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October 25th, 2023 Len’s Political Note #596 Laura Gillen New York 04
2024 General Election
Hempstead is bigger than Seattle, bigger than Denver, bigger than Oklahoma City, bigger than Nashville. With nearly 800,000 people Hempstead is a little smaller than San Francisco, the country’s 17th largest city.
Hempstead would be a big city if it were a city. Hempstead is a very big town, the biggest in the country. Hempstead does not have a mayor; it has a supervisor. The town is on Long Island, that enormous, mostly suburban island that includes the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens and extends the length of Connecticut.
Like a lot of towns, like a lot of towns in the suburbs, Hempstead usually elected Republicans. Laura Gillen was an exception. Elected in 2017, she was the first and, so far, only Democratic Supervisor of Hempstead. The job of town supervisor is a little bit like being a mayor. In that role, Laura Gillen argues that she governed with transparency and took aim at corruption.
Unlike the town of Hempstead, NY 04 is Democratic. Joe Biden carried the district by 14 points. Hillary Clinton carried the district by 9. Bill carried it by 6. Several other candidates are running for this Congressional seat, but Laura Gillen is the favorite.
Laura Gillen served only one term as supervisor. She was defeated after struggling with a town council that was overwhelmingly Republican. She had some successes – especially when she did not need the town council’s approval. The contract for reviewing workers’ compensation claims had not been put out to bid since the 70s. She fixed that. She was able to get the council to agree to make audits, budgets, and contracts public – sort of an “abc” of public transparency. She controlled spending sufficiently so that she avoided what would otherwise have been a $59 million deficit. The reduced spending allowed her to propose a tax cut.
Through the use of grants, Laura Gillen was able to fulfill the capital plan to restore a water testing laboratory. Similarly reliant on non-town council controlled funds, she expanded the town’s shellfish hatchery and approved the construction of a new playground. The town council was uncooperative and sought to put her on her back foot. For instance, the board one-upped her proposed tax cut by increasing it while reducing the budget. The Republican council budget reduction was made possible by a generous estimate of the number of employees who would retire during the succeeding year.
In 2022, Laura Gillen ran for Congress to replace the retiring moderate Democrat and former District Attorney Kathleen Rice whose post high school education was a perfect combination for New York. Rice got her BA from Catholic University, her JD from the Jewish university Touro.
Laura Gillen is a local. Like her father before her, a regional Xerox executive, she grew up in the village of Baldwin, which is part of Hempstead. Like Kathleen Rice, she went to a Catholic undergraduate school – Georgetown in her case. Her JD was from NYU. But she tried Broadway before law school.
Laura Gillen attended the Stella Adler Studio, hoping to become an actress. When that did not work out, she became an agent for the Greater Talent Network mostly placing people as speakers. She got herself jobs working in theater art departments. Among her credits for scenic painting was the Royal Tenenbaums on Broadway. She also worked on the art for the TV Mini Series Angels in America. When she finally abandoned the theater, it was neither for art, for law, nor for politics.
Laura Gillen went to sea. Not with the Navy. With an organization called DiveinDeep. They took people on transformational journeys. First, she went to Koh Samui – Thailand’s second largest island. She worked as a divemaster taking people on scuba diving excursion. Next she went to the city now known as Kolkata. In India, she volunteered for the Missionaries of Charity and worked in Mother Theresa’s home for the dying. After that, transformed or not, she went to law school
Laura Gillen spent five years in a firm with offices in New York, Washington, and London. She worked on securities litigation, defamation, employment law, and intellectual property among other matters. She did some pro bono work on domestic violence. She moved to a firm on Long Island where she worked on defamation, employment law, trade secrets, and other matters. She became a mediator and an arbitrator, and became involved in Hempstead politics. She was with the firm until she was elected Supervisor in 2017.
When Laura Gillen ran for Congress in 2022, she won the primary easily, but lost to Anthony D’Esposito by less than 10,000 votes. That made him #15 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republican Members of the House and #4 on Daily Kos’s List. D’Esposito’s career in the New York City Police Department was checkered. During his ten years as a cop, he received two notable complaints – one for excessive force and one, for which charges were recommended, for an improper search. Twice he was punished by the Department – for serving as a nightclub DJ and serving liquor without Department permission and once for failing to secure his weapon. He found a spot in local government and was elected twice as a Hempstead Councilman.
He ran for Congress emphasizing the problem of inflation and the importance of law and order. He has not changed. Actually, he seems to have not changed his website at all except to add a statement about having been elected. He is still telling people inflation is at an historic high. He is still bragging that he made 600 arrests while he was a NYC cop. He is still opposing a government takeover of medical care, but does not make clear what he means by that. He is still complaining about bureaucrats in Albany and Washington telling schools what to teach. He still has nothing to say about voting rights or women’s right to made decisions about their own bodies.
