The choice is McCarthy in 4th Congressional District

Voters in the 4th Congressional District will choose between 14-year incumbent Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat, and Republican Francis X. Becker, a 14-year Nassau County legislator, on Election Day.

Campaigns are different for incumbents and challengers. An incumbent needs to convince the voting public — and the media — that he or she has done a good job and will continue to do so. A challenger needs to have a plan, needs to show how that plan would be carried out, and has to convince voters that he or she will do a better job than the incumbent.

In this race, we encourage voters to return McCarthy to an eighth term because we believe that she has been, and will continue to be, an effective representative. The District encompasses Baldwin, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Rockaway, Elmont, the Five Towns, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Garden City, Hempstead, Lynbrook, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Valley Stream and Westbury.

McCarthy knows how things work in the House of Representatives. She has learned how to compromise, and is a quiet but influential voice in Congress.

Don’t mistake her often soft-spoken demeanor for inactivity. She is chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, and serves on the Financial Services, Education and Labor committees, as well as other subcommittees. She has been instrumental in helping the young people of the district, and has held numerous hearings on childhood obesity, bullying and cyber-bullying. She has sponsored 50 bills, two of which became law, and co-sponsored 322, 20 of which became law. She has won each of the last three elections by a slightly wider margin.

A focus on gun control has paid off for McCarthy, who entered politics in 1997 on a one-issue platform. Two years ago she authored a bill that was signed into law, requiring the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to stop convicted criminals and those with a history of mental illness from buying guns.

McCarthy says that she votes with her conscience and believes in thinking outside the box, even if it makes her unpopular.