Island Vote: Nassau County executive race

<p>Nassau voters will decide on a new county executive who will be tasked with taking on the decades-old two-headed monster of Nassau politics: Corruption and fiscal irresponsibility.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 3, 2017, 9:36 PM

Updated 2,359 days ago

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Nassau voters will decide on a new county executive who will be tasked with taking on the decades-old two-headed monster of Nassau politics: Corruption and fiscal irresponsibility.
Democrat Laura Curran and Republican Jack Martins are looking to replace outgoing Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.
Former state Sen. Martins says he’s the best person to take on corruption and fiscal irresponsibility.
“If you want somebody who’s going to be able to manage on Day 1, you want someone who’s got executive experience, left things better than they’ve found it … that’s what I’ve done,” says Martins.
County Legislator Curran maintains that her background and experience make her the candidate most likely to bring about change.
“We've had a year, over a year, of our elected officials being carted off in handcuffs,” says Curran. “The real question is how do we restore trust in government and who’s the right person to do it, and I truly believe I am the one.”
Most political observers agree that the race for Nassau County executive is too close to call and that the winner will likely be determined by who does the best job of getting out of the vote.

“Turnout is big,” says analyst Michael Dawidziak. “There are more registered Democrats than there are Republicans in Nassau County but they always have a huge challenge getting their base vote out in odd years.”

Dawidziak added that the X-factor in the race is the Trump effect and whether Long Islanders' strong feelings about the president affect voter turnout.


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