Election 2020 In New Hyde Park: Everything You Need To Know

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — After unprecedented early vote totals, voters will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in what will be a referendum on President Donald Trump's first term in office. New Hyde Park voters will cast their ballots for Congress, as well as for New York State Senate and Assembly, both of which are currently controlled by Democrats. Incumbents who will defend their seats on New Hyde Park ballots this year include President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, Assemblyman Ed Ra and state Sen. Anna Kaplan.

The deadline to register to vote was Oct. 9. You can check your voting status on the Secretary of State's website, where you can also find your polling place.

New York's 4th Congressional District

Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice will face Republican challenger Douglas Tuman in the race for the 4th Congressional District.

Rice, 55, of Garden City, was elected to office in 2014 and is running for her fourth term in Congress. Before serving in the House, she was the Nassau County district attorney, a position she held for nearly a decade.

Rice graduated from the Catholic University of America in 1987 and later earned her law degree from Touro Law Center. She has served as a member of the Homeland Security Committee and as the top Democrat on the Transportation Security subcommittee. She has also served as a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations, vice chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Tuman, 40, has been the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead for the last four years. He earned a bachelor of engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctorate from Hofstra Law. He is both a licensed attorney and professional engineer.

This is Tuman's first run for political office.

The district includes Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Bellmore, Bellerose, Bellerose Terrace, East Rockaway, East Meadow, Elmont, the Five Towns, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Freeport, Garden City, Hempstead, Island Park, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Malverne, Merrick, Mineola, Carle Place, New Hyde Park, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, South Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Uniondale, Valley Stream, Wantagh, West Hempstead and Westbury.

See also:

• Meet The Candidates: Kathleen Rice For Congress
• Meet The Candidates: Douglas Tuman For Congress

New York Senate District 7

Democratic New York state Sen. Anna Kaplan will face Republican challenger Dave Franklin in the race for District 7.

Kaplan, a Democrat from Great Neck, was born in Iran to a Jewish family. Her parents sent her to the United States for safety during the Islamic Revolution. She arrived in Brooklyn and was sent to live with a foster family in Chicago, where she learned English and completed high school. The U.S. government later granted her political asylum.

After her family reunited, they moved to Queens, where Kaplan graduated from Yeshiva University Stern College for Women, and later Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She settled in Great Neck with her husband and two daughters. In 2011, Kaplan was elected as Town of North Hempstead councilwoman in District 4. She won election to the state Senate two years ago, defeating then-incumbent Republican Elaine Phillips with 55 percent of the vote. Kaplan became the first political refugee and the first Iranian-American elected to the New York state Senate.

Franklin has lived in Port Washington for over three decades and served as a police commissioner for the Port Washington Police District from 2011 to 2019. He managed dozens of uniformed officers and a $20 million budget, helped craft policy, negotiated fair contracts with the police union and helped restructure the administration.

Franklin also has private sector experience, working as a technician and engineer for HBO for nearly four decades.

The district includes parts of Great Neck, Port Washington, Manhasset, Roslyn, Old Westbury, Westbury, Lake Success, Mineola, Floral Park, Elmont, New Cassel, New Hyde Park and Hicksville.

See also:

• New York Senate District 7 Candidates: Meet Anna Kaplan
• New York Senate District 7 Candidates: Meet Dave Franklin

New York Assembly District 19

In New York Assembly District 19, incumbent Republican Assemblyman Ed Ra seeks re-election against Democratic challenger Gary Port.

Ra, of Garden City South, was first elected to the Assembly in 2010. He serves as Ranking Minority Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and previously served as Assistant Minority Leader Pro Tempore and Ranking Member of the Assembly Education Committee.

Ra graduated from Loyola College in Maryland in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in computer science. He received his Juris Doctorate from St. John's University School of Law in 2007 and a Master of Laws in intellectual property law from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2008.

Prior to his election, Ra served as a deputy town attorney for the Town of Hempstead and as a legal aide in the New York state attorney general's office. He is also a member of the Franklin Square Kiwanis, a 3rd Degree Knight of the Knights of Columbus, a member of the 12 Apostles Council, and a member of the Cellini Lodge #2206 Order Sons of Italy in America.

Port is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and a former assistant professor at Hofstra University's Maurice Deane School of Law. He is also the former chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association Veterans' Law Committee.

Port graduