This is McElroy's first campaign for elected office.
The two candidates are vying to represent a district that encompasses Franklin Square, West Hempstead, Lakeview, East Meadow, Salisbury, Garden City and Hempstead, among other areas.
The incumbent
Hannon, 62, said he is running for re-election to continue to address statewide policy concerns and the needs of his constituents. As the chairman of the Senate's Standing Committee on Health, Hannon said, he works diligently to create and support legislation that improves patient care and addresses health issues.
This year alone, Hannon has sponsored more than 10 laws aimed at enhancing patient safety and health care services for residents. He recently sponsored a law that will require pediatric primary care providers to provide early screening of children for autism spectrum disorder. Hannon said the legislation, which was signed by Gov. David Paterson in July and will become law in January, will help parents learn at an early stage whether their children have the disorder.
Hannon said that one of the biggest challenges he faced this term was addressing last year's controversy surrounding Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist who reused plastic syringe barrels and drew medication from large, multi-use vials rather than single-dose vials from January 2000 to January 2005 at his Massapequa practice. State investigators later confirmed one case of hepatitis C infection caused by the reuse of syringes.
After learning about Finkelstein's improper infection control practices last November, Hannon said, he held two public hearing and roundtable discussions in December and January "to improve the physician disciplinary process and ensure that a situation like Finkelstein's would not happen again." The forums included patient safety advocates, medical experts and officials from the state and county health departments.
"We spent a considerable amount of time having hearings on this re-using syringes situation, and then we had to craft a piece of legislation that would move forward so we wouldn't have a reoccurrence of what had taken place," Hannon explained. "The legislation that was signed into law this year clarifies the Department of Health's authority to take action against physicians who have engaged in poor medical practices, and ensures the public's access to information regarding a physician's involvement with disciplinary proceedings."
Hannon's health care reform this term includes a joint effort with the Long Island delegation to secure $750,000 in state funding for the creation of a Medicaid fraud unit in Nassau County, which is under way. He also serves as the co-chair of the Senate Medicaid Reform Task Force.
Hannon also emphasized that he fought this term to make sure Long Island obtained its "fair share" of school aid. He noted that he was especially pleased with the state aid increase the East Meadow School District received this year: $3.7 million -- or 11 percent -- more than what was included in the budget former Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed in March.
"Some people believe that Long Island suburbs are rich and that we can afford to take severe cuts in our state aid for education, and that's just not true," Hannon said. "As this district's senator, I will continue to be very insistent that our schools get their fair share."
Hannon is running on the Republican, Conservative and Independent party lines.
The challenger
McElroy, 33, also a lifelong resident of Garden City, said she is running for the Senate because she wants to bring "a real change in leadership in Albany."
She said the 6th Senate District needs a fresh face and someone who is going to bring "new and bold ideas" to the Senate. She believes the state government in Albany is "broken," and she contends that "it's time to bring fiscal responsibility to Albany."
McElroy said her years of experience as an attorney and work in the Nassau County district attorney's office would help her as a state senator. "In the district attorney's office, I learned how to be able to work with a wide range of people and people from different backgrounds," she explained. "My experience as an attorney has also helped me to be able to look at issues from all different angles."
McElroy also said one of her strengths is that she is not a career politician and she does not owe any favors to special-interest groups and lobbyists. "The career politicians, in my opinion, have been responsible for the mess that has been happening in Albany," she said. "I'm not a politician, I'm a working mom ... and I'm someone who is really going to work to make changes in Albany."
As a taxpayer, criminal defense attorney and mother, McElroy said, she knows firsthand how difficult it has become to live and raise a family on Long Island. In speaking to residents of the district, she said she learned how much people are concerned about rising taxes, gas prices and health care costs, among other issues. Many residents, McElroy said, feel that Hannon is not doing enough to address these problems.
"My opponent has been in office for close to 20 years, but he seems to really be out of touch about what's happening here in our district," McElroy said. "People are really struggling ... and I think residents in this district are ready to have someone that is going to fight for them, address their concerns and bring real help to Long Island families."
If elected, McElroy said, she wants to create and support legislation and initiatives that "hold the line on taxes and provide real property tax relief." She is in favor of a property tax cap on school spending as well as a "circuit breaker" that would cap property taxes based on income.
As a senator, McElroy said, she would also look into ways of improving the school system. She said she would make sure more money was being spent to address needs in the classroom instead of administrative costs. "There is so much wasteful spending in the school system," she said. "There are ways that we can save more money, and it doesn't mean that we have to cut out after-school programs and activities. I think it's more about looking at ways we can consolidate certain services and cut unnecessary expenditures to save money."
McElroy is running on the Democratic and Working Families party lines.
