12 tax grievance workshops, I had half a dozen tax exemption workshops, I’ve had Narcan training, I’ve had a million things in my district, I’m all over the place,” Drucker said. “[Garber] is someone I’ve never even heard of. Most people don’t know who she is.”
Drucker also cited his legislative record, which saw him propose bills opposing fruit-flavored vaping cartridges, establishing civil damages for victims of revenge porn and implementing mandatory sexual harassment training around the county. The first measure was tabled and the latter two were approved.
Additionally, he says, he’s improved roads in his district. “I’ve had 22 miles of roads fixed,” Drucker said. “All the major arteries in and out have been redone.”
The legislator, a Plainview native who won his seat in a special election in 2016 after the death of Legislator Judy Jacobs, attended the State University of New York at Buffalo and Rutgers University Law School before opening his law firm in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Garber, also raised in and currently living in Plainview, completed her undergraduate work at the University of Connecticut, and attended Brooklyn Law School before practicing family law at the Law Offices of Anthony A. Capetola in Williston Park.
