An interview with Brian Curran and Edward Ra

Western Nassau County will have two new state assemblymen come the new year, with Brian Curran and Ed Ra set to take office. Curran won the race for the 14th Assembly District seat, and Ra was victorious in the neighboring 21st District.

Now both are making plans to head to Albany in January, and vow to remember who sent them there — the residents of those districts. The soon-to-be freshman assemblymen are stepping into similar situations — replacing longtime incumbents who chose not to run for re-election. Curran, a Republican and the mayor of Lynbrook, defeated Democrat Dermond Thomas of Valley Stream to take Bob Barra’s seat. Barra served a decade in the Assembly.

Ra, a deputy attorney for the Town of Hempstead, will follow Tom Alfano, who represented the 21st District for 15 years. A lifelong Franklin Square resident and a Republican, Ra defeated Elmont community activist Patrick Nicolosi and third-party candidate Mimi Pierre-Johnson.

The pair have already begun to prepare for the transition. They traveled to Albany last week to elect their Assembly minority leader, and also had a few hours of orientation. “We started to get a feel of what Albany is and how it works,” Curran said. One of the things they will be deciding is who will work on their legislative staffs. Because they are both new to the Assembly, they won’t have as much money for staff than the veterans Barra and Alfano did.

Curran and Ra both say they want to allocate most of their resources to their local district offices, as opposed to Albany. The two also submitted their “wish lists” of committees on which they would like to serve. Ra said he put in for the Education, Labor and Wagering and Horse Racing committees. “Belmont Park is in my district,” he said, “and it’s a focal point of the community.”