A strong ideological connection with the West Hempstead community could drive enough votes for an upset victory in November’s Nassau County election, a candidate for the Legislature told a small crowd here on Sunday.
Jake Scheiner hopes to be the Democratic nominee seeking the District 14 seat held by the GOP’s Bill Gaylor III. Republicans have a 12-7 majority in the Legislature. The district (formerly the 6th) was recently redrawn, but remains about 80 percent intact.
Scheiner, 28, a Lynbrook resident who is vice president at an insurance agency, has worked as an aide for Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and as a local director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He believes his advocacy work for Israel will be attractive to West Hempstead’s large Jewish community, which has a historically high voter turnout record. “I can perform stronger here because of my background and do better than any other Democratic candidate,” he said.
The election is currently in the petition-gathering process through April 6th, with the election slated for Nov. 7th. The district has 52,000 registered voters, of which about 15,000 are expected to turn out for the county race, Scheiner said.
Winning a majority of West Hempstead’s 9,876 registered voters could give him an edge in the contest, if he is the nominee, Scheiner said, and his Israel support gives him a solid chance of winning voters from both parties, as well as independents. “The road to victory literally goes through West Hempstead,” Scheiner said.
Claiming he’s “not your typical first-time candidate,” Scheiner said he’d be an advocate for better funding of the Nassau County Police Department, while speaking out against Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s affordable housing plan, which critics say bypasses local zoning authorities and municipal governments. He noted that an influx of apartments in suburban areas would lead to overcrowding in public schools with limited resources. Scheiner hopes to be seen as an independent Democrat unafraid to criticize members of the same party and their policies.
But Scheiner also vowed to take on the county’s Republican leadership that he said is committed to maintaining the status quo.
“He’s a young candidate who wants to hear from our community,” said Sergey Kadinsky, who hosted the meeting in his home. “It was an opportunity to share our concerns and brainstorm practical solutions on housing, taxation, public safety and other local matters.”
