Republican state Sen. Jack Martins and Kim Keiserman, his Democratic opponent in the 7th Senate district race, clashed Wednesday at a forum held by the Lakeville Estates Civic Association on the issues of free school lunches for New York students and abortion legislation.
But both agreed on the need for more housing, their opposition to two proposals by Gov. Kathy Houhul in which the state would be involved in housing decisions and the need to address environmental issues on Long Island.
Martins has been District 7’s Senator since 2022 and from 2011 through 2016. He served as the mayor of Mineola for eight years.
Keiserman She has held leadership positions in the Baxter’s Pond Foundation, North Hempstead Housing Authority, the Port Washington Democratic Club, and more.
Both candidates oppose Hochul’s original housing plan, which would alter zoning areas on a local level to allow apartment buildings near train stations.
“You don’t have a top-down approach when it comes to enforcing housing on our local communities, certainly not our suburban communities,” said Martins, who has represented District 7 since 2022. “The idea of a one-size-fits-all approach that creates 50,000 apartments around every train station on Long Island is a mistake. It was a mistake and let’s rely on our local communities to make those decisions for themselves.”
Keiserman, who held a leadership position with the North Hempstead Housing Authority, agreed that the proposal doesn’t work for Long Island. She felt it distracted government officials and constituents from having a serious conversation about the housing issues.
“It became very politicized and it became very divisive,” Keiserman said. “The fact is that a lack of housing options for seniors, young people, people who need to come and work in our businesses, the people that we need for Long Island, is a real and serious problem. It’s part of the problem of affordability that we have here on Long Island.”
Martins, who served as mayor of Mineola, and Keiserman agreed that the government should not have a role in making reproductive decisions for anyone, but the two clashed on Martins’ previous way of voting for abortion rights.
Keiserman said she supports reproductive rights and the right of women to have control of their own bodies.
“At a time when abortion rights are under relentless attack all over the country, I believe that we need to be represented by someone who has been a lifelong fighter for bodily autonomy,” Keiserman said.
Keiserman noted that Martins voted against the Reproductive Health Act, the Reproductive Freedom Equity Fund, and other critical reproductive rights bills.
But Martins said he supported women’s reproductive rights.
“As the father of four daughters, and as someone who understands the importance of persons and women being able to make decisions for themselves, I don’t believe the government has a role in making those decisions for anyone,” Martins said.
He acknowledged voting against a bill proposed in 2016-17 that that would have codified Roe v. Wade, saying it “allowed for abortions up until the point of delivery,.
“I think abortions are a tragedy, but I will never make a decision for someone else when it comes to it,” Martins said. “I voted for the ERA. Not because of any other reason other than, I don’t believe it’s right for anyone to vote against equal rights for anyone.”
An attendee brought up a social media post made by Martins that Keiserman supported an alleged antisemite, state Assembly Member Gonzalez Rojas.
“I just want to take the opportunity to say how seriously I take the issue of antisemitism,” Keiserman said. “It is, without a doubt, one of the most destructive and vile forces in human history, and to see its resurgence in the past several years, but particularly since Oct. 7 has been heartbreaking for me and others in the community.”
Keiserman said the post she shared was not in direct support of Rojas but in support of a universal school meals rally, where elected officials and non-profits joined together to support universal school meals.
“My career has really been devoted to combating antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry and also promoting religious literacy,” Keiserman said. “What I had shared on social media was a post about the issue of universal, free school meals and my Assembly Member [Gina Sillitti]’s leadership in promoting universal school meals.”
Martins said he also supports the idea of universal school meals, but he “finds it unconscionable that a person who has been a vocal antisemite, a person who has called Israel a genocide state and who is an assembly person from an area outside of Nassau County is brought to the Great Neck South High School to speak.”
Keiserman reiterated that his post was not about the assembly members; it was about universal school meals.
Martins and Keiserman also agreed that environmental issues are essential to focus on Long Island
“I believe in the old proverb, we don’t inherit land from our parents. We borrow it from our children. So, we have a responsibility to provide them with the land in better shape than we have,” Martins said. “When it comes to understanding that we have a sole source aquifer, that is where we receive all of our drinking water from, we need to protect it.”
Keiserman said she agreed that because we live on top of our sole source aquifer, people need to ensure that infrastructure is safe and climate-resilient for years to come.
“We are literally on the front lines of climate change,” Keiserman said. “I see the environment as a centrist issue that can bring us together politically. Because we all care about the environment and protecting our drinking water.”
Both candidates also criticized Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s proposed plan to deputize private citizens under his command, which many have called a private militia.
“We have a wonderful police department; they do a great job, and I don’t see a need for a militia,” Martins said.
“This militia empowers citizens who are gun-owning citizens to use their firearms in the event of some kind of undefined emergency,” Keiserman said. “So there’s no way that would make our community safer.”
