Voters Guide 2010: State Congressional Races

 Fitzpatrick, Macellero. Ramos versus Elsayed. Flanagan or Bernstein and Foley versus Zeldin.

Hauppauge voters will face these  decisions when determining who to vote for on Election Day in New York State's congressional races. Patch has a information on each of the major party candidates to help local residents make an informed decision on Nov. 2.

New York State Senate, Second District:

R – John Flanagan – Incumbent Flanagan was first elected to represent the second district of New York in 2002, and has been re-elected by an overwhelming majority since. He serves as ranking Republican member of the Education committee, as well as the committees on Aging; Codes; Consumer Protection; Higher Education; and Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation. Since being elected to office, Flanagan has supported the implementation of the STAR Rebate Program in 2006 and is fighting to repeal the MTA Payroll tax. In September, he received top marks from the Business Council of New York State for supporting of job creation.

D – Ira Bernstein – Bernstein is a financial services advisor and former Commack School District teacher. He also serves as the vice president of Brookhaven's Senior Advisory board. The challenger said Flanagan has stopped representing and fighting the values held by his late father. Bernstein claims to have seen first hand the devastating effects educational aid cuts have had on Commack School District, and wants to see them restored by fighting for increase of public school funding. The challenger proposes tax cuts, increased transparency in state government, providing stronger incentives for job creation while protecting the environment. If elected, Bernstein said he will treat the office as a full-time job dedicated to serving in Albany.

New York State Senate, Third District:

D – Brian X. Foley - Foley as served in the New York State senate since 2008, and now seeks re-election to a second term. Prior to the Senate, Foley served 12 years in Suffolk County Legislature following in the footsteps of his father, John Foley, before becoming Town of Brookhaven supervisor in 2005. In New York State Congress, he serves as the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee in addition to sitting on the Education, Commerce, Higher Education, Crime Victims and Corrections, Environmental Conservation, Transportation, and Elections committees. Foley's campaign is focused on cutting taxes, as he is advocating a property tax cap of 2 percent. He has also led the fight to save John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility by creating a Public Benefit Corporation to take over its operations. Foley will also be running on the Working Families line.

R – Lee Zeldin – Zeldin is a captain in the United States Army Reserves who is both a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. His professional career is as a lawyer with a Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School, passing the bar exam to become a federal prosecutor. During his time in the military, Zeldin served as a military magistrate at Fort Bragg. A Shirley resident, Zeldin is campaigning to reduce property taxes, repeal the MTA Payroll tax, reform state education funding to greater benefit Long Island schools, and create jobs. He also recognizes the need to address gang and crime issues in neighborhoods from Brentwood through Mastic.

New York State Assembly, Sixth District:

D – Phil Ramos – Incumbent Ramos was first elected to represent the sixth district when it was created in 2002, and now seeks re-election to a fifth term. He serves on the Long Island Black and Hispanic caucus in New York Congress, and is chairman of the Long Island Latino Officials Association. Ramos said his accomplishments include increasing state aid to his local school districts of Brentwood, Central Islip and Bay Shore by over $30 million, capping the state tax on gasoline, and voted for $6 million for more affordable housing on Long Island. Ramos' key issues this election are high taxes, the economy and crime. He supports a "tax circuit break" in effort to give relief to low-income households.

Ramos is also running on the Independence and Working Family lines. His campaign for re-election is endorse by local police unions and and the UFCW Local 1500.

R – Mo Elsayed – Elsayed, a 25-year resident of Brentwood, is the Culture Advisor for the U.S. Government in Iraq. He is serving on his second tour of duty. In addition to serving the federal government, Elsayed is chairman of Minority Affairs for Town of Islip, vice president of County Executive Steve Levy's Muslim Advisory Board and is a member of the Anti-Bias Task Force and Suffolk County Downtown Revitalization Advisory Board. Elsayed is campaigning to repeal the MTA tax, reinstate the STAR Rebate program, create new jobs on a platform of ending Albany's corruption. Elsayed will also be running on the Conservative party line.

New York State Assembly, Seventh District:

R – Michael Fitzpatrick (Smithtown) - Fitzpatrick has served in the assembly since 2002. Prior to his election to the Assembly he was an elected member of the Smithtown Town Council for 15 years and ran an unsuccessful campaign for the first congressional seat. Fitzpatrick serves as the ranking minority member on the  Housing Committee and holds memberships on the Local Governments, Small Business and Higher Education committees.

D – Richard Macellaro (Kings Park) - Macellaro was a special assistant for two NYS Assembly members and has worked as a home health-care administrator and a founding member of the non-profit organization, St. Nicholas N. P. Corp., which aims to find community solutions. A major part of his campaign is funding local job creation.

This is the third part  of Hauppauge Patch's Voter Guide 2010, see previous posts for the national and statewide races.