Maher defeats Ovadia in Democratic primary

Pat Maher edged out Stephanie Ovadia in the primary election last week for the Democratic nomination in Nassau County’s 13th Legislative District.

According to results released by the Board of Elections, Maher defeated Ovadia by a narrow vote count of 455 to 417.

The county’s Democratic party had endorsed Ovadia as its candidate to vie for the 13th District seat currently occupied by longtime Republican Legislator Norma Gonsalves. The 13th Legislative District includes East Meadow, Salisbury and portions of North Bellmore and North Merrick.

The race became heated in the days leading up to the election when the Democratic Committee sent out campaign literature that questioned Maher’s party allegiance. Maher fervently denied the claims contained in those advertisements.

With her victory, Maher is now the Democratic nominee to face Gonsalves in the November general election.

Following the defeat, Ovadia said she was uncertain about her future in politics. However, the attorney plans to continue practicing law in East Meadow and remain active within the community.  As she mentioned during her campaign, Ovadia said she still plans on hosting a forum on educating parents about social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

“I thank the community for their support,” Ovadia said. “Everybody was fabulous. I am proud to be a resident of Nassau County and the 13th District.”

Maher, who considers herself an “independent Democrat,” also thanked her supporters, but acknowledged that she must immediately launch her next campaign for the seat.

Maher is the director of development and community education for the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island, a not-for-profit health care foundation.

“If elected, I am committed to lowering property taxes by working to consolidate duplicate government services, scrutinizing the County Budget, streamlining government, fighting against unfunded mandates and expanding our tax base,” Maher said. “I support projects such as the Lighthouse, which will create jobs and housing for the young.”

Maher, who said she would use her legislator salary to open a walk-in district office for constituents, hopes to educate citizens on what she believes are important projects for the county’s future.

 “I believe that progression and change is good for Nassau County,” Maher said. “It will expand our tax base, attract educated workers to the County and new businesses in the manufacturing and technology fields.”

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