Local Democratic candidates gather for Town Hall in Islip

The Islip Democratic Committee held their 2026 Town Hall last Saturday, Oct. 3. Hosted at East Islip’s Greenwood Hall from 11 to 2 p.m., Democratic candidates for the Islip area answered questions regarding their positions on many key issues Long Islanders are facing.

One hot topic opened for the room was health care. For candidate Lynn Trupiano O’Keefe, who is running for New York’s Assembly District 8 and is a retired nuclear medicine technologist herself, the answer was clear.

“I’m a staunch supporter of the New York Health Act. And we all know why. I’m going to make sure, when I’m getting to the Assembly office, that New Yorkers get the New York Health Act, and that it’s available and accessible to all of us.

I’m going to push; I’m going to sit on Hochul’s desk. If she doesn’t pass it and sign it, I’m going to be up her wazoo every single day to get her to sign this policy on her desk. And if you want to know more, go to my website; this is a comprehensive plan that covers dental, vision, mental health, reproductive health,” she emphasized. The New York Health Act is a bill that would guarantee universal health care for all New Yorkers. 

Sharing his own experiences in the political sphere, NY Congressional District 2 candidate Pat Halpin revisited his memories of past economic recessions.

“I know going back to my days, when we had massive unemployment, back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when the whole economy collapsed, there were hardworking people who lost their health insurance.

And they ended up on Medicaid. And the hard-working people, by the way, who lost their ability to pay for the food every week for the families, and they ended up on SNAP,” Halpin explained. “So I bring these things up, because remember what Garbarino and LaLota did about a little over a year ago, around July 4th.

They rushed down to Washington to pass the Big Beautiful Bill to extend those massive tax breaks for billionaires. And they did that. Because they were set to expire Dec. 31, 2025.

The Affordable Care Act was set to expire. Dec. 31, 2025. So they gave the billionaires their massive tax breaks, and in fact, made them bigger, their tax breaks, and they allowed the Affordable Care Act funding to disappear.”

Addressing rising housing costs on Long Island was another issue asked to the candidates. Senate District 8 candidate Josh Taveras highlighted how Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs), small rentable spaces near or attached to preexisting homes, could hold a solution.

“ADUs are our biggest thing that we could take advantage of right now,” Taveras said. “So when you have someone living in your home right now, it’s illegal. If you give your basement to someone, you could get in trouble by the state. Why?

Why is that? Why is that the case? We can be putting money back into the elderly who need it, who are in retirement, and with the costs going up right now, that tenant can make a difference between them paying for groceries, paying for gas, and helping stimulate the local economy while helping someone who’s young like me and can’t afford a $3,000 affordable housing apartment.”

Assembly District 12 candidate Craig Herskowitz drew attention to another factor of the housing costs. “The problem is, we’re spending all this money educating our children and they cannot afford to live in the community that they grew up in. So we’re educating the workforce of North Carolina. So we need to ensure that young people can stay and live in the communities that they grow up and they love,” he shared.

For Herskowitz, affordable housing units could be the answer to this continuing problem. “We do need to invest into affordable housing, which for the longest time had negative connotations towards it. In Northport, where I lived, there was a housing project that the community’s been fighting for over 50 years, Matinecock.

And this finally got developed, and it’s a gorgeous project. Absolutely gorgeous.

So we need to work with communities and kind of dispel the notion that affordable housing is bad, because affordable housing is great for the community.

One of the final questions raised was what each candidate hopes their legacy would be with their campaign. Christopher Walis, a candidate for Assembly District 9, shared his hopes for his community. “There needs to be more protections in place for trans youth. Trans kids need to know that Democrats are going to fight for them and not pretend like they don’t exist, and most certainly not pretend like they’re the problem, or that they’re a losing issue. So that’s what I would like to accomplish, and if I have a legacy, I would like to make sure that trans kids and nonbinary kids were able to be who they were during this dark period of time.”

Other candidates in attendance and/or represented at the town hall were the honorable Supreme Court judges Stephen Ukeiley and Mary E. Porter, alongside county comptroller candidate Jon Estreich and write-in county clerk candidate Abigail Field.

Voter registration closes on Oct. 24. Mail-in registrations must be received by Oct. 24 by a board of elections in order to be eligible to vote. For in-person registration, your application must be received by your local board of elections or a state agency participating in the National Voter Registration Act by Oct. 24 as well.