Thursday, October 29, 2026 ~ Volume 71 ~ Issue Number 48 ~ $1.00
House Speaker Stumps in Suffolk, GOP Optimistic By Matt Meduri With just one week to go until the 2026 midterms, the Suffolk County Republican Party is optimistic heading into Election Day. While the party’s national moods have soured, especially since Labor Day, the Suffolk GOP is ready to weather the storm, pitching solid incumbents amidst a state caught in a political vacuum due to what they say is poor Democratic leadership. Continued on page 4
Suffolk GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia (Credit - Matt Meduri)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) (Credit - Matt Meduri)
Student Advocates Secure $1.9M for Sidewalks in Medford By Matt Meduri Walkability and pedestrian safety have been salient issues in local circles as Suffolk looks to revitalize its downtowns and beautify the hamlets. For Medford, congestion and accidents can plague the NY-112 corridor. Just east of that corridor is Buffalo Avenue, home to Patchogue-Medford High School, and the latest recipient of a $1.9 million grant to improve pedestrian safety. Continued on page 10
Pat-Med Students and local officials celebrate a successful grant campaign (Credit - Town of Brookhaven)
FULL STORIES ON:
County PD Opens Senator Murray Responds Endorsements for New K9 Facility to Mastic Crime Statewide Offices Page 5
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Messenger Papers Thursday, October 29, 2026
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On The Campaign Trail Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Continued from front cover
House Speaker Stumps in Suffolk, GOP Optimistic
(Left to right) Dan Losquadro, Vincent Puleo
Garcia said that since the GOP took control of the County Legislature in 2022, Suffolk has seen the “best, most prosperous” six years, owing to County Executive Ed Romaine’s (R-Center Moriches) 0% property tax hike in the upcoming budget and a tightly-run horseshoe by Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville). “It’s amazing what happens to your Republican leadership,” said Piccirillo. “A balanced budget and a cooperation between the legislative branch and the executive branch that we haven’t seen in 30 years in Suffolk County.” Gubernatorial candidate Blakeman railed against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-Astoria), calling Mamdani a “community, anti-semite, anti-Christian, and anti-American.” “He’s campaigning with Kathy Hochul across the state. Their plan is to raise our taxes, to take away our freedoms, to make this a socialist state, and we’re not going to let that happen,” said Blakeman, alongside his running mate, Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood (R-Oneida). “We’re going to surprise the left-wing media,” said Blakeman (pictured left), a point echoed by Johnson, who said the GOP will “defy the polls” to retain the House. “They’re trying to suppress Republican turnout; they want to make sure there’s a giant blue wave,” said Johnson. “Republicans don’t trust them anymore.” Credit -Matt Meduri
New York is on the ballot next week, the fate of America is on the ballot next week,” said Garbarino, (pictured below right) adding the “energy” feels similar to what it was in 2022, when then-Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) nearly ousted Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg). Johnson said that the “people of New York have had enough” in a stump that was also geared towards Blakeman’s run for governor. The Louisiana Speaker further railed against socialism, urging attendees to browse contractforamerica.com, where viewers can see the timeline of the history of socialism. “Every single time it’s been tried, it’s led to human misery, poverty, famine, and death,” said Johnson. “We’re not going down that road.” Suffolk GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia (R-Ridge) thanked the supporters and volunteers of the party for their work on the campaign trail since petitioning started in February. “Through the sweltering heat, the torrential rain, you guys went door-to-door,” said a fired-up Garcia. “You took time away from your families, your jobs, your civic associations, your chambers of commerce, your service groups, because you know that this is a consequential election.” Credit -Matt Meduri
forefront of House policy. It was LaLota (pictured left) and Garbarino who notably held up the Speaker vote at the end of 2023 after the ouster of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in search of a Speaker sympathetic to suburban needs, and particularly, Long Island’s needs of an increased SALT cap and concerns of flooding. They held out their votes until Johnson was nominated by the Republican caucus. “Suffolk County has an outsized influence in Congress,” said Johnson. “The stakes could not be higher. On the eve of this election, on the 250th anniversary, we’re locked in a fateful battle right now to determine whether or not we keep the republic, or we’re going to break this thing down to the foundation and take the Marxist cue and go towards communism.” The Speaker praised Garbarino as the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, saying, “because of his leadership, not one illegal alien has been released into the country in 17 straight months.” “This year is unlike any other year. This is not Democrat versus Republican; this is not left versus right,” said LaLota. “This is about common sense conservatism and crazy.” “The fate of Suffolk County is on the ballot next week, the fate of Credit -Matt Meduri
The County is currently controlled almost exclusively by Republicans. They hold all county-wide offices except the Sheriff’s Office and an 11-7 majority in the Suffolk County Legislature. The GOP is defending four Senate seats and 7 Assembly seats - two of which are competitive. Suffolk Republicans are also looking to re-elect County Clerk Vincent Puleo (R-Nesconset) and send Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) to succeed the term-limited Comptroller John Kennedy (R-Nesconset). Moreover, two congressional races, NY-01 and NY-02, are being defended by Congressmen Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), respectively. These two seats were once in the eyes of many political hurricanes but have been conspicuously absent from the latest triage reports of both national parties. Suffolk Republicans gathered at Calabro Airport in Shirley for their annual Hangar Rally, with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R-Atlantic Beach) heading up the statewide ticket with Saritha Komatireddy (R-Upper East Side) and Joe Hernandez (R-Upper West Side) running for Attorney General and State Comptroller, respectively. But the highlight of the night was a speech from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA). Johnson said LaLota and Garbarino have been steadfast stewards for the country and loyal backers of the party’s agenda, while advocating for suburban needs and bringing those concerns to the
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Thursday, October 29, 2026
5 Credit -Matt Meduri
County Budget to Increase Funds for Early Intervention Services By Matt Meduri The Suffolk County Legislature is preparing their annual budget, and the Republican Caucus on Thursday morning announced their proposal will contain a $700,000 increase for early intervention programs. Early intervention is aimed at children younger than 3 and intends to aid with developmental delays, disabilities, or high-risk conditions, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Services can include speech, physical or occupational therapy, or other forms of tailored support to ensure children are not left behind in educational and life skills. “Early intervention is about giving children the support they need as early as possible. For families navigating developmental challenges, access to these services can make a meaningful difference in their child’s progress, their confidence, and their future,” said Suffolk Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), a teacher by trade. New York State mandates this program to be funded by municipalities, and Bontempi added that Suffolk has a “responsibility to ensure that these services are properly supported.” “Behind every dollar in this program is a child, a parent, and a family looking for the opportunity to give their child the best possible start in life. We must never lose sight of that.” The budget amendment was sponsored by Bontempi (top photo) and Suffolk Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) (middle photo). “We want to make sure that we protect tomorrow’s generation of legislators and builders, of doctors and lawyers, and to make sure that
every day we give them every opportunity to flourish,” said Thorne. Suffolk’s Early Intervention Department is under the umbrella of the County’s Health Department. Once children turn 3, their cases are then handled by the school districts who are required to pick up the task. “Our Early Intervention Department almost has to sub out an evaluation to one of the County’s several contractors. But if we can’t get the contractor to do the evaluation, and ultimately, the services provided because of a lack of funding or retention problems, we [the Legislature] have to act because our children are the ones who are going to suffer if they don’t get the necessary evaluations.” Thorne mentioned success stories in nonverbal children, who, after receiving a year of speech therapy, are back on the normal development path. He credits the workers in speech pathology specifically for those breakthroughs. “We want to make sure we have enough of them to cover the children of this county.” But Thorne warns that the budgetary measure is so important because early intervention itself is so important. Aiding children who need these services after they turn 3 becomes much more difficult, and in some cases, it might be “too late.” Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville) (bottom photo) said the first half of the funding was sponsored by County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) and that the Legislature “made sure” to bolster it with a second half.
“The problem is, the people who deliver these services are having trouble with recruitment and retention,” said Piccirillo. “It’s crucial these monies fund the delivery of these services through their employees.” Legislator Steve Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), Chair of the Budget Committee, said their proposal will save taxpayers money in the long run. “It ends up being much cheaper and more prudent to do the right thing and deal with these problems. If not, you’re left with a lot of problems and maybe some lawsuits. Putting the money in the right place is smarter and more economical.” Flotteron also pointed to the majority caucus’ budgeting prowess that has seen the County experience five bond rating upgrades from major Wall Street creditors. Just this week, Fitch upgraded Suffolk’s bond rating from AA- to AA with “stable outlook.” Legislator Chad Lennon (C-Rocky Point) said the increase is a product of good government and contrasted the current legislative majority with that of the Democratic majority that held power in Hauppauge for nearly 15 years. Republicans flipped control of the body in 2021. “For decades under Democratic control, they completely ignored the early childhood intervention, as well as numerous other items we’re still dealing with today,” said Lennon. He mentioned two lawsuits - the Thomas Valva case and the red-light camera program - that left the incumbent majority dealing with the litigation. “We’re being fiscally conservative, budgeting smartly, and trying to get everyone back on board.”
Suffolk Police Opens New K-9 Facility By Matt Meduri typically live with their handlers, are housed in the Yaphank facility when an officer is out of town. He acknowledged it’s something that is “very difficult” for the officers to do, and the new facility with cameras will give them a better peace of mind while separated from their companions. “The canines themselves certainly deserved a new home. This will give them a much-needed space to do all the work that goes into fighting crime,” said Catalina. “That’s really what these dogs do; they fight crime and save lives.” Officers thanked the County Department of Public Works (DPW) for their work on the facility. Suffolk’s K-9 unit has existed for 62 years and has produced 87 handlers over the years. “These canines are like professional athletes. They deserve to be treated that way. They provide for the county and the residents of the county.” “This is a first-class facility in the fourth-largest county in the state,” said Romaine. “We need to step up our game and make sure our employees have the best and most modern equipment to do the job.” The old facility’s multipurpose room served as a classroom, cafeteria, and inspection room. The new facility separates those needs into an “undistracted” environment. The covered outdoor area in the back of the building will allow for training to continue in cases of inclement weather. SCPD officers called the new improvements “tremendously” beneficial (Left to right) Legislator Thorne, Co. Exec. Romaine, and to the dogs’ training and well-being. Legislator Flotteron meet Jet (Credit - Matt Meduri)
Credit -Matt Meduri
On Tuesday morning, County officials cut the ribbon on a new K-9 facility at the police complex in Yaphank. The new facility can house more canines and can accommodate them better than the previous facility. Of particular concern was the heating and air conditioning to keep Suffolk’s finest pups comfortable when they’re housed in Yaphank instead of on duty or at home with their handler officers. The temperature-controlled facility also has 24-hour surveillance to ensure the dogs’ safety. The project, which remained within the budget, according to County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), saved taxpayers $300,000 in design costs due to construction and design being built in-house. “Suffolk County will stay the safest county in America if we make the necessary investments today for a safer tomorrow,” said Romaine. “The canine units are a critical part of law enforcement.” Romaine added that this is just one improvement to the County’s law enforcement that has materialized under his tenure since he took office in 2024. He said the former K-9 facility and other police assets were “ignored for too long.” He said the County is looking at moving the police headquarters to the John J. Foley Building, also in Yaphank, to give HQ better operations and ease the County’s rent budget. “The men and women of the Suffolk County Police Department’s K-9 Unit were so patient,” said SCPD Commissioner Kevin Catalina, as the facility’s construction took longer than expected. “The last facility was built in the 1980s by the K-9 handlers themselves. They did a good job of it, but it’s now an antiquated building and this new facility is long, long overdue.” The last facility could house 8 dogs, while the new building about doubles that capacity to 14. It boasts indoor and outdoor spaces, climate controls, and improved security cameras for each kennel that will allow handlers to monitor the dogs. Catalina said that K-9s, who
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Editorial Thursday, October 29, 2026
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The State of the State: Troubled
In our screening process this year, we asked all candidates of both parties seeking State office the same question: “What is the state of the State in your view?” The common answer among several candidates all Republicans - was this: “troubled.” These interviews all happened separate from one another across different weeks of the campaign. While we’re not surprised by the answers, we think it’s an interesting point that several incumbents all said the same thing. Indeed, the state of New York is “troubled.” It’s a shame that the political environment this year seems inhospitable to Republicans virtually everywhere, and while that does harangue Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s (R-Atlantic Beach) chances to oust Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg), it doesn’t diminish his chances entirely, nor does it diminish Republicans’ chances of holding competitive seats. We’ve said this entire cycle that the polling has been incredibly difficult to gauge, which might put our forecast on Pages 16 and 17 in jeopardy - but we’re bold enough to put all our cards on the table anyway. But one deviation we’ve noticed is the polling in New York. Despite poll after poll showing Kathy Hochul with consistent, yet relatively underwhelming leads, many of them find two phenomena occurring deep within the crosstabs: Independents are leaning towards Blakeman and Republicans are generally more enthused to turn out for him than Democrats are for Hochul. That’s happening nowhere else in the country, as far as we can find. Independent voters swinging in the direction of the opposition party and voter enthusiasm being higher for the opposition are two classic midterm events. They’re so predictable that one could set a watch to them. While we’re generally skeptical of the polls this cycle - only because of the paucity of the polls and the heavy tilt towards internal/partisan polls - we can certainly see why New York is bucking the trend yet again. Voters have been wise to it for quite some time, and it’s exactly the reason they took a chance on Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) in 2022 and Donald Trump (R-FL) in 2024. We hope that Trump’s record-low numbers and general apathy we’ve seen among Republicans don’t damage the momentum the GOP has rightfully earned in the Empire State. Voters are right to be critical of the president, but they’re also right to be critical of the governor, and it seems they’re making that known to the pollsters. In the end, we still think Hochul will win, as it’s difficult for us to see such a massive polling miss occur in a state like New York in a year like 2026, but we’re also seeing signs of a more palpable energy against deep-blue Albany that we did not see in 2022 - the year Zeldin came within just 6 points of becoming the first Republican governor of New York since George Pataki (R-Elmira) left office in 2007.
