16-Year-Old Readies Run for County Office

JuanPablo Andrade isn’t an average teenager.

At 16 years old, the Kings Park High School student is already planning his run for Suffolk County Legislature, targeting the District 13 seat held by Lynne C. Nowick.

It not really that much of a stretch. Andrade is already a legislative aide for Suffolk County Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. – attending every legislative meeting so far in 2013 – and a legal aide for the district attorney’s office within the office of the bureau of labor, insurance, and revenue crimes. He started working in the offices of state Sen. John Flanagan at 14 years old, and then with U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop's office.

Expect him on the campaign trail at the beginning of 2014.

“Everyone says that I am too young to run for legislature, but I am very intelligent,” he said. “I have learned much from working at Legis. Kennedy's office and at the Suffolk County Legislature. I would like to show all the people of Suffolk County and of the 13th district that I am not all fun and games, that I am not just a young man, but an intelligent person ready to represent Suffolk County and the 13th District.”

The teen said improving public safety, including at county parks, mental health, park police, is at the top of his priorities, though lowering taxes is also a goal of his. Andrade also hopes he can unite Democrats and Republicans within the Suffolk County Legislature and bridge the gap between Suffolk and Nassau governments.

“I’d like for Nassau and Suffolk legislators to meet a couple of times a year. They just don’t communicate with each other at all. Bringing them together would help Long Island as a whole,” he said.

In addition to school and work, Andrade is also a commanding officer in the Suffolk County Police Explorer Program within the Fourth Precinct.

Andrade said that he would like to make more youth programs available to young people within the community, including bringing back DARE, a drug avoidance program, in school districts where it was dropped.

“There should be many different types of opportunities for young people to get involved in future. If I were to win, I would give young people a fighting chance,” he said.

Andrade may have big ambitious for his age, but he wasn’t the only one to dream big when he was young. Steve Levy was 26 years old when he first took a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature in 1985, as was Patrick G. Halpin, when he took office in 1979.

“The age of the person doesn’t really matter. If they’re mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for politics,” he said.