By Jeff Lipton
Mara Jacobowitz has been tapped by Republicans as their nominee to challenge for the Seventh L.D. seat, which mainly takes in the Five Towns and Oceanside. Jacobowitz, a Five Towns resident for about 20 years who has been active in School District 14's health, safety and transportation committees, said she was recently approached by the Republican Party to run for the post.
"I feel I'm qualified to do a good job," Jacobowitz said. "I feel I can serve the community like I have been doing for the last 20 years. I was honored that the Republican Party approached me."
The Republican Party convention will be held on Wednesday, May 28, when nominated party candidates are approved.
"At that time I expect Mara Jacobowitz to be our candidate [for the 7th LD]," said Town Councilman Anthony Santino, a spokesperson for the Nassau County Republican Committee. "She's certainly got a great deal of background in civic activism. She has a wide range of civic experience and we expect her to wage an aggressive campaign."
Toback, who will seek his third term in the Nassau County Legislature and has worked alongside Jacobowitz on some community projects, said he did not expect to go unopposed in the November election. But he said he is confident that his record will shine through, for being a part of the fiscal turnaround in the county. "I'm confident people in the Seventh will recognize the differences in the county the last few years," he said. "On Election Day voters can vote to continue Nassau County's progress and not go back to its dark days.
"I look forward to an issues-oriented campaign and the voters will decide which direction the county will go -- forwards or backwards."
Jacobowitz said being a member of the legislature is considered a part-time job, but she will see to it that she is working on issues and concerns in the district full-time. She said the only other elected position she has ever sought was as a candidate for the Hewlett-Woodmere school board in 1986-87, a race that she lost to an incumbent board member.
She said she has been extremely active by obtaining increased traffic safety measures for her neighborhood and improvements to local parks. "I feel I'm so qualified for the job and I will serve the community well," she said.
She said she has a degree in psychology and sociology and has a background in finances by serving on several subsidiary boards of Aetna.
"I have so much experience working with so many people," she said.