Democrats have given away the game by blaming Trump for the problems New York has, when they have had exclusive control of the governor’s mansion since 2007, the Assembly since the 1970s, and the Senate since 2019. Oneparty rule might work in some areas, but it certainly doesn’t work in New York. Governor Hochul told the Legislature and the voters shortly after her win in 2022 that she’s not interested in throwing elbows to benefit the entire state. Our case in point remains the pay raises the Legislature wrote for themselves. Instead of holding onto it for negotiating leverage, Hochul signed it into law without a second thought right before Christmas curiously, when voters are paying attention to their government the least. That ensuing budget year, Hochul could not get much-needed concessions on bail reform, a topic that is still salient and an issue on which local law enforcement says the rollbacks did not go far enough. That deal, we think, was the Legislature’s firebrand wing testing Hochul’s tenacity. While Andrew Cuomo (D-Sutton Place) might have put up a fight, Hochul caved immediately and gave the Legislature no reason to respect her. It’s that inability to play political chess and the ostensible unwillingness to rock the boat that has made her an ineffective governor. We don’t think she’s evil or unprincipled; rather, a good person at the wrong desk. The State is troubled for many reasons, and even if Hochul hasn’t done immense, direct damage in every category, she’s allowed the residual damage to wash ashore by simply being politically timid. The state of the State is certainly troubled, and we don’t expect it to turn around immediately. In fact, if Blakeman does win - which would be the biggest upset in the nation by every conceivable metric - brace for a chaotic 2027, not due to Blakeman’s governing abilities, but due to the temerity the Legislature’s Democrats will bring to the table. And if Blakeman doesn’t win, don’t give up hope. The margins on election night will make the picture of New York’s political future clearer, and as long as Blakeman doesn’t get blown out of the water, an underwhelming margin for Hochul very likely means the Democrats’ ceiling in New York is considerably lowered and the State might be ripe for the picking in 2030. We remember conversations and social media comments of people threatening to leave the state if Zeldin lost in 2022. We do think many did make good on that promise, but there’s still 18 million people here. Four years went by quickly, so what’s another four years of keeping up the pressure, petitioning the parties to nominate able candidates, and simply waiting out the immovable voters - or non-voters - until their hands are forced? The state of the State is troubled, but the State continues. Regardless of the results, for New Yorkers to be bucking the common midterm trends of any state as far as current polling shows, that’s a much less troubling place to be.
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Thursday, October 29, 2026
Pro-Criminal Policies That Led to Mastic Beach Library Closure
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By Senator Dean Murray As the Ranking Minority Member of the NYS Senate Libraries Committee, and also a member of the NYS Senate Codes Committee, I am outraged by the announcement of the closure of the Mastic Beach Library branch as a traditional public library. Its newly planned reopening as a “program-only” facility is another troubling example of how Albany’s failed, procriminal policies and New York’s flawed bail reform have real consequences for law-abiding residents. Continued reports of drug dealing, prostitution, violence, and vandalism at and near this location have created an environment that has undermined the library’s ability to safely serve the community as it was intended. If you don’t think this could happen in your community, think again. Law abiding residents should not have to lose access to essential community services just because the Democrat leadership in Albany has
rammed through dangerous policies that fail to adequately address crime and hold repeat offenders accountable. No neighborhood is immune when public safety is compromised. What is happening in Mastic Beach should serve as a wakeup call to communities across New York: when crime goes unchecked, law-abiding residents ultimately pay the price through diminished services, fewer safe public spaces, and a lower quality of life. The people who suffer most are the families, children, seniors, and students who depend on their local library for books, educational resources, technology, and a safe place to learn and gather. Our communities deserve safe public spaces, strong neighborhood institutions, and policies that protect victims and residents; not policies that leave them paying the price for Albany’s failures. We must restore accountability, prioritize public safety, and ensure that
the residents of Mastic Beach and the employees of the library can once again enjoy the full benefits of their community library. Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) has represented the Third District in the New York State Senate since 2023 after having represented the Third Assembly District from 2010 to 2013 and again from 2015 to 2018. The Third District contains Bellport, Blue Point, Brookhaven hamlet, Center Moriches, East Moriches, East Patchogue, Farmingville, Gordon Heights, Lake Grove, Manorville, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Medford, Moriches, North Bellport, North Patchogue, Patchogue, Shirley, South Haven, Upton, and Yaphank, as well as parts of Calverton, Centereach, Coram, Eastport, Holbrook, Holtsville, Lake Ronkonkoma, Middle Island, Ridge, and Selden. The district also contains
a small portion of Holbrook within the Town of Islip. Senator Murray serves as Ranking Member on the committees on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business; Libraries; and Social Services. He also serves on the committees on Budget and Revenue; Codes; and Higher Education. The Third District office is located at 90-B West Main Street in Patchogue and can be reached at 631-360-3356.
My Record Speaks for Itself By Assemblyman Keith Brown As I conclude six years representing more than 120,000 residents of New York’s 12th Assembly District, I want to set the record straight about my efforts to bring state funding home to our community. Recent statements by Craig Herskowitz (D-Northport) suggesting that I failed to bring funding into AD-12 are simply incorrect. During my tenure, I secured more than $850,000 in State and Municipal Facilities (SAM) grants for local governments and more than $225,000 in Bullet Aid for schools and libraries. Among the projects I supported were ShotSpotter technology for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Brentwood, a highway grinder machine for the Town of Huntington and emergency seawall repairs in Asharoken. I also played a pivotal role in securing $12 million in the 2026 state budget for reconstruction of the Asharoken seawall. Most recently, I participated in the bipartisan effort to secure $3 million for the Deer Park School District’s pool renovation. But my record goes well beyond funding. As Ranking Minority Member of the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Use, I made mental health and substance use prevention a priority. My accomplishments include: • Drafted legislation calling for a school
cellphone ban in schools and legislation providing property tax relief to surviving spouses of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. • Helping establish high school mentoring programs in eight of AD12’s 10 school districts. • Establishing the Long Island Drug Coalition, organizing four co-occurring disorder conferences and forming the Long Island Co-Occurring System of Care Committee. • Working with Western BOCES to develop a co-occurring disorder curriculum for Suffolk County schools. • Establishing a Veteran Mental Health Coalition focused on integrating care and preventing veteran suicide. • Working to strengthen local laws addressing vaping, kratom and nitrous oxide access by minors. My office also worked every day to help constituents navigate state government, resolve problems and access services. I partnered with local officials and community organizations on waterfront revitalization, coastal resiliency, public safety and historic preservation. I also helped to organize the restoration of Revolutionary War cemeteries and helped create the Huntington Revolutionary War Trail application in time for our nation’s 250th anniversary.
I was recognized as one of the most bipartisan members of the Assembly for two consecutive years. These results came from persistent advocacy, collaboration and a willingness to work across party lines. That same commitment to community service is why I believe Dave Weber (R-Northport) will continue this work. Dave has served as a Northport Village Trustee, volunteers as a firefighter and supports organizations such as Paws of War. He also rallied residents to support Coast Guardsmen at Eaton’s Neck during the federal government shutdown. Meanwhile, his opponent does not belong to one community organization. I have kept my promises to our community. I have worked hard. I am proud of what we accomplished together and grateful to the residents who placed their trust in me. Dave understands the importance of showing up, working with our neighbors and delivering results. I am confident he will build on the progress we have made over the past six years. Assemblyman Keith Brown (R-Northport) has represented the Twelfth District in the New York State Assembly since 2021. Within the Town of Huntington, the Twelfth District includes Asharoken, Centerport, East Northport, Eaton’s Neck,
Halesite, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Northport, and parts of Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Dix Hills, Elwood, Fort Salonga, Greenlawn, and Huntington hamlet. Within the Town of Babylon, the district includes most of Deer Park. Within the Town of Islip, the district contains parts of Brentwood, Baywood, and North Bay Shore. Assemblyman Brown serves on the committees on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; Environmental Conservation; Housing; and Judiciary. The Twelfth District office is located at 6080 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 310, in Commack and can be reached at 631-261-4151.
