Herald endorsement

Cast your vote for Ra in 19th A.D.

Posted

The Herald endorses Ed Ra, a Republican from Garden City, for the seat in the State Assembly’s 19th District that he has held for the past six years. In his most recent two-year term, we have not only seen Ra make a difference in his district, but we are also hearing about it from residents of the communities he serves.

Ra recognized years ago that the rollout of the Common Core State Standards was disastrous, and earlier this year he introduced a new agenda to revitalize educational standards. He recommended fully restoring the education cuts of 2010, eliminating the gap elimination adjustment and ensuring fair and robust education funding for our schools.

He has also been one of the few politicians who have been involved in helping alleviate plane noise on Long Island. He was instrumental in getting a law passed that required the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a study to examine the effects of plane noise due to recent changes in New York airspace. That study is also looking at ways to reduce such noise.

Ra is opposed to the Long Island Rail Road’s proposed third track, because, he says, there are too many other infrastructure needs in our communities, from road repair to water main replacement.

While we admire the many community efforts of his opponent, Gary Port — particularly his focus on helping veterans and on the third track, which he, too, opposes — we believe that Ra is better attuned to the needs of the community. The Herald would like to see him continue to represent it for another two years.