Fuschillo, Gordon vie for 8th District –– again

Community activist Carol Gordon, a Democrat from Massapequa, is once again challenging state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. in the 8th Senatorial District. Gordon last ran against the senator from Merrick in 2008.

The 8th District stretches from Baldwin Harbor to Suffolk County and boasts more than 325,000 constituents.

Gordon, 57, who left her job as a patient advocate with the Department of Veterans Affairs after 25 years in 2007 to run unsuccessfully for the Town of Oyster Bay Council, said she decided to seek elected office to help create a government that is “more responsive to the people.”

“I took a leap of faith and figured I could make a difference…” said Gordon. “I believe in things that should help people’s quality of life.” She said she would like to see more transparency in government, particularly at the state level. She added that, if elected, she would work to set up a network of community groups that would provide her with information on the salient issues affecting their lives. She noted that the foreclosure crisis could have been seen earlier if government had had its ear to the ground.

If elected, Gordon said, she would work to promote what she called “the people’s agenda.”

Fuschillo, 50, said he has a 12-year history of responding to constituents’ needs. Most recently, he said, he was instrumental in passing New York’s ignition interlock law, requiring DWI offenders to have ignition interlock devices installed on their vehicles, which they must blow into in order to start the engine. The breath test must be free of alcohol before the vehicle will start. Governor Paterson signed the legislation into law at Fuschillo’s Massapequa office over the summer.

Fuschillo has also worked with Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice to craft tougher anti-DWI legislation. And Fuschillo authored New York’s .08 law, prohibiting drivers from getting behind the wheel with a blood alcohol content higher than .08.

Over the summer, he also worked with his counterpart in the state Assembly, Republican David McDonough of North Merrick, to collect 5,000 petition signatures to oppose the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s recent, and highly unpopular, fare hike.