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Credit -Matt Meduri
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Endorsements Thursday, October 29, 2026
Bruce Blakeman for Governor By The Editorial Board The theme of this campaign overall has not just been about immediate, much-needed changes, but about long-term implications that will define the United States for the foreseeable future. For the State of New York, that couldn’t be truer. Whoever wins this gubernatorial election will be dealing with a mountain of responsibilities: out-of-control spending, an aging energy grid, the rise of AI and data centers, and dealing with an increasingly unpredictable federal administration. With that, we think Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman will be the right person for the job. Forward Thinking Blakeman, the twice-elected Nassau Executive, thinks big on energy. He’s not averse to an all-of-the-above energy approach, has signalled support for expanded nuclear power, and hasn’t shied away from fracking the Marcellus Shale of natural gas in Western New York. The State’s energy prerogatives have recalibrated in the last couple years, as Governor Kathy Hochul has formed an exploratory mission on increasing the fold of nuclear energy and pumped the brakes on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) - New York’s “Green New Deal.” Whoever wins this election must put the foot on the accelerator when it comes to renovating old power stations and securing more forms of energy. Hochul went into her first full term ostensibly seeking to placate the increasingly liberal wing of the Legislature, but is now waffling. Whether it’s an election-year football - not a rarity for Hochul - remains to be seen, but we have reason to be skeptical. Blakeman, on the other hand, makes no bones about it. The Atlantic Beach Republican is also pitching an ambitious tax overhaul: no State income tax on the first $50,000 on single filers, $100,000 for joint. A common critique we hear is that there would need to be a sizable budgetary offset to make the numbers work, but we counter that the State’s spending is ludicrously
out of control. A big question is Medicaid spending, the “Cadillac” of Medicaid programs as any state’s system goes. Blakeman and Republicans in the Legislature have expressed concerns over the program’s feasibility and have lamented an apparent lack of investigative interest from the Attorney General. A question no statewide or entrenched Democrat has been able to reasonably answer is why New York’s population is hemorrhaging. Millions have left and millions more are expected to be on their way. It’s a no-brainer for us; the current policies are clearly not working and one-party rule clearly does not work for New York. Hochul’s Few Strengths and Many Weaknesses It’s often said that if the Kathy Hochul of about 10 to 15 years ago were Governor, New York might be in stellar shape and she’d likely have a strong mandate to pursue some more ambitious policies. But alas, that Hochul is not the one in Albany right now. The Hamburg Democrat has had some good policy wins: a ban on cell phones in schools, infrastructure investments for Suffolk’s wastewater, capital projects, and transportation, and a pump of the brakes on net-zero climate policy and a piqued interest in nuclear all come to mind. We also agree that she was right to pump the brakes on AI, even if her rationale has nothing to do with attempting to slow the emptying of the Pandora’s Box that’s been opened and is instead geared at merely “standing up to Trump.” For us, a win is a win, but we hope that rationale remains intact after Election Day, should she win a second full term. But Hochul hasn’t been so much a destructive governor as she has been something worse, we think: inconsequential. Hochul has not been able to adequately address the energy concerns at scale, instead opting to shove the harmful BESS facilities down the throats of the suburbs. Hochul blames Trump and the Iran War for skyrocketing energy rates. While we don’t
Komatireddy for Attorney General
disagree this war is both disastrous, pointless, and not to the benefit of Americans, that doesn’t tell the full story. Hochul is conveniently shifting the blame when utility rates in New York have remained well above national averages long before this stupid war kicked off. We will remind our readers that in 2024, after an illegal immigrant set a vagrant ablaze on a Brooklyn subway - which resulted in the vagrant’s death - Hochul issued a social media post discussing how “safe” the subways are alongside photos she took with National Guardsmen in the tunnels and trains. Out-of-touch doesn’t even begin to describe this administration, at least in that regard. It was quite some time ago, but we certainly haven’t forgotten. Hochul’s running mate, a former New York City Councillor and Council Speaker, gives us pause as well. Adams, a Democrat from Hollis, was in favor of a New York City Council vote to give Green Card holders the right to vote in local elections. We can’t fathom the logic on such a bill, other than to make it easier for Democrats to hold power in a state they know is slipping away from them - courtesy of their own policies. Hochul gets regular kudos from Suffolk’s local Republican officials for being accessible, affable, and generally reasonable. That tells us that Hochul’s character might not be compromised - that is to say, she likely knows what the “right” thing to do is - but it tells us something else: she’s a bad executive. The governor must know how to throw elbows in the Legislature and keep the crazies in check. As disliked as Andrew Cuomo was towards the end of his era, he still got credit for being the adult in the room when necessary. Hochul seems to lean on her folksy, Buffaloborn persona as a way of winning over the firebrands in the Legislature, but she has not learned that these people were never intent on playing nicely in the sandbox. That hurts her credibility statewide, as well as in Suffolk, where we continue to not get our fair share and must grovel to the Albanylinked bureaucracies for basic services and improvements.
Reservations Our only reservation with Blakeman is that his bombastic nature might earn him more enemies than he could afford to have as governor. We get it; it’s his shtick, and muchneeded in some scenarios. But the “hurt feelings” crowd in Albany who already have no reason to play ball with a Republican governor will likely only harangue his efforts more. Blakeman needs to level his personality a bit in hopes that some initiatives get through. In the event Blakeman wins, we think the majorities in the Legislature will still be blue, but by reduced margins. That gives Blakeman some wiggle room, but if he’s dealing with Democratic supermajorities, he’s going to have to get creative, find some legal and linguistic allies in the Legislature to help him with agenda, and do what he can to ensure his moves survive a likely flurry of vetoes. Our one other note for Blakeman: keep a respectful distance from Trump. We think having a governor who’s an ally with the president will help New York, but Blakeman needs to be his own man and butt heads with the president when necessary. Dogmatic politics is dying a slow, painful death, and we think the nation still has quite a ways to go before that dog is put down. Even so, Blakeman accurately depicts the anger of New Yorkers who feel forgotten and the resentment that’s long been brewing against the Albany machine. Hochul could have been more effective had she been willing to play hard ball with her own party and not blame the White House for every ounce of pain in which New Yorkers find themselves, courtesy of the machine. The Messenger endorses Blakeman.
Hernandez for Comptroller
By The Editorial Board
By The Editorial Board Credit -Matt Meduri
Credit -Matt Meduri
The Attorney General is the state’s top law enforcer and we think there is a desperate need for change. The incumbent is two-term Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James. The Clinton Hill Democrat seems to make the office more about elevating her own ego and finding any way to sue the Trump Administration. All while that’s been going, investigations into Medicaid fraud, a prerogative that lies solely with this office, have been underwhelming. James is also, we think, out of touch on immigration. She carries the party’s water that immigration and citizenship are mere concepts that don’t affect supply and demand, services, housing, crime, and a host of other issues. It’s not the immigrants’ faults; it’s the State’s fault for opening its own borders, even while Congress is certainly to blame for abdicating their duties on this issue for decades. Enter Saritha Komatireddy, a Republican who hails from the Upper East Side. Known by her forename - her campaign signs all say “Saritha” - she is perhaps one of the sharpest candidates for this office in recent memory. It’s clear at the debate that James was unprepared for Komatireddy’s prowess. The former federal prosecutor has a wealth of experience and we think she’ll shift the focus from elevating the Attorney General to a national role and simply fix the issues affecting New Yorkers. The Messenger endorses Komatireddy.
Four years ago, this paper endorsed incumbent Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for re-election. We could easily go for DiNapoli again. The Great Neck Plaza Democrat has been outspoken against his own party on spending and releases regular audits. We get emails from his office every week. So, DiNapoli isn’t ineffective, but we think he’s in a bit of a bubble. He’s the second-longest served State Comptroller in history and we think he’s gotten used to not rocking the boat too much. DiNapoli has tackled audits for Medicaid and the MTA, of note, and he’s regularly on the municipalities to check their work. But Joe Hernandez, an Upper West Side Republican, is a breath of fresh air for what’s normally a dormant race in New York. The Cuban immigrant built himself up into a Wall Street investor. Not only would he know where to look for fraud, but we reckon he has some investment tricks up his sleeve that do the State well. Both candidates are solid and neither give us any real pause, but DiNapoli has been in for a while, and with the State’s trajectory seemingly not deviating from its current collision course with economic disaster, it’s time for a fresh set of eyes. The Messenger endorses Hernandez.
This Week Today Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
9
Thursday, October 29, 2026
National, State, and Local Temperature Checks By Matt Meduri National
Credit - Matt Meduri
State
cannot be compromised by hackers. The bill outlaws the manufacture, sale, and distribution of baby monitors that don’t have security features. Packaging now requires warning labels about Internet connectivity and the associated risks. The bill was sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-Bay Ridge) and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont). The law imposes a $250 fine for a first offense and a $500 fine for a repeat offense. It will take effect on January 26, 2027. Local Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) (pictured right) announced the launch of the Long Island Express, a “new peak service provided by Suffolk County Transit” that will serve riders from Riverhead to Hicksville. The route is effective as of October 26, and will run on weekdays during peak periods. “Suffolk County has the most lane miles
and most registered drivers out of any county in New York, and we must do all we can to make our roads safer and alleviate congestion all while providing sensible and affordable alternative transit options to our residents,” said Romaine. “With the Long Island Express, motorists now have another sensible option to commute from the East End to the west in a simple and convenient manner.” Long Island Express service will start during the peak morning hours at the Riverhead LIRR station and will travel in the HOV lane of the Long Island Expressway. It will make limited stops en route to Hicksville’s LIRR station. Eastbound trips in the afternoons will start in Hicksville and conclude in Riverhead. The fare for the trip remains the standard Suffolk County Transit full fare of $2.25 per trip. Long Island Express will not operate on weekends and holidays. Riders can go cashless with the Suffolk County FastFare mobile app. For more information go to sctbus.org or call 631-852-5200. Credit - Matt Meduri
Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) (pictured left) signed two laws into effect on Wednesday to deal with how Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots interact with minors. Hochul said the bills would prevent “horror stories,” such as the case of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy from California who was allegedly driven to commit suicide by ChatGPT. The AI bot even offered to help him write a suicide note. Hochul said that during the course of those chats, ChatGPT mentioned suicide 1,275 times - six times more often that Raine himself had mentioned him. “I’m not sure why we have to pass a law against something so obvious, but no longer will minors have access to chatbots that may in any way encourage thoughts of suicide,” Hochul told reporters. The law was sponsored by Senator Kristen Gonzalez (D-Long Island City) and Assemblyman Alex Bores (D-Upper East Side). The laws require users to prove they are over 18 years old to access certain features. They also ban bots that build “emotional dependency, encourage self-harm, or engage in sexually explicit conversations” with minors. Chatbots talking to minors cannot claim to feel human emotions, pretend to be people real or fictional - or act like a friend, therapist, or partner. Chatbots cannot offer personal opinions or use praise to keep children interacting with them. Attorney General Letitia James (D-Clinton Hill) said that AI companies caught violating chatbot rules would face a $25,000 fine. James cited independent surveys that found AI chatbots engaged in 669 harmful interactions with accounts used by minors in just 50 hours - roughly one interaction every 5 minutes. The chatbots posed as licensed psychologists, and one told a 13-year-old to cease her antidepressants. The bill was lambasted by Tech:NYC, a group that represented tech companies in New York. “This bill could force companies to restrict minors’ access to tutoring tools, homework help, coding assistants, and, arguably worst of all, career platforms — cutting our youngest New Yorkers off from resources that support their education and prepare them for the workforce,” the organization said in a press release. Hochul signed another bill that demands manufacturers of Internet-enabled baby monitors to implement safeguards so they Credit - U.S. House of Representatives
Pentagon data shows that the Iran War has cost an estimated $47.1 billion since it kicked off on February 28. $29 billion has been spent on munitions - missiles, bombs, and interceptors - while just over $6 billion accounts for damaged or destroyed assets, such as fighter jets and drones. Another $12 billion has gone to incremental costs - $7.6 billion for Air Force operations, $2.1 billion for Army deployments, and $1.5 billion for Navy warship support. President Donald Trump (R-FL) is calling for prosecution of Mary Peltola (D-AK), a former Congresswoman and candidate for Senate in Alaska this year. He’s making this call after revelations on Wednesday show that her campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a candidate with the same name as her opponent, two-term Senator Dan Sullivan (R). What’s complicating that race is another Republican candidate with the name Dan Sullivan. Alaska’s ranked-choice voting tabulation could see ballot exhaustion and confusion with two candidates with the same name. Republicans think that could help Peltola (pictured below) flip a state crucial to Democrats taking control of the Senate. No Democrat has won a Senate race in Alaska since 2008. Trump previously directed the Department of Justice to sue to block the certification of the ballot should Peltola defeat Sullivan on Tuesday. Top Alaska elections officials had ruled earlier this year that the non-candidate Sullivan was ineligible for the June primary as it was done with a “purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot’s fairness or neutrality.” The Alaska Supreme Court later ruled he was qualified to run. The Alaska Senate race got another shakeup this week as Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), long an institutional in Alaska politics and an iconoclastic member of the Senate, endorsed Peltola over her Republican colleague. Democrats assert they were not involved at all in the Sullivan-Sullivan ballot. The world has been watching the outcome of the Israeli elections, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long been predicted to lose his spot as party leader. The Likud Party, which Netanyahu leads in the Israeli Knesset, lost 6 seats as of press time. The Likud continues to lead, but short of a majority, which will require another governing coalition between parties in the legislature - no different than how Netanyahu has been governing. But Netanyahu is claiming the election was
stolen, referencing “evidence of election theft in many Arab polling stations.” The 2026 Knesset elections are unique in that a record Arab vote took 19 seats by Arab-led parties. Those have long been seen as key to toppling Netanyahu’s cobbled-together coalition.
