By JOSEPH KELLARD
Solomon defeated Vegh in last Tuesday¹s primary by a tally of 1,936 votes to 1,154, and will face Republican incumbent Denise Ford in the general election on Nov. 8. The Fourth Legislative District comprises the Long Beach barrier island and parts of Oceanside and Island Park.
"We're already trying to put away all the bad politics, all the petty jealousies and all the perceived grievances, and there's a place for you at this table, and I want to welcome you to this campaign," Solomon said to his fellow Democrats and Vegh supporters in his victory speech at Sutton Place restaurant in Long Beach.
Solomon, an attorney in private practice in Long Beach for 15 years, characterized his victory as a mandate for reform in the Democratic Party. "[The party is] saying no to dirty politics, they're saying no to clubhouse politics," he said. "They want it to be a Democratic Long Beach, and they want an open Democratic Party. And that's what this election means. It's more important than me."
Solomon added that Long Beach, politically, is a "very important place" in Nassau County, and that "it's time it takes that place, and I'm just honored that I can be here for that."
Gaining the endorsements of both Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and the Nassau County Democratic Committee was instrumental in his victory, Solomon said. Vegh agreed. "The Solomon campaign had the whole political machine behind them," he said from his campaign headquarters at Corbin & Reynolds in Long Beach. "... When you're running a grass-roots campaign by yourself, you're asking your friends and people to come on and work with you and do the best they can. [The other side] is basically professionals. They know the ins and outs and all the tricks."
Vegh said that those who voted for him "know that I do represent the community, that I'm out there to help and serve the people," and added that he nonetheless believes he got his message out through his campaign. "My main message is that we have to stick together and work together as a community," said Vegh, a phys. ed. teacher at Lido Elementary School in Long Beach and a member of the Long Beach Library Board of Trustees. "We have to work together with the overdevelopment that's going on, with our traffic problems, and make sure the government doesn't run the people the way they don't want to be run."
During his campaign, Vegh took a "pledge against overdevelopment" in Long Beach, and charged Solomon with being a representative of developers before the zoning board "for variances for parking, oversized structures and condos--overdevelopment," he said. Vegh deemed it a conflict of interest that Solomon had to represent developers and his constituents at the same time.
Solomon, for his part, doubted that Vegh, as a teacher, would have been able to commit the time and attend the meetings necessary to be an effective legislator.
Asked why he thought he would be a more effective legislator than Ford, Solomon said, "She has voted consistently, 100 percent of the time, against Tom Suozzi and the Democrats in the county Legislature with respect to every initiative that has brought this county back. She doesn¹t serve the best interest of the Fourth Legislative District via Long Beach, and doesn't represent what we want. We need to take the seat back. And I'm going to do that for us."
Ford said she is proud to run on her record, and denied she voted in lockstep against Suozzi. "Actually, if they look at the voting record, there are a lot of initiatives [on which] I voted with the Democrats," Ford said. "The times that I did not vote are when I did not agree with their proposals, such as the increases in taxes and with any changes in the assessment for fees."
Asked about Solomon, Ford said, "I really don't know him that well. He's part of the Democratic machine and he's going to run his campaign accordingly."
In his victory speech, Solomon invited Vegh supporters to help him in his campaign against Ford, "because this race is not going to be easy," he said. "Make no mistake about it, the Republicans do not want to lose this seat."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
