In office since 2018, Republican Assemblyman John Mikulin may face an easy path to re-election. His Democratic opponent, Sunita Lofters, declined to be interviewed.
Mikulin represents the 17th Assembly District, which winds through Massapequa, North Massapequa, Plainedge and South Farmingdale and stretches west to Levittown and East Meadow.
A resident of Bethpage, Mikulin, 38, and his wife, Corinne, a librarian in the Hicksville school district, have two sons, 2-year-old Quentin and 2-month-old Zachary. The assemblyman is an active parishioner at St. James Roman Catholic Church, in Seaford.
He graduated from Holy Trinity High School, in Hicksville, and earned a bachelor’s degree in government and a master’s in public administration at St. John’s University, and a law degree at Touro Law Center. He has been president of the Island Trees Library board, and served as deputy attorney for the Town of Hempstead before being elected to the Assembly in a special election.
The district’s population was 129,463 as of the most recent census, according to Census Reporter. The breakdown by ethnicity is 68 percent white, 16 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian and 2 percent Black. Voter enrollment is 38 percent Republican, 29.3 percent Democratic and 28.4 percent independent. In 2024, Mikulin won re-election with 65.3 percent of the vote.
He is the ranking member of the Assembly’s Consumer Affairs Committee, and a member of the Codes, Judiciary, Education, Election Law and Banking committees.
His priority, as a legislator, Mikulin said, is to continue advocating for stricter penalties for criminals, especially violent criminals. He regards the Democratic-initiated criminal justice and bail reform legislation as “a disaster.” Mikulin is the sponsor of legislation that would mandate a life sentence without the possibility of parole for anyone who murders a child.
“We need to make sure that our people are safe,” he said. “The No. 1 priority of government is to make sure that people are safe, and right now we are failing to do that.”
Mikulin voted against the state’s Medical Assistance in Dying Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul and will allow medical aid to end the lives of terminally ill New Yorkers who have less than six months to live. Mikulin said he believes that the measure does not have the kinds of controls and oversight that it needs. He generally opposes any legislation that would facilitate assisted suicide, but supports palliative care and anything else that is needed to make a person who is terminally ill more comfortable.
He is also unequivocal in his opposition to legislation enacted as part of this year’s state budget, in which the state has imposed restrictions on cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities, and prohibited law enforcement officers from wearing masks while interacting with the public.
Mikulin opposes the current practice by the Assembly’s Democratic majority to include unrelated pieces of legislation in the state budget that might not pass scrutiny if introduced on their own.
“The budget bill should be a clean bill involving only our finances,” he said.
Mikulin prides himself on helping his constituents with individual challenges. “If you call my office, you may not always get the answer that you want,” he said, “but we work to help out each and every individual, no matter who you are and what the problem is.”