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Brookhaven Matters
10
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Continued from front cover
Student Advocates Secure $1.9M for Sidewalks in Medford (Credit - Town of Brookhaven)
Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) joined with New York State Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue), State Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R-Medford), Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Center Moriches), Brookhaven Councilman and Deputy Supervisor Neil Foley (R-Blue Point), and administrators, staff and students from the Patchogue-Medford school district to announce the grant. The grant was given by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) to install sidewalks and pedestrian improvements along Buffalo Avenue. The Generation Civics class at Patchogue-Medford High School was the driving force behind this grant. The course, led by social studies teacher Shaun Carlson, challenged students to identify community problems and seek a solution. In 2020, students found that Buffalo Avenue needed sidewalks, citing dangerous conditions for pedestrians. “This is a great example of students using their voice and how local government works and can impact the community in a positive way,” said Carlson. “I tell the students all the time, never give up, and here we are six years later.” “We applied for this grant once and we didn’t get it, but we reapplied and received it this year,” said Superintendent Losquadro. “This is a true illustration of what we can
do if we work collaboratively and what we can accomplish together.” The grant’s $1.9 million almost covers the estimated cost of $2.4 million. The Town of Brookhaven is making up the difference. “It’s very possible to have your voice heard, even at local government, to get something tangible done. What started in a classroom with young people is going to come to fruition,” said Supervisor Panico. “This was the kids’ idea – they were thinking about safety and their fellow schoolmates trying to walk to school,” said Councilman Foley. “They never gave up and now, six years later, this project is going to get done in 2027. This is one of the proudest days I’ve ever had in government.” “It was an honor to be involved in this. The students started in one class with an idea and passed it onto the next class and the next class and they continued to push and were on our backs and they said, ‘Where are we? Are we getting this done?’” said Senator Murray. “It took everyone rowing in the same direction to get it done.” “Public safety is number one and we should always remember that, and these students know that,” said Assemblyman DeStefano.
Middle Country Freshman Ice Hockey Winter is coming, but Suffolk County is already putting the ice to good use for ice hockey this season. The Middle Country freshman ice hockey team gives it everything they have on the ice each night. The Middle Country Freshman Ice Hockey Team is a member of the Suffolk County High School Hockey League. Middle Country is led by head coach Mike Rielly. He’s joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Peter Welch and Sal Riccio. The Cougars are 4-0-0 this season, best for third place with eight points. The Suffolk County High School Hockey League is co-ed, meaning boys and girls can play in the league if they wish. I played roller hockey for a number of years in a co-ed league, aside from myself, there were only two other girls. I always find it fascinating to see girls playing with and against their male counterparts. The best pros usually started out playing in boys’ leagues, and it only made them better players. The Cougars have four girls on their freshman roster for the 2026-27 season. Madison Dechiaro, Faith Rivera, Ava Saenz, and Alaina Figueroa. In the freshman division of the SCHSHL, there are nine girls. Of the 12 teams in the league, five teams have a girl(s) on their roster. Madison Dechiaro is second in scoring for the Cougars, notching 6g-6a-12pts in three games played. Her 12 points are best for third place in the SCHSHL, only two points behind her teammate Jack Conlon. Last season, Dechiaro was awarded Defensive Player of the Year by the Cougars. Dechiaro recorded a hat-trick versus Smithtown/Hauppauge blue, where the Cougars trounced the Bulls 11-2. One of her goals came on a penalty shot where she put some moves on the goaltender before sliding the puck in on the right side. Through four games this season, the Cougars have scored 36 goals while only giving up 13, giving them a +23 goal differential. Jack Conlon is the leader of the pack, leading the league in goals and points with 14. The Cougars are consistently producing on offense each night.
(Credit - Instagram @cougarsicehockey)
By Ashley Pavlakis
Middle Country has not relied on one goaltender to be its designated starter. Instead, they’ve called on their trio of goaltenders to spend time in the crease. Gavin Guadagno, Jake Hinson, and Patrick O’Rourke have all gotten minutes on the ice for the Cougars. The freshman division of the Suffolk County High School Hockey League serves as a bridge to junior varsity and varsity ice hockey. Having a space to learn and become accustomed to the systems, speed, and physicality is important in aiding the development of the young players. Players on a freshman roster must be at least 12 years old to be considered eligible. The Cougars are doing better than last season, having finished 2025-26 in sixth place. Their offensive production has increased early on to begin the season. Middle Country will look to get back to the playoffs and make a run for the SCHSHL title.
On The Campaign Trail
11
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Hochul’s Leads Vary in Home Stretch Governor Polls By Matt Meduri The final polls of the 2026 midterm cycle are pouring in, and data points continue to emerge in the New York gubernatorial race. The polls so far this cycle have shown Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) with margins that are firmly, yet not safely, ahead of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R-Atlantic Beach). In a state where Democrats rarely win statewide races below 20 points, Hochul only won by 6 points in 2022, and her leads ranging from the high-single digits to low-double digits signal an apparent yet underwhelming win. “As Bruce Blakeman becomes better known, he’s The final polls in the home stretch of the election improved his image among Independents. But with show varying pictures. less than two weeks to go until the final votes are cast, he faces an uphill battle as Hochul maintains a doubleBeacon Research - Hochul +22 digit lead,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Mary Snow in a press release. A Beacon Research poll found Hochul capturing Voters also give Hochul large leads on the issue 53% of the vote to Blakeman’s 31% - a 22-point in this survey. She leads Blakeman 71%-24% among lead. Hochul leads in every region of the state and voters who say cost of living is the most important Independents lean towards Hochul 40%-34% (+7). issue, compared to 72%-27% on “the economy,” but However, many Independents are still undecided. Blakeman leads massively on immigration, 71%-28%. The Beacon poll also found that 81% of New Quinnipiac finds Hochul’s job approval at 49%-45% Yorkers “strongly feel” that AI-generated political (+4). Meanwhile, President Donald Trump (R-FL) has ads should have to disclose their use of AI. 84% say a 34% approval rating among New York voters. New it’s “unacceptable” to use AI to “create realistic video York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-Astoria) has a or audio of a political opponent doing or saying 43%-42% (+1) favorability rating. something they never did.” The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted Governor Hochul has a 58%-27% (+31) approval October 15-19 of 1,167 likely New York State voters rating on AI safety. and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8%. The Beacon Research poll was conducted October 1-6 and surveyed 820 voters. It has a margin of error Emerson College - Hochul +12 of+/- 3.5%. Hochul’s lead remains strong but relatively ActiVote - Hochul +18 underwhelming according to Emerson College, who finds her ahead of Blakeman 52%-40% (+12). An ActiVote poll found Hochul leading Blakeman Emerson, like other prominent pollsters, finds 59%-41%. Hochul leads Independents 58%-42% and Blakeman leading among Independents - 55%-34% Democrats are likely to make up a larger share of (+11). In a press release, Executive Director of the poll, the electorate this year in New York - 49% against Spencer Kimball, called it a “notable contrast” with the Republicans’ 27%. college’s other polls this cycle, in which Independent Self-identified “center” voters are breaking for voters have “generally favored” the Democratic Hochul 66%-34% (+32) in this poll, while 27% of those candidate. who say they’re “moderate right” are backing Hochul. Emerson also found Hochul with an underwater Blakeman is attracting just 8% of the “moderate left” job approval rating - 40%-46% (-6); 15% are neutral. vote. The governor takes 64% of the New York City President Trump holds a 35%-57% job approval rating. vote, 55% of the suburban vote, and Blakeman takes Senator Chuck Schumer (D-Park Slope) comes in at just 51% of the rural vote. just 30% approval, while Senator Kirsten Gillibrand The ActiVote poll was conducted October 1-23 and (D-Albany) fares a bit better with a 33% approval rating. interviewed 400 likely New York voters with a margin Mayor Mamdani has a 47%-41% (+6) job approval of error of +/- 4.9%. rating, mirroring that of the Governor. Of voters who are “very excited” to vote in this Quinnipiac University - Hochul +14 race, 58% support Hochul and 35% support Blakeman. However, among those “somewhat excited” to vote, Quinnipiac University found Hochul’s lead at 55%- 49% support Hochul and 46% are backing Blakeman. 41% (+14), down slightly from their finding last month The poll also found that voters generally support of Hochul +19. They find Blakeman leading among Hochul’s one-year statewide moratorium on largeIndependent voters, 51%-44% (+7). scale data centers. 56% are in favor, 26% opposed, and Hochul’s favorability also decreased slightly in 18% are neutral. Along party lines, 73% of Democrats Quinnipiac’s latest survey. Voters have a 45%-46% and 44% of Independents support it, compared to just (-1) favorability rating, down from her +3 rating last 37% of Republicans. month. Blakeman has a -4 favorability rating, but 23% The Emerson College poll was conducted 3-5 of respondents don’t know enough about him to form among 900 likely voters and has a margin of error of an opinion. +/- 3.3%.
