A veteran political employee makes his first run for office. Find out his plan.

It may be his first attempt at public office, but Jake Scheiner isn’t a typical political neophyte.

Candidates throughout Nassau County were announced in late April, including county and town seats. Scheiner, a Democrat, is running against Republican incumbent C. William Gaylor III for the 14th Legislative District seat.

The newly-redrawn 14^th Legislative District is comprised of Malverne, West Hempstead, Lynbrook, East Rockaway, and Lakeview, and small portions of Valley Stream and Oceanside.

Gaylor, of Lynbrook, was elected to the seat in 2015 with a significant 63 percent of the vote, and reelected in 2019.

Despite the uphill battle against a popular incumbent, Scheiner, 28, said his experience in government makes him a viable candidate.

“I’m not like a typical first-time candidate,” Scheiner said. “I have a pretty strong background in government.”

Scheiner worked for former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi and served as Suozzi’s campaign manager in 2018. Scheiner is a former director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and currently vice president of Simon Paston & Sons Agency, a Lynbrook insurance company.

“Everything I’ve done in my career has led me to this moment,” Scheiner said.

In a statement to the Herald, Gaylor said he will continue his years-long work fighting for families and cutting taxes.

“The policies coming out of Albany are threatening our suburban way of life, including the Governor’s continued attempts to override local control with her high-density housing plans and the lack of any meaningful change to bail reform,” Gaylor said.

“These are all issues I intend to continue fighting,” Gaylor added. “Here on our local level, I have never voted for an increase in property taxes, and I will never vote for a budget that does. I will continue to make sure our police officers have all the resources they need to address crime and keep our communities safe.”

Scheiner said his top priority is to keep taxes low by fixing Nassau’s tax assessment system. He also wants to reduce the fine for red-light camera violations. Scheiner said a red-light ticket in New York City or Suffolk County costs much less than what motorists are billed for in Nassau.

“The fact that Nassau County charges three times the amount that New York City charges means it’s no longer truly about public safety — it’s about money,” Scheiner said. “It’s a back-door tax.”

Scheiner said he wants to increase safety by supporting law enforcement. “The far-left members of my own party, I believe, are dead wrong about crime,” he said. “No one wants to live in fear, and I will do everything I can to protect law enforcement.”

To help restore the public’s faith in government, Scheiner said he wants to implement a process that allows constituents to vote on how to spend a small portion of the budget. Voters would decide how to spend the roughly $300,000 in Community Revitalization Program money, which is discretionary spending.

“Residents should have a voice in how their money is spent,” Scheiner said. “It would give people a buy-in to government. When people are invested, they actually feel like they are part of their community and the process, and that restores the trust.”

Scheiner said he was born and raised in Hicksville and lives and works in Lynbrook.