Two lawyers from Plainview were recently nominated to run in the Nov. 8 special election to fill the seat vacated by Nassau County Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) when she died last month.
Democrats tapped Arnold Drucker, 59, a member of the Nassau Community College (NCC) Board of Trustees who has a Queens-based private law practice. Republicans picked Louis Imbroto, 32, associate general counsel at Nassau University Medical Center, who previously served as Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Oyster Bay. Drucker also has the Independence and Work Families party lines while Imbroto has the Conservative and Tax Revolt party lines.
Residents will have a chance to hear the rivals’ positions on issues affecting the county when The League of Women Voters hosts a candidate forum 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, located at 999 Old Country Rd. in Plainview.
Imbroto previously ran against Jacobs in 2013 and tried to unseat New York State Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) in ’12 and ’14. He also chairs the Nassau County Youth Cabinet and previously worked at the Long Island Contractors’ Association as well as in private practice.
Drucker previously served as co-chair of a presidential search committee at NCC, which this summer tapped former Farmingdale State College President H. Hubert Keen as its new leader. This is Drucker’s first run for elected office.
Jacobs was an 11-term county legislator and 20-year veteran lawmaker who served seven years as the legislature’s first Democratic presiding officer before she died Sept. 13 at age 77. She was among four remaining county lawmakers that have been serving on the 19-member Nassau legislature since its inception in 1996. She got her start in politics as a civic leader.
Jacobs represented the 16th Legislative District, which encompassed the North Shore communities of Plainview, Old Bethpage, Jericho, Syosset, Woodbury, Hicksville, Old Westbury and Roslyn Heights.
County Executive Ed Mangano set the special election to fill her vacancy for Election Day. The winner will serve the remaining year of her last two-year term and will face re-election again in 2017. Republicans currently have a 12-6 majority in the chamber.