Credit - Matt Meduri
Marist - Hochul +11 The Marist poll disclosed their partisan breakdown of voters sampled as 42% Democratic, 28% Republican, and 28% Independent. Hochul leads Blakeman 53%42%. Independent voters, however, continue to break for Blakeman at 49%-42% (+7). Of those voting for Hochul, 52% say they’re “strongly support[ing]” her, while 80% of Republicans say the same of Blakeman. Hochul takes 69% of the NYC vote, while Blakeman takes 51% of the Upstate vote. Both are tied at 48% in the suburbs. OnMessage, Inc. - Hochul +4 This internal poll was sponsored by the campaign for Saritha Komatireddy (R-Upper East Side), who is running for Attorney General. In this poll, Hochul leads Blakeman by just 50%46% (+4). The same poll shows Komatirredy trailing two-term Attorney General Letitia James (D-Clinton Hill) by just 51%-45% (+6). The poll surprisingly shows Blakeman leading in Buffalo, Hochul’s stomping grounds, 56%-42% (+14). Hochul leads in the Albany region 52%-44% (+8). The rural parts of the state are leaning strongly towards Blakeman - 62%-33% (+29). Hochul leads slightly in the Rochester and Syracuse areas, +4 and +2, respectively. “This race for governor is very competitive,” said campaign strategist O’Brien “O.B.” Murray, who worked on George Pataki’s (R-Elmira) successful campaign for governor in 1994, according to The New York Post. “In this race anything can happen. Four years ago people were tired of Kathy Hochul. Nobody expected that race to be that close.” The OnMessage poll was conducted from October 12-14 among 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 2.8%. Compared to 2022 When then-Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) almost upset Hochul, the polls in this phase of the 2022 midterm cycle showed Hochul up about 7 to 8 points on average; she prevailed by between 6 and 7 points. The ActiVote poll then showed Hochul leading Zeldin +10, compared to their current Hochul lead of +18. Emerson College showed Hochul leading +9, compared to their Hochul +12 poll this year. Emerson did, however, find a narrowing race this time compared to their two latest polls. In 2022, Hochul grew her lead in the Emerson poll between midOctober to late October. The final Quinnipiac poll of the 2022 cycle was released in mid-October. It found Hochul leading Zeldin +4, compared to their +14 lead for Hochul this cycle. The final Marist poll of the last cycle was released in early October, showing a Hochul +8 lead, contrasting with her current Marist lead of +1
Endorsements
12
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Credit - Matt Meduri
LaLota for U.S. House, NY-01 NY-01 contains the entire towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, and Southampton, and most of Huntington. Within the Town of Brookhaven, NY-01 contains Center Moriches, Centereach, Coram, East Moriches, East Shoreham, Gordon Heights, Lake Grove, Lake Ronkonkoma, Manorville, Middle Island, Miller Place, Moriches, Mt. Sinai, Old Field, Poquott, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Ridge, Rocky Point, Selden, Setauket, Shoreham, Sound Beach, Stony Brook, Terryville, Upton, and Wading River, with parts of Farmingville, Holbrook, Holtsville, Medford, and Yaphank. Congressman Nick LaLota is rounding out his second term in the U.S. House representing the lion’s share of Suffolk County. His first term was spent under the Biden Administration in a closely-divided, yet Republican-held House. His second term has been spent under the Trump Trifecta in an even closer-divided, yet still Republican-held House. That says LaLota has gotten a good look at how things work in difficult circumstances, yet has still been able to deliver tens of millions of dollars back to Suffolk, primarily for public safety, capital projects, and infrastructure. For Smithtown, that’s looked like sewers and wastewater solutions for downtown Smithtown and St. James, a new outflow pipe in Kings Park, and new police cruisers for Head of the Harbor. For Brookhaven, it’s looked like much-needed funds for flood mitigation in Miller Place and Sound Beach, the extension of the public water main in Calverton, and resurfacing of Harbor Road where the Mill Pond Dam once stood in Stony Brook. At-large, his work has consisted of police vehicles for the SCPD and Sheriff’s Offices, along with funds for a new control tower at Gabreski Airport. LaLota, a Republican of Amityville, has also proven his worth in working with pragmatic Democrats, such as Joe Courtney (D-CT) on Long Island Sound issues, and with Pat Ryan (D-NY) on Veterans’ issues. LaLota, a Navy Veteran himself, has made sure
his office is top-tier for Veterans’ services, and has even helped secure these Veterans well-deserved war decorations. He’s also called for further attention in liver fluke cancer, which particularly affects Vietnam Veterans. But perhaps LaLota’s biggest claim to fame this year was that of quadrupling the SALT cap. LaLota faces first-time candidate Chris Gallant, an Amity Harbor Democrat. Gallant’s record of service is noteworthy and laudable, as he piloted a Black Hawk helicopter and then went on to become an air traffic controller. However, as we’ve seen his visits to various meet-the-candidate nights, it seems to us he’s more of the generic Democrat that Suffolk puts up. He’s not well-acquainted on many issues and his comments on the SALT being only for the wealthy makes him seem out-of-touch with the middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods in this district that do rely on that credit. To Gallant’s credit, he did turn our story into allegations of his past into a fundraising haul and a new slogan - “Make Politics Sexy Again.” Credit where credit is due in turning a negative into a positive. But we do think he’s being rather glib about it when transparency is far too out-ofreach in Washington. Moreover, that he didn’t seek to answer many of our questions, even those pertaining only to his campaign platform, gives us pause. Overall, we appreciate Gallant’s service to our country - his Black Hawk pilot status probably makes him the “coolest” Democrat to have run for this seat in recent memory - but he’s sticking to the safe talking points while not offering much else. For LaLota, we respectfully urge the Congressman to be a bit more of a bipartisan maverick that he’s been in the past. He and the Long Island contingent are a valuable temperature check on what the suburbs need, and he and Congressman Garbarino and now-former Congressman D’Esposito effectively held up the Speaker of the House vote after Kevin McCarthy was ousted. They held out for Speaker Mike Johnson, whom they felt was much more sympathetic to Long Island’s needs. Our point is this: the Long Island contingent has proven its power and worth. We hope they can voice some questions many of us have about the Iran War, government spending and equities, and transparency within all three branches of government. We know LaLota is outspoken and well-meaning. If Democrats end up taking control of the House, we think sending LaLota back to Congress keeps Long Island with the leg up. We don’t think Suffolk wants to start from scratch with a freshman Democrat, while the party overall will likely be on a revenge tour against Trump. The Messenger endorses LaLota.
Voters have two good candidates for this South Shore district. Congressman Andrew Garbarino has been on a glide path since his first election in 2020. The Republican, who hails from Bayport, was last summer handed the gavel on one of the House’s most powerful committees - Homeland Security. That says a lot about his seniority and the faith his colleagues have in him. Moreover, he’s been able to bring back tens of millions in funds for infrastructure and public safety projects across his district - Mastic Beach’s sewer district, West Islip’s sewer expansion, Bellport road improvements, Islip road improvements, and Brookhaven’s landfill capping project come to mind. Garbarino’s big win, besides securing funds for the 9/11 first responders health fund, is his collaboration with Congressman LaLota on quadrupling the SALT cap. The Suffolk duo set out in 2024 to lobby President Trump to reinstate the cap that Trump had eliminated in 2017. We applaud them for that successful effort. Garbarino faces a surprising opponent this year, former Suffolk County Executive Pat Halpin. The Oak Beach Democrat left elected office in the early 1990s, but remains active in Babylon Town development matters and just recently left the Suffolk County Water Authority as Chairman in 2022. Halpin has remained involved and our conversation with him was probably one of our favorites of this cycle. He is in tuned with the populist moods of this country and offers a more nuanced view of U.S. foreign policy that we can appreciate. Garbarino, however, is instilled in Congress, and that does likely translate to more funds down the road for needed projects and holding the suburban line for which we view Suffolk as the chief ambassador. The LaLota-Garbarino synergy is unmistakable, and we think to give up Garbarino’s standing in Congress at this point, especially with the House likely to flip blue, would be starting from scratch when Suffolk can’t afford to. We do, however, respectfully urge Garbarino to tap into that maverick energy that made him a pariah among South Shore conservatives not too long ago. We think the Trump Administration has not been beneficial this time around, particularly on the Iran War. Garbarino does get classified briefings, so we can defer there, but only to an extent insofar as the Administration continues to pitch this operation. Garbarino, along with the Suffolk delegation, has held up things before - and rightfully so. Their power and influence has been displayed. We’d like to see more of that. The Messenger endorses Garbarino.
Kuhn for Assembly, District 7 Credit - Matt Meduri
Credit - Matt Meduri
Garbarino for U.S. House, NY-02 NY-02 contains the entire towns of Islip and Babylon, and parts of the Town of Oyster Bay. Within the Town of Brookhaven, NY-02 includes Bellport, Blue Point, Brookhaven hamlet, East Patchogue, Mastic, Mastic Beach, North Bellport, North Patchogue, Patchogue, Shirley, and parts of Farmingville, Holbrook, Holtsville, Medford, and Yaphank.
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Within the Town of Islip, the Seventh District includes Bay Shore, Bayport, Brightwaters, East Islip, Fire Island, Great River, Islip Terrace, North Great River, Oakdale, Ocean Beach, Saltaire, Sayville, West Bay Shore, West Sayville, and parts of Bohemia, Gilgo-Oak Beach-Captree, Islip hamlet, and West Islip. Within the Town of Brookhaven, the district contains Blue Point, Fire Island, Patchogue, and parts of East Patchogue.
The Seventh Assembly District is open for the first time since 2020 as Jarett Gandolfo seeks a position in the State Senate. Looking to fill his place are two well-meaning candidates. Islip Town Councilwoman DawnMarie Kuhn is making a quick pivot from Town Hall to Albany. Just last November, she won her first elected office to represent Islip’s Second District in the Town Council. She’s now headed for Assembly, particularly at the urging of the Albany Republican Conference who see her as a valuable asset to expand their stock of young women on the floor. Kuhn, a Republican of Bohemia, describes herself as a “full-time student.” That hasn’t changed since we interviewed her last year for the Town Council race. She brings a wealth of experience with years in municipal government. This year, she scored several wins as a freshman elected official, nominating several high-profile positions for Islip Town’s various departments. Kuhn is also a staunch supporter of law enforcement and has the granular knowledge of environmental work to support this ecologically sensitive and evolving South Shore district. She also has skin in the game: a young professional working two jobs to merely make ends meet, we think, provides Albany another grounded-in-reality voice. For Kuhn, however, this is personal. She mourns that her close family members have had to flee New York for how inhospitable it is. We give her immense credit for putting up and looking to change things rather than getting on the Florida bandwagon. Kuhn faces first-time candidate Trish Kopp, an Oakdale Democrat. Kopp is a retired teacher of 20 years but is relatively new to local politics. She said she’s long been “obsessed” with national politics - no foul there, but we wonder if she knows the political nuances of the local level. We appreciate Kopp’s candidness that the Democratic Party went too far on bail reform and the anti-police rhetoric. We also agree that the cell phone ban in school is a good initiative, but she couldn’t name much more than that as far as what she’d like to accomplish if elected. Kopp is personable and reasonable, but Kuhn can speak to the district better and has much more experience with how government works. The Messenger endorses Kuhn.
Endorsements Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
The Fifth District is split between the Towns of Brookhaven and Islip, containing the communities of Lake Grove, Holbrook, and parts of Bohemia, Centereach, Coram, Farmingville, Holbrook, Holtsville, Islandia, Lake Ronkonkoma, Medford, North Patchogue, Ronkonkoma, and Selden. If there was an official mayor of Holbrook, we’d say that role belongs to Assemblyman Doug Smith. Smith, a former teacher by trade, is perhaps one of Suffolk’s most valuable opinions on education, easily one of the most salient and contentious topics in New York over the last several years. The Holbrook Republican recently broke with party orthodoxy to endorse the end of Regents exam requirements for graduation, instead looking towards a more all-of-the-above approach. While it might seem confusing to see a Republican in favor of education policy that’s generally seen as more of a Democratic cudgel, Smith brings a level of nuance to the issue that only stems from his deep Sachem roots. “Not every kid wants to go to college,” Smith told our Editorial Board. We’ve been arguing for a while now that the high school-to-college pipeline is not working for everyone. In fact, we’ll go as far as to say it’s a dying way of doing things in a world where the advertising for college is worth more than the degree most graduates earn. There must be alternatives, and Smith is acutely aware of that. We trust his judgement on this issue and appreciate his candidness. Moreover, Smith has developed good relationships with those in the majority and has been able to make some hometown deliveries the last two years. In the heart of his district was the old Sachem administrative building. Holbrook’s Main Street is now short one blighted property and will soon be in reception of an all-accessible park that will likely double as a de facto village green. Smith regularly expresses his desire to work more with the Governor, if only the Governor could make her prerogatives known, not just what seems electorally feasible. Smith’s opponent, Holbrook Democrat Victoria Russell, is not actively campaigning. The Messenger endorses Smith.
Murray for Senate, District 3 Credit - Matt Meduri
Credit - Matt Meduri
Smith for Assembly, District 5
13 The Third District contains Bellport, Blue Point, Brookhaven hamlet, Center Moriches, East Moriches, East Patchogue, Farmingville, Gordon Heights, Lake Grove, Manorville, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Medford, Moriches, North Bellport, North Patchogue, Patchogue, Shirley, South Haven, Upton, and Yaphank, as well as parts of Calverton, Centereach, Coram, Eastport, Holbrook, Holtsville, Lake Ronkonkoma, Middle Island, Ridge, and Selden.
Senator Dean Murray might be in the minority, but gets his voice out there one way or another. The East Patchogue Republican has spared no expense in taking the MTA to task over their fiscal mismanagement. He’s spent his time calling for a fiscal oversight board for the agency and continues to beseech them for rail solutions to the Mastic-Shirley Peninsula. On infrastructure, he’s helped lead the charge with fellow Republican, Assemblyman Joe DeStefano, to pressure the DOT to expand Sunrise Highway to three lanes from East Patchogue out to the Moriches. But Murray’s top issue, incontrovertibly, is crime - more particularly, crime victims. His crime victims’ roundtables tell the other side of the story when it comes to New York’s crime woes. In every case, it’s a totally different side of the story that’s reported. Murray regularly brings commonsense proposals to the table, such as Nick’s Law, which would strengthen penalties on hit-and-run drivers who flee the scene. But Albany’s dogmatic machine won’t give the victims an inch, so it seems. This year, Murray has made Medicaid fraud and Medicaid reform part of his bigger prerogatives. Ask him about Medicaid; he’ll tell you New York runs the “Cadillac” of Medicaid programs. He’s correct in that regard and continues to rightly press the State to evaluate their fiscal options and tighten their margins for error, while also pressing the Attorney General to do a better job at sniffing out malfeasance. It’s a shame Albany doesn’t heed Murray’s warnings more. We think he’s exactly the type of person to hold the line on these issues. Moreover, his granular knowledge of the district and his visibility therein are unmatched. His opponent is Antonio Vargas-Ayala, a Democrat of Brookhaven hamlet who is not actively campaigning. The Messenger endorses Murray.
