Cast your vote for Fuschillo in 8th District

We appreciate the enthusiasm and sincerity displayed by the Democratic challenger in the race in the 8th Senate District, Carol Gordon, but we see no reason to replace the incumbent, state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Merrick.

The 8th District stretches from Baldwin Harbor out into Suffolk County. It is a socio-economically diverse district with myriad issues. Fuschillo has proven to be an effective, attentive leader during his 12 years in the Senate. He should be allowed to continue his good work.

Fuschillo has fought valiantly to toughen the state’s drunken-driving laws. He authored the .08 law, which prohibits drivers from getting behind the wheel with a blood alcohol content higher than .08 percent. He was also largely responsible for Leandra’s Law, which was signed by the governor at Fuschillo’s Massapequa office over the summer. The new law makes it a felony to drive drunk with a minor in the car and requires DWI offenders to equip their cars with ignition interlock systems, for which they must blow into a tube that measures alcohol on their breath. If the alarm sounds, they cannot drive.

Fuschillo has also recently worked to ensure that insurance companies cover the cost of autism treatments for young children. With autism on the rise, too many families are going broke trying to pay for breakthrough treatments.

Fuschillo is also good for business. He has long been a proponent and supporter of the Broadhollow Bioscience Park on the SUNY Farmingdale campus, which has kept high-tech bioresearch jobs on Long Island. And goodness knows, we need all the jobs we can get.

Beyond big legislation and projects, Fuschillo — and the highly competent team in his Massapequa office — are incredibly constituent-minded, fielding thousands of calls, and solving thousands of local problems, each year. Most recently, Fuschillo stood with a colleague, Assemblyman David McDonough, on local train station platforms to collect 5,000 petition signatures to protest the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fare hike proposal, which, if approved, will burden already overtaxed commuters.

We could go on and on, but we won’t. In short, vote for Fuschillo on Election Day.