54.0°,
Partly Cloudy Mejias: 'It's time for a change' in Albany
Former county legislator seeks victory in Democratic primary
Nearly a year after losing by less than 200 votes in his bid for a fourth term on the Nassau County Legislature, Dave Mejias is hoping to make an impact on the state level as he makes his bid to represent the 6th Senate District.
While the current Democratic majority has been the focus of statewide criticism, Mejias blames the problems in Albany on the Republicans, who had a Senate majority for decades. “New York state government is broken,” he said. “And after 34 years in office, Kemp Hannon has helped create the most dysfunctional state government in America.”
Mejias was the first Latin-American to be elected to the Nassau County Legislature. Raised in Farmingdale, he graduated from SUNY Albany’s School of Business and earned a law degree from Fordham Law School. He started his own law firm at age 26, and is now a managing partner of Mejias Milgrim & Alvarado P.C., which has offices in Hempstead and Glen Cove.
As a county legislator, Mejias sponsored legislation that toughened laws against sex offenders and that requires police to notify school officials of heroin-possession arrests. He said that longtime politicians like Hannon have had opportunities to reform Albany politics but have not succeeded. For Mejias, Albany reform means an overhaul of campaign finance policies and a nonpartisan redistricting process.
“We need to clean up the corruption and pass comprehensive reform in Albany,” he said.