Kassay for Assembly, District 4 The Fourth District includes Belle Terre, East Setauket, Gordon Heights, Old Field, Poquott, Port Jefferson, Setauket, Stony Brook, Strongs Neck, and Terryville, and parts of Centereach, Coram, Middle Island, Port Jefferson Station, and Selden. Fourth District voters have two good candidates to represent them in Albany this year. Rounding out her first term is Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay, whom we did not endorse last year. The Port Jefferson Democrat, we think, is carefully navigating the brutal politics of the Albany majority, while also balancing local needs. Some big wins for her came in the form of State aid for the Mill Pond Dam, helping secure the Lawrence Aviation site in Port Jefferson Station for eventual rail electrification, and getting a bill through to increase accountability on the mobile gambling epidemic. In one of the cheekiest moments of the last two years, Kassay and company convened on the Lawrence Aviation property in a de facto protest move against the State. When earmarking billions of dollars without a second thought, the State couldn’t be pressed to spend $10 to buy that property, much to Kassay’s - and our - confusion. At the ribbon-cutting, she held up two $5 bills - a great display of how Albany will spend itself into eternal debt, but won’t take money literally being handed to them. Kassay faces first-time candidate Will Sussman. At the age of just 27, the Port Jefferson Republican has had a storied career thus far: earning a professorship at Yeshiva University, testifying before Congress on anti-semitism, and rotating around various policy think tanks.
Sussman and Kassay both rightly say the budget process is practically unworkable. It’s already backwards from the start and results in poison pills required to force waffling members into checkmate. Sussman’s solution? Don’t vote for any budgets, especially those that bail out New York City. Kassay’s record? Vote for the bills that bring money to Suffolk, even at the risk of giving herself a black eye by cosigning an unpopular bill that she wasn’t able to draft. Sussman critiques Kassay on that, but doesn’t recognize that Kassay is in the classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t position. On that dynamic, Kassay told us, “maybe that’s exactly where I’m supposed to be because I represent a purple district.” Sussman took umbrage with Kassay’s participation of a bill that he says would have left the door ajar for the DOT to seize parts of the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway trail for a potential bypass. Kassay, along with Republican Senator Anthony Palumbo and Republican County Executive Ed Romaine, were part of the effort to rectify it and secure its conservation in perpetuity. Sussman says it was a last-minute move to cover a mistake. Perhaps, but it was rectified in the end, and the reality is, there’s no way the residents would have ever allowed Kassay and company to see re-election had their Greenway been paved over. Finally, in the eleventh hour of the campaign, Sussman alleged Kassay engaged in a pay-to-play with a non-profit. It’s definitely a jarring, last-minute revelation, but it seems, right now, that the onus is on the non-profit, who definitely screwed up. Whether that was coordinated by Kassay is not proven and a startling allegation, even for how unnecessarily negative this campaign has been. Kassay is entitled to her day in court, should the Attorney General investigate. Sussman is sharp and wants to hold the majority accountable. Kassay is pragmatic and plays nicely in the sandbox surrounded by Republicans in Suffolk. We urge her to keep up the cudgel against the majority as she gains more seniority should she be reelected. The Messenger endorses Kassay.
Credit - Matt Meduri
Giglio for Assembly, District 2 The Second District contains the entire Town of Riverhead, Northampton, Riverside, and parts of Speonk in the Town of Southampton, and Calverton, East Shoreham, Manorville, Miller Place, Mount Sinai, Rocky Point, Shoreham, Sound Beach, Wading River, and parts of Eastport, Middle Island, Moriches, Port Jefferson Station, Ridge, and Upton in the Town of Brookhaven. Second Assembly District voters have had a good representative since 2020 in Jodi Giglio and we think they’ll continue to do so after 2026. Giglio, a Republican of Baiting Hollow, has worked behind the scenes on the nuts-and-bolts issues. She’s worked across the aisle to secure more funding for direct support professionals (DSPs) to continue their work in aiding and caring for the developmentally disabled, and she was successful in getting passed a bill to allow towns to opt into a full property tax exemption for 100% disabled Veterans. The Town of Brookhaven has opted in. Giglio, while not a bomb-thrower, knows her district well and is firm on the issues that matter: the State has a spending problem and continues to stymie efforts on the law enforcement front. She rightly assesses the State’s priorities need a massive overhaul. Her opponent, Democrat Michael Szika, of Manorville, is not actively campaigning. The Messenger endorses Giglio.
Civics 101
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Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
The Necessary Standard for American Education The National Governors Association
This column will seek to address the long-forgotten concept of civics and how it relates to American government in general, from the federal level to the local level. This column will explore Constitutional rights, the inner workings of government, the electoral process, and the obligations and privileges of citizens.
By Matt Meduri We’re taking the final week before the elections to cover another topic that blends civics with politics, the National Governors Association (NGA). While not a partisan, legislative body that is determined by majority control of the nation’s governorships, membership of the NGA can greatly increase a party’s infrastructure across the country. That composition is on the line on Tuesday, as 36 states will elect governors. Democrats also have a chance to control a majority of the nation’s governorships for the first time since 2009. History and Origin The NGA was founded in 1908 as a panel of the nation’s state and territorial governors to promote “state-based policy solutions that promote national progress,” according to the NGA’s website. The NGA “envisions a strong civic system that is defined by partnership and collaboration, protecting states’ individual freedoms and empowering governors to serve.” The first rumblings of an NGA started with the Inland Waterways Commission, a federal agency created by Congress in 1907 at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY). The commission was tasked with investigating the transportation crisis that had, at the time, harangued the nation’s ability to produce and transport goods among the industrial sector. The immediate problems hinged on railroad capacity and inland shipping. There had been an essential tugof-war between the private sector and federal regulations, while Roosevelt also sought a balance between economic viability of the nation’s critical waterways with environmental stewardship. While the commission only lasted until 1909, the end of Roosevelt’s presidency, the commission saw a need for intergovernmental cooperation across state lines. They proposed and organized the first-ever White House Conference of Governors in 1908. All state and territorial governors convened in Washington at Roosevelt’s request for a three-day summit that began on May 13, 1908. It was the first formal meeting of all U.S. governors at the White House, and from there, the tradition for an interstate governing partnership to address regional issues was born. Following that meeting, the governors continued to meet on their own terms, not only to continue discussions on regional issues, but also to check the federal government’s power where necessary. The scope of the organization expanded beyond regional resource and trade issues discussed in 1908. In 1910, New Jersey Governor-elect Woodrow Wilson (D) called for a “dignified and permanent institution” among the states. While the body still functioned mostly informally, by the 1930s and 1940s, it had adopted firmer standards. It began electing chairs and drafting agendas. In 1941, it began a practice it continues today: alternating the chairmanship between the two major parties, regardless of which controls more governorships across the country. This was an informal policy that wouldn’t be formalized until 1977. The body would play a pivotal role in the 1950s as President Dwight Eisenhower (R-KS) spearheaded the Interstate Highway System. Meanwhile, staffing and structure of this body in Washington, D.C., became more permanent. 1977 was the pivotal year for this group. It’s when the formal title of “National Governors Association” was adopted. The alternating chairmanship policy was formally adopted; the vice chair is typically of the opposite party and normally succeeds the chair the following year. Since then, this rotational structure has been upheld. In the modern era, the NGA has developed its policy initiatives and broader strategies. Each chair begins his/her term by selecting a year-long “Chair’s Initiative” focused on a major national issue. Current NGA Chair, Governor Wes Moore (D-MD), named his initiative “Service United.” It’s a bipartisan call to action for governors across the country to expand paid, state-based, public service programs. The goal is to help young Americans - ages 16 to 24 - to build career pathways and develop workforce skills. In 2010, the NGA saw a new creation under its purview, the Council of Governors. This is effectively a subcommittee of the NGA that was formed via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and presidential executive order. It’s a forum for governors and federal officials to address matters pertaining to the National Guard, homeland security, and civil support.
The Council consists of ten governors appointed to twoyear terms by the president; five governors from each party serve. Two governors serve as co-chairs. By Executive Order, federal participants include the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security - currently Pete Hegseth (R-TN) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), respectively - the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, Commander of the U.S. Northern Command, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Governors John Stein (D-NC) and Henry McMaster (R-SC) serve as co-chairs, while Governors Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Brian Kemp (R-GA), Jeff Landry (R-LA), Wes Moore (D-MD), Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Kathy Hochul (DNY), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Jim Pillen (R-NE) serve on the council. Broader Implications While there is no official prize for winning a majority of the nation’s governorships at-large, and while the NGA’s authority is not explicitly derived from partisan composition, whichever party holds more governorships does have some built-in advantages. Specifically related to the NGA, the larger party will have more members on the executive committee, greater weight in discussion, and more staff capacity to shape policy. The majority power, however, cannot dictate NGA policy. More broadly, the majority party can create so-called “laboratories” for policy. A party with more governorships can implement their policies at scale and within the scope of each of their states. If those governors are accompanied by legislative majorities - a trifecta - it gives the “laboratories” idea more weight. Right now, Republicans govern 26 states to the Democrats’ 24, but Republicans currently have 23 trifectas to the Democrats’ 16. Only 11 states have divided governments - of those, 7 have a governor of one party and both legislative chambers of another, while just 4 have split control in the legislatures. This power is greatly exercised during redistricting years. The 2026 elections will no doubt have implications for the 2031 redistricting cycle, although several states have opportunities to change their governor’s party in 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030 before those redistricting battles formally kick off. Of the 36 states electing governors on Tuesday, only 7 don’t see their governors have any weight in the redistricting process. The most consequential are Arizona, California, Colorado, and Michigan. But the other 29 do see their governors have varying degrees of influence. Most states allow their governors veto power over congressional maps, direct membership on a redistricting board, appointment authority to redistricting commissions, and/or proposal or advisory authorities over the maps. Party infrastructure, national strategy, and long-term political power can also stem from a party holding a majority of the nation’s governorships. Political machines can be built on patronage and fundraising, which can greatly influence electoral advantages up and down the ballot.
