Incumbents in Valley Stream re-elected

Election Day 2020 turned out to be a wild one.

As of midnight on Tuesday, tens of thousands of absentee ballots remained to be counted in Nassau County, making projecting winners in any number of races for Congress and the State Legislature tricky, if not impossible.

Locally, however, races turned out pretty much as expected.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach representing the 9th District, was re-elected with 53 percent of the vote, to 47 percent for his challenger, Victoria Johnson. Kaminsky said it was “really gratifying” to return to Albany, noting that a few years ago, none of Long Island’s senators were Democrats.

Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages won re-election in the 22nd Assembly District, with 66 percent of the vote to challenger Nicholas Zacchea’s 34.

“I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the voters of the 22nd Assembly District,” Solages said. “I am honored and humbled by your support. Due to your encouragement and unwavering commitment, we were successful. I will continue to work tirelessly on your behalf to help address the challenges we face, as well as secure lasting and meaningful improvements to our community.”

U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat representing the 4th  Congressional District, was also re-elected. She grabbed 52 percent of the vote, to 47 percent for Republican Douglas Tuman, with Green Party  candidate Joseph Naham garnering one percent of the vote .

“I believe we can move forward from this election stronger and more unified,” Rice said in a statement. “Long Islanders and Americans of all political backgrounds want an end to the dysfunction in Washington, and we can only achieve that if we work together.”

As the Herald went to press Wednesday morning, the presidential race pitting Donald Trump against Joe Biden remained undecided, with key battleground states — Pennsylavania, Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Arizona, Nevada and Georgia — still furiously counting votes.

The presidency, according to the pundits, may not be decided until Friday.