Challengers step up to replace Alfano

    No sooner had Assemblyman Tom Alfano (R-North Valley Stream) announced his retirement than a handful of likely candidates sprung up to take his place. Almost immediately after the announcement was made, Ed Ra, the republican nominee from Franklin Square, had campaign signs up around town.
    Mimi Pierre-Johnson, the candidate who currently has the county Democratic nod for the position, accepted that role just days after Alfano admitted he would be stepping down at the end of his term.
    It’s no surprise that in communities as politically- and civic-minded as Elmont and Franklin Square, that candidates would quickly take to the campaign.
    Pierre-Johnson, current president of the Argo Civic Association, said she believed herself to be in the best position to take over for Alfano because of her strong community roots and the network she’s already established.
    “I’m a voice for the people, and I believe out of the voices that I have heard, I am the only candidate who can unite the people and the government,” Pierre-Johnson said. “I know these people, and it’s not just listening to their stories that’s important. You also have to understand where they’re coming from.”

    Pierre-Johnson said that she felt confident in her chances to take over the position, and even more confident in her ability to get Albany’s attention focused on Elmont.
    Another community activisit, Patrick Nicolosi, president of the Elmont East End Civic, represents an interesting blend of idealogies, one that he believes represents the entire district. Nicolosi, who will be fighting to get the 500 signatures necessary to force a Democratic primary between himself and Pierre-Johnson, said that as a fiscal conservative, he represented the right kind of voice for the district.
    “The person that’s going to sit in that seat needs to be a Democrat,” Nicolosi said. “If you put a Republican in that seat, it’s going to set this community back a decade or so.”
    Nicolosi has long been a strong voice for getting rid of government redundancy in Nassau County, and creating what he calls a “common sense” tax code. He said the most important thing people need to remember is that state government in particular needs to be a representation of the will of the people, not what one party or another thought was for the best.
    Attempts to reach Republican candidate Ed Ra were unsuccessful as of press time.

Comments about this story? MHampton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.