Odds and Ends The current Chair is Governor Wes Moore (D-MD); the current Vice Chair is Governor Mike Braun (R-IN). The Executive Committee consists of Governors Spencer Cox (R-UT), Josh Green (D-HI), Maura Healey (D-MA), Jeff Landry (R-LA), Phil Scott (R-VT), Josh Stein (D-NC), and Kevin Stitt (R-OK). All governors elect the Chair and Executive Council at their summer meeting. The only former NGA Chair who went on to serve as president was Bill Clinton (D-AR), who served as chair from 1986 to 1987 as governor of Arkansas. The first female NGA Chair was Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), who served from 2006 to 2007. The NGA has seen its share of political drama. In 1997, Governor Fob James (R-AL) became the first governor since the NGA’s formation to formally opt out of the NGA by stopping mandatory dues. Annual dues account for about $100,000 per state per year. In 2011 and 2012, several Republican governors stopped paying dues. Then Governor Paul LePage (R-ME) said the annual fee was not worth the value and that the meetings were “too politically correct.” In September 2025, Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) announced that Michigan is no longer a member. There is no indication that Michigan has resumed paying its dues. Paying dues is essentially the only “official” requirement for a state to participate in the body. As governors exit and enter the office, they can simply restart the dues and participation. There are no official ceremonies or agendas regarding a state’s status, departure, or reintegration. In 2025, Governors Laura Kelly (D-KS) and Tim Walz (D-MN) announced their intention to leave the NGA over what they felt were lack of criticism from the body on President Donald Trump’s (R-FL) policies. Later that year, Governors Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) threatened to depart from the NGA. They cited the organization’s lack of denouncements of the deployments of the National Guard against the wishes of the affected state governors. Since 1908, the NGA has had 49 Republican chairs and 49 Democratic chairs. Only 9 states have never seen their governor become elected NGA Chair, along with all five overseas territories. The state with the record number of NGA chairs in Utah, having produced 8. Maryland and Virginia are tied with 7 each, followed by Colorado with 6, and Kansas and Washington tied with 5 each. Interestingly, part of the reason Utah has seen so many governors chair the NGA is from its formation as a state not long before the formation of the NGA in 1908. Utah’s governors have long been involved in the national body, and their governors have been particularly long-served and invested in national issues. In its heyday, Utah wasn’t such a strongly Republican state as it is now, so bipartisanship and pragmatism went further at the time. Some notable names have served as NGA Chairs: Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Howard Dean (D-VT), New York has only seen 1 governor elected NGA Chair Andrew Cuomo (D) from 2020 to 2021.
Senator Murray’s Affordability Plan: Provide a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and a two-year green energy tax holiday. Government taxes and fees account for between 25 to 50% of a customer’s utility bill.1
Long Islanders are increasingly concerned about making ends meet. That’s why Senator Murray is focused on cutting taxes for seniors, families, and small businesses, lowering energy costs, and helping residents keep more of their hard-earned money. He is committed to making homeownership a reality for first-time buyers and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid system.
Establish a first-time homebuyer tax credit.2 Establish a task force on housing to work with local governments to incentivize and expand development.3 Strengthen the Medicaid program by creating the Medicaid fraud hotline and fraud tip board, which will administer a system offering monetary rewards for reporting of Medicaid fraud4 and require the Inspector General to compile an annual report on information received through the hotline.5 S.8463, 2S.850, 3S.529, 4S.10680, 5S.10681
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VOTE TO RE-ELECT SENATOR DEAN MURRAY! EARLY VOTING BEGINS: October 24 ELECTION DAY: November 3 www.Murrayfornysenate.com @murrayforsenate
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Property Tax Relief for Seniors and Families Safer Streets and Neighborhoods Clean Water and Protecting Our Environment EARLY VOTING: October 24 – November 1 ELECTION DAY: November 3
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NYS SENATOR DEAN MURRAY: Working to cut costs and make Long Island more affordable
Down Ballot
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Thursday, October 29, 2026
Final Forecast: Dems Take House, Senate Tied By Matt Meduri
Since last January, we’ve been handicapping the 2026 midterms and we’ve watched the cycle start as a jump ball for the voters as the parties were ostensibly shifting, to an all-out disaster for the GOP. However, we’re taking a more modest approach to this forecast for several reasons. Polling The polling this cycle has been unlike any other in recent memory. Highly limited in most places, much of the polling we’re seeing are internal or partisan polls. They’re not necessarily wrong, but they need to be taken with a greater grain of salt than a typical poll. It’s unclear if pollsters have perfected their weighting metric to account for the “hidden Trump” vote, which might be mostly absent this year, and to account for voting demographics who don’t typically show up to vote. It’s what’s making this an incredibly difficult election to predict. On one hand, Democrats should sweep everything with just how bad Trump’s numbers are, but we found ourselves in the same scenario in 2022 with Biden’s poor ratings, only for the GOP to have a red ripple of a night instead of a red wave. On the other hand, fundamental polling misses in states with notoriously bad polling are still on the table. U.S. House - Democrats Win with 230 Seats Initially, there was an expectation that Democrats would just barely take the House or Republicans could somehow defy history and retain the chamber. We now see Democrats as clear favorites to win, although we doubt some seats that the mainstream pundits are calling will end up flipping. We’re sorting the last of the Toss Ups and moving some red seats to the blue side. We think Republicans will pick up 9 seats total, 8 of which come from their mid-decade redistricting ploy that seems relatively toothless now. They’ll flip three seats in Texas - although Democrats could hang onto TX-35 - and two seats in Florida - although Democrats could retain FL-22. The GOP will safely get LA-06 and TN-09, but there’s an outside chance Democrats retain AL-02. The only seat we see flipping to the GOP outside of redistricting is ME-02, an open seat that’s been held by the most conservative House Democrat since 2019.
The Usual Suspects These are swing seats, often in swing states, that typically flip with each midterm. There’s always a chance the GOP could retain one or two, but it’s hard to see how it makes up the difference at large. The Democrats, we think, will flip 5 seats in California - including the Central Valley-based CA-22. There, Congressman David Valadao, a notable maverick, is the last remaining Republican in the House who voted to impeach Trump in January 2021. He went down in 2018, despite being a staunch overperformer. We expect he will lose again, but narrowly, and could very well hold on. The other 4 California seats for Democrats come from their mid-decade gerrymander. Usual Suspects Seats to Flip D: AZ-01, AZ-06, CO-08, IA-01, IA-03, MI-07, MI10, NE-02, NJ-07, PA-07, PA-08, SC-01, TX-15, VA-01, WI-03. Red-Leaning Seats to Flip D: MT-01, NC-11, OH-07, PA-10 Upset Alert These are seats we think the GOP holds but could very well flip if Democrats have a tremendous night: AZ-02, CO-05, FL-13, IA-02, KY-06, MI-04, MN-01, MO-02, NY-17, VA-01. These are seats we think the Democrats could lose if the GOP has a better night than expected, particularly in states they gerrymandered mid-decade: FL14, FL-25, MI-10, MT-01, NY-03, NC-01, OH-09. Overall, we’re fairly confident in our House forecast. We think if we end up being wrong, Democrats end up with a more sizable 230-245 majority, rather than a lower end. In that event, we don’t see their lower end going past 225 seats. Again, individual polls in these districts are few and far between. Some seats haven’t been polled since the winter and spring, while much attention has been in Democratic-leaning pollsters that have been giving us mixed reads compared to the “usual suspects” seats that are producing margins more expected in a midterm scenario. With 24 flips for the Democrats and 9 for the Republicans, we expect Democrats to walk away with a net gain of 15 seats, 12 more than they need to flip control of the House.
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Thursday, October 29, 2026
Final Forecast: Dems Take House, Senate Tied Maybe we’re overdue for one, but then again, polarization lingers on. Both are equally reasonable and difficult to believe, and the information we’re getting from people on the ground is only making it more opaque. Governors 36 states will hold gubernatorial contests on Tuesday. At this point, we see Republicans flipping Kansas - which has long been in the cards - while we see Democrats poised to flip Iowa, Alaska, and Ohio. Ohio is also giving us agita here. We initially thought the GOP would have an easier time winning here, but this has easily been the nastiest campaign of this cycle. Vivek Ramaswamy’s (R) latest ad appears to have backfired in favor of Amy Acton (D). It’s a “Hail Mary” we’ve seen done by campaigns before, and they can work, but Acton has held onto her modest polling leads since the ad dropped last week. U.S. Senate - A Tied Senate? We’re asking this prediction, rather than simply giving it. Polling misses are frequent in Senate elections, especially with the states in question. The Toss Ups right now are Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, and Texas - all states known to have notoriously bad polling. We see two scenarios for this Senate: one where Democrats only pick up one or two seats and ultimately come up short, and the other where they sweep everything. There’s plenty of evidence for both. That said, both parties will need a lot to go right for them in order to take the chamber. The polling averages have Democrats ahead in Alaska, Texas, Ohio, and Maine, but all within standard margins for error. Our best inkling is that former Congresswoman Mary Peltola (D) will flip Alaska, as this is the first Senate race in the Last Frontier under their ranked-choice voting system that features a Democrat and a Republican. Alaska’s leftward shift over the years doesn’t surprise us, and while it’s still relatively right-of-center, Democrats have a much improved floor as of late. That Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), more of an Independent than a Republican, endorsed Peltola this late in the race gives us pause on two-term Senator Dan Sullivan’s candidacy. Texas and Ohio are giving us the most agita. In Ohio, a state where the Democrats’ floor has dramatically sunk in the Trump Era, former Senator Sherrod Brown (D) seems poised for a comeback. While Senator Jon Husted (R), appointed to fill the remainder of J.D. Vance’s (R) term, is in line with the typical, pragmatic Republican that Ohioans like, we wonder if this is too much for him to overcome. Trump’s numbers in Ohio are abysmal, and the concurrent gubernatorial race being effectively thrown by Vivek Ramaswamy (R), we think might get Brown just over the finish line to return to the Senate. In Texas, we’re increasingly skeptical of Ken Paxton’s (R) chances. Whether he wins or loses, he’ll easily go down as perhaps the worst Senate candidate either party has produced in recent memory. If James Talarico (D) wins, it will be the first time since 1988 that a Democrat has won a Senate race in the Lone Star State. That victory will likely be substantiated by massive turnout in the Texas Triangle - something early voting is signalling, but not guaranteeing - and a death-by-athousand-cuts scenario for Paxton in rural Texas. If Paxton does win, it will be by the narrowest of margins. It’s difficult for us to see Texas flipping blue, even in this environment, but we can’t write it off. We’re going with Paxton only because it’s one of those “We’ll believe it when we see it” scenarios, but see it on Tuesday we just might. In Maine, it’s always a rule of thumb to not bet against a moderate Republican - in this case, five-term Senator Susan Collins (R). Our talks with Mainers say they think she’s a lock for re-election. While she’s down in the polls, it’s only by a modest margin. She’s in a better place than she was in 2020 when Democrats thought they had her beat. Some late-breaking races in Kansas and South Carolina are giving us some pause as well, and while they’ll be unseasonably close, we think the GOP has enough of a baseline to limp away with both of them. We don’t see Republicans flipping Michigan, Minnesota, or New Hampshire, and we see Democrats as a solid bet to flip North Carolina and hold Georgia. That would give Democrats a net gain of 3 seats, just 1 short of the necessary margin to take control of the Senate. Vice President Vance will retain tie-breaking votes to keep nominal control with the GOP. We’ll be transparent in that we’re unconfident in this prediction, again owing to polling and some scrambled airwaves we haven’t seen in the modern political era. We think seeing a full sweep is not implausible given the climate, but we’ve seen sweep predictions go wrong before. The reality is, the last real Senate sweep for Republicans was in 2014, and 2008 for the Democrats.
Ohio hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 2006, and before that, 1986. We’d say Ohio is overdue for a Democratic governor, especially since Ramaswamy is not at all cut from the cloth of the moderate Republicans Ohioans typically send to Columbus. The polls do, however, regularly underestimate Republicans, so we’d like to keep this in the Toss Up column and simply shrug our shoulders. But in the interest of putting all the cards on the table, our gut says the GOP will take some serious penalties this year. In Georgia and Nevada, the former has regularly reliable polling, and the latter has a modestly-net positive incumbent. Both are difficult to contend with in any cycle, and while this cycle gives credence to both of those states flipping, we’re going with the GOP in both. Democrats have some long-shot opportunities in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, and even Vermont, but we think all remain on the table for the GOP. On the other hand, we’re not counting out Republicans in Wisconsin, Oregon, and New York, but we think the evidence we have says they’ll all win narrowly - Hochul in New York by a tepid margin. A Final Note We’ve always enjoyed putting out these forecasts, if anything, to educate the public on the state of the races from an angle not provided by other local outlets. It’s been one hell of a cycle, and we’re frankly glad to see it come to a close. To reiterate our main points for this forecast: generic ballot midterm polling has been very accurate in 2018 and 2022. If Democrats are on track to win that vote by 8-9 points, we think a 230-seat majority is around where they would win. Individual district polls are almost entirely worthless this cycle, if anything for the sheer lack of them. State polls for Senate and governor have been numerous, yet with fundamental problems. Polling is tricky business and we don’t think the pollsters are up to any tricks, but it’s hard to believe everything they say when we’ve seen the same story throughout the years. What’s unmistakable: Trump is massively unpopular, even more than he was at this point in 2018, but the Democrats don’t have an ostensible leader and many on the left don’t see them as properly countering Trump’s agenda. We think they take a penalty, but not one to seriously impact their chances of making credible gains. Disclaimer: Since we print on Thursday, most pundits don’t make their final calls until Monday evening before the election. If any flash polls or last-minute October surprises come in, we can’t account for it. This is the best gauge we can give with the information we have. And, as always, regardless of whether we’re spectacularly correct or preposterously wrong, we look forward to digging into the autopsy next week as results come in.
