Brian Curran falls to Judy Griffin in 21st Assembly District

Todd Kaminsky, Kathleen Rice, and Melissa Miller retain seats

Posted

Democrat Judy Griffin defeated incumbent Brian Curran in the 21st Assembly District in Tuesday’s election. Griffin, a Rockville Centre community activist and a former director of community outreach for State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, took 52 percent of the vote to unseat Curran, of Lynbrook, who garnered 47 percent.

“I’m thankful that Nassau County recognized that we could do much better,” Griffin told a crowd of about 300 people at the Garden City Hotel late Tuesday night.

Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, defeated Republican challenger Francis X. Becker, of Lynbrook, to keep his seat in the 9th Senate District. A former federal prosecutor, Kaminsky once again focused his campaign on ethics reform and ending corruption in Albany, which seemed to resonate with voters, as he earned 62 of the vote to Becker’s 38 percent.

The Democrats won enough seats to earn a majority in the State Senate, which means the party will control all branches of government when lawmakers return to Albany in January.

Garden City Democrat Kathleen Rice easily won re-election to her 4th Congressional District seat, defeating Bellmore Republican newcomer Ameer Benno.

In the 19th Assembly District, which includes West Hempstead, Republican Ed Ra fended off challenger William Carr, winning re-election with 56 percent of the vote to Carr’s 44 percent.