The world has changed. The American economy is in much better shape than when D’Esposito created that website. Inflation is lower while the country is still creating more and better jobs – partly as a result of legislation passed during the first two years of the Biden administration. Immigration is a more difficult and complicated issue. Fear of immigrants is even more of an issue now. D’Esposito, born of Italian American and Puerto Rican parents, addresses immigration with a law and order tone. He is barely able to address abortion at all. His strongest statement on the topic is that it is properly a state issue. He has expressed support for Israel and has been voting for former Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin for Speaker. D’Esposito has separated himself as far as anyone possibly could, from his colleague representing a neighboring district, He has called George Santos a fraud.
Joe Biden carried the district by double digits in 2020. Will Laura Gillen be able to run with Joe Biden and regain this district for the Democrats? She will have more serious opposition in her primary this time, but do not wait to support her until the end of June 2024. That is too late. She is likely to win the primary in 2024. She is beginning to accumulate resources and had $400,000 on October 1. But D’Esposito had more than $1.100,000 on that reporting date. Laura Gillen has some catching up to do. She needs to have enough money to compete with the Republican incumbent. Help her out.
The Northeast has a bunch of Vulnerable Republicans to target. Should New York redistrict, the Republicans in that state could be even more vulnerable.
Mike Lawler NY 17 is #4 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House. He is #2 on Daily Kos’s List. Former Congressman Mondaire Jones will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee. See: Len’s Political Note #579
Brandon Williams NY 22 is #6 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House. He is tied for #4 on Daily Kos’s List. Sara Klee Hood was the first to announce for the Democratic nomination and is a likely, but not certain nominee. See Len’s Political Note #557
Mike Molinaro NY 19 is #9 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House. He is tied at #7 on Daily Kos’s List. Josh Riley will be the Democratic nominee. See Len’s Political Note #580
Tom Kean Jr NJ 07 is #14 on both Len’s List and Daily Kos’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House. Sue Altman is the probable Democratic nominee. See Len’s Political Note #578.
Anthony D’Esposito NY 04 is #15 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House and tied for #4 in Daily Kos’s List. Laura Gillen is the probable Democratic nominee. See today’s edition — Len’s Political Note #596
Scott Perry PA 10 is #23 on Len’s List of Vulnerable Republicans in the House. 2022 candidate Shamaine Daniels was the first to announce and is still a probable nominee though several Democrats are running for the spot. Few Republicans are more worthy of defeat that Scott Perry. See Len’s Political Note #559
George Santos NY 03 is probably the most vulnerable Republican in the House of Representatives. At last count he has three primary opponents and six Democrats seeking to be the candidate to oust him. Former Congressman Tom Suozzi entered the race recently, probably making himself the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination
There are no vulnerable Republican Senate seats in the Northeast up for election in 2024.
There is a vulnerable open Republican Governor’s seat up for election in 2024
In New Hampshire, the popular Republican governor is retiring. It is early to see if any Democrat is far enough ahead to support in anticipation of the General Election. The two Democrats in the running are Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington. There are also two Republican candidates. When the primaries are over both nominees will have depleted much of their cash.
Not Much Time left for 2023
2023 Elections are coming. Help Democratic candidates now.
Kentucky election day November 7, 2023
Mississippi election day November 7, 2023
Pennsylvania election day November 7, 2023
Virginia election day November 7, 2023
Louisiana run off election day November 18, 2023
November 7 is a few days away and November 18 comes soon after that.
Democrats for Governor:
Incumbent Andy Beshear Kentucky, Formerly, the Attorney General. Len’s Political Note #533
Brandon Presley Mississippi, Formerly one of three elected public service commissioners. Len’s Political Note #535
State Supreme Court Justice:
Dan McCaffrey Pennsylvania, Currently an Appellate Judge. Len’s Political Note #571
Attorney General
Colonel Pamela Stevenson Kentucky, former Senior Official in the Air Force Judge Advocate system and state rep Len’s Political Note #561
Greta Kemp Martin Mississippi, Litigation Director for Disability Rights Mississippi running against a Republican who truly deserves to be defeated. Len’s Political Note #563
Treasurer
Dustin Granger Louisiana, Financial Advisor. Len’s Political Note #562.
Dustin Granger was the only Democrat, in any state-wide race in Louisiana, to get more than 30% of the vote in the multi-party primary. With 32% of the vote, he trailed former State Rep John Fleming’s 44%. Dustin Granger is still in the race. I am still donating to him. So should you.
Secretary of State
Buddy Wheatley Kentucky, Former Fire Chief and former state rep. Len’s Political Note #582
For a Democratic legislature in Virginia than can stand up to a Republican governor make some last-minute donations.
Virginia House of Delegates: Kimberly Pope Adams, Jessica Anderson, Joshua Cole, Michael Feggans, Susanna Gibson, Josh Thomas. See Len’s Political Note #573 of July 6, 2023
Virginia State Senate: Clint Jenkins, Monty Mason, Russet Perry, Danica Roem, Schuyler VanValkenburg. Len’s Political Note #573 of July 10, 2023