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Messenger Perspectives Thursday, October 29, 2026
A Comment That Caused Me to Care
By PJ Balzer This Sunday is the first of November, which means the holiday season has snuck up on us once again. Many are already making plans and sorting out the seating arrangements at their Thanksgiving tables. Others are searching their attic for that specific Christmas tree they haven’t displayed in a while. For many, this is a time of year that warms the heart and gladdens the soul, rekindling a little nostalgia, generosity, mercy, and gratefulness - all of us could use a little more of those. I love listening to music. I do a good amount of driving so I’m always looking to keep busy in the car. If I’m not spending some quiet driving time in reflection and prayer, then I definitely have some sort of music on. This past week, I found a playlist on YouTube that someone else made. I searched the first few songs on the list, liked them, and decided to put the entire playlist on for the drive. One of the best things about YouTube I’ve found is the combination of both music and writing that goes underneath each song. I guess you can say that I also love writing and words as well. I often enjoy reading the comments that people place underneath songs that they like, especially when it comes to older music and songs of the past. You can tell a little about people’s lives by their music choices and commentary on it. The people who comment on YouTube music tend to express some really touching memories that they have surrounding the song that they’re listening to - specific times, memories, and emotions that the song may carry with it for them. They also have a tendency to express some raw and real-life emotions. Life comes with so much beauty and joy, mingled with a lot of pain and suffering. Maybe that’s just all a part of what makes us human and the common human experience that we’re all having. This week I wanted to keep my own writing here a little shorter and conclude it by sharing with you some of the most touching comments I had read underneath some songs I listened to on that YouTube playlist this past week. Reading these comments reminded me that everywhere I go, especially this holiday season, people have a lot happening underneath what we see on the surface. We may see the disgruntled shopper or hurried driver, the cashier who doesn’t smile, or the neighbor who’s house isn’t being kept up like it once was. God sees the struggle and what’s happening underneath it all. In a world that’s becoming increasingly more hardened and less empathetic by the second. May we each, starting with myself, become the opposite, especially this upcoming holiday season when real people experiencing these raw emotions, may need it the most.
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Overview - AMAC The Association of Mature American Citizens
Democrats Admit Their Top Priority Is Illegal Aliens, Not ‘Affordability’
AMAC plays a vital role in helping build the services that will enrich the lives of America’s seniors. AMAC Action, a 501 (C)(4) advocates for issues important to AMAC’s membership on Capitol Hill and locally through grassroots activism. To Learn more, visit amac.us
By Matt Lamb | AMAC Newsline Contributor Democrats are hoping that their “affordability” messaging will sweep them back into power come January. But as Election Day approaches, they are increasingly dropping the mask and revealing that their real top priority is protecting illegal aliens – even at the expense of American citizens. JoCasta Zamarripa, the Democrat nominee for Wisconsin Secretary of State, openly admitted as much during an interview earlier this month. When asked what her top priority was, Zamarripa answered, “My number one priority is to see the governor sign driver’s licenses for undocumented Wisconsinites into law.” Not lower gas prices. Not tax cuts. Driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. This is hardly an isolated statement from Zamarripa – it was also her primary focus as a state legislator. “During her tenure in the state legislature, Zamarripa wrote bills seeking to grant driver’s licenses and in-state tuition to [illegal aliens],” the news outlet Zeale reported. “In 2015, she introduced a bill creating a special driver’s card that would require renewal every two years and could not be used for voting.” Zamarripa, now a Milwaukee alderwoman, said she is confident that Democrat gubernatorial nominee David Crowley will support the idea if elected governor. She’s right – Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, explicitly said he supports the idea during a candidate forum. He also has the backing of the ACLU because he opposes “when ICE operates in our neighborhoods.” But Democrats’ obsession with making life easier for illegal aliens is hardly limited to Wisconsin. Earlier this month, House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries unveiled a “first 100 days” agenda if his party reclaims power this November. Jeffries and his loyal corporate media allies have claimed that the agenda is built around “affordability.” But even a cursory examination of the platform says otherwise. One of the most prominent proposals is a promise to repeal what Democrats call the Trump administration’s “Medicaid cuts” and “SNAP cuts” – referring to the anti-fraud provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed into law last year. That legislation notably instituted a basic work requirement for able-bodied adults to receive benefits and, critically, enacted new provisions to better ensure that illegal aliens and other ineligible adults are not receiving benefits. By pledging to repeal those policies as part of their “day one” agenda, Democrats are promising to re-open the floodgates for illegal aliens to claim American taxpayer dollars. Democrats have also obsessively demonized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations throughout the 2026 campaign cycle, promising that they will do everything possible to stop the Trump administration’s deportation agenda. Darializa Chevalier, the card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America who won the Democrat nomination in New York’s deep blue 13th Congressional District, has called for Congress to “abolish” ICE and said it is a “violation of our constitution” when illegal aliens commit crimes and then get deported. That proposal is now officially up for debate within the Democrat Party and could be part of the official DNC platform in 2028. “All deportations are wrong,” Chevalier previously declared in June when asked about her past social media posts stating the same. A Vox host specifically asked Chevalier about people “who were convicted of breaking U.S. criminal law.” Shockingly, Chevalier claimed that deporting criminal illegal aliens violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on double jeopardy. (Double jeopardy refers to being tried twice for the same crime, not criminal and civil consequences for the same crime.) Additionally, as Politico reported just last week, one of Democrats’ top oversight priorities if they retake Congress will be dragging Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin before various committees in an attempt to stymie deportation efforts. Democrats plan to “throw the gauntlet” at Mullin in an effort to prevent as
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The Association of Mature American Citizens represents Americans 50 plus. AMAC is centered on American values, freedom of the individual, free speech, and exercise of religion, equality of opportunity, sanctity of life, rule of law, and love of family, with benefits at all levels.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
many deportations as possible until they have a chance to reclaim the White House in 2028. That approach contrasts sharply with Republicans’ oversight agenda, which largely focused on identifying and stopping the massive welfare fraud scandals that have dominated the headlines over the past year. While the GOP works to save taxpayer dollars, Democrats are gearing up to stop deportations. Of course, Democrats’ pro-illegal immigration agenda is in direct conflict with their claim to care about “affordability.” Illegal aliens drive down American wages and drive up housing costs, as a Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas white paper showed earlier this year.
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Illegal aliens are also an enormous burden on the taxpayer. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, approximately 61 percent of households headed by illegal aliens use at least one major welfare program. While illegal aliens themselves are ineligible for most welfare programs, they can still receive benefits on behalf of their children if their children are American citizens. As voters make their final decisions, they should remember the record-high inflation and border chaos of just a few years ago. Democrats still have the same leaders and the same ideas – they’ve just given them a makeover that they think the public will buy. But Americans shouldn’t be fooled by the “affordability” charade – illegal aliens, not U.S. citizens, remain Democrats’ top priority.
S T A G E
SEP 10– OCT 25 U P
N E X T
By William Goldman Based on the Novel by Stephen King
JAN 14–FEB 28 M
NOV 12–DEC 27 C H I L D R E N’S
SEP 26–OCT 25
T H E A T E R
Frosty NOV 21–DEC 27
Bits & Pieces
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WORD OF THE
Week
Etymology:
1630s, apparently from baste “to thrash;” verb lam “to beat, to lame,” or the related Elizabethan noun lam “a heavy blow” (implied by 1540s in puns on lambskin). To lambaste was, “In sailors’ use, to beat with a rope’s end.”
Published by Messenger Papers, Inc.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
SUDOKU
LAMBAST verb Pronounced: /lam·bast/ Definition:
to assault violently or attack verbally.
Example:
“The campaign consultant lambasted the candidate for the tone-deaf social media post.”
Synonyms: berate, castigate, excoriate Antonyms: compliment, flatter, praise Sources: Merriam-Webster, Etymonline.com.
See bottom left for the answers (please don’t cheat!)
This Week in History October 30, 1938:
A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds,” narrated by Orson Welles, allegedly causes mass panic.
WORD WHEEL M
S E
See how many words you can create. Must have center letter in word and can use letters more than once. 4 letter word minimum.
C H
November 2, 1898:
October 31, 1917:
November 1, 1993:
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), in his first professional fight, beats Tunney Hunsaker on points in 6 rounds in Louisville, Kentucky.
A
T
October 29, 1960:
Cheerleading begins in the United States as Johnny Campbell leads the crowd cheering on the football team at the University of Minnesota.
British War Cabinet gives final approval to issue the Balfour Declaration to support a “national home for the Jewish people” in what is then Ottomancontrolled Palestine.
The Maastricht Treaty comes into effect creating the European Union.
November 4, 1879:
James Ritty invents the first cash register to prevent his bartenders from stealing money from the till at his bar in Dayton, Ohio.
November 3, 1620:
Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony. Source: Onthisday.com.
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Commack Girls
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Tennis Wins 2026
Suffolk County Championship The Cougars made quite the racket this season on the court, serving up wins in Suffolk County. The Commack girls’ varsity tennis team claimed the Suffolk County Championship on Friday afternoon. The Commack girls’ varsity tennis team is a member of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) and competes in conference II. The girls are led by first-year head coach Joseph Pugh. Pugh has been coaching in the district since 1997 and is also the boys’ tennis coach. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 9-2-0 record in 2026. On Friday, the 4th-seeded Cougars made the trek to Shoreham-Wading River, a neutral site location, to take on William Floyd [2nd seed] in the Suffolk County Championship. In the large school bracket, Commack battled through Smithtown East, East Hampton, and Half Hollow Hills East. “It was pure joy to be honest because of the girls involved. They have been in highly contested matches and have come out on the wrong side in past seasons. But this time, especially the 2nd doubles team of Risha Sen and Maddy DeCicco, they dug deep and found a way,” head coach Joseph Pugh told The Messenger. Suffolk was claimed on Friday and then it was on to the next for the Cougars as the Long Island championship was set for the next day. Commack took on Nassau’s title
winner, Port Washington. The latter prevailed, leaving Commack as the runner-up for the Long Island crown. “I think winning in the way we did in the semifinal against HHE, another quality team, set us on the path to getting a max effort for William Floyd. Which gave us the confidence to go try again on Saturday against a powerhouse team like Port Washington,” said Pugh. The culture set by a coach is what makes or breaks a team. For the Cougars to have Pugh take over this season was the ultimate gain. Pugh knew it wouldn’t be easy but was sure to give the team his full support every step of the way. “I think the talent was there coming in, but talent alone doesn’t always win in the biggest games. I wanted to let these girls know from day one that I believed in them even when we took 2 losses early in our NL schedule,” said Pugh. Pugh knows how to coach tennis; coming into the girls’ side he took the information he was given and utilized it to the best of his abilities. “The girls on this team were amazing. I wanted my captains, seniors, all of them to know I had their backs. I wanted their input on drills, possible matchups, even where I could put them in a lineup. If I listened to them, then I could expect them to listen to me,” Pugh Congratulations to the Commack Cougars girls’ varsity tennis team for claiming the Suffolk County Championship for the first time in 10 years!
R E P U B L I C A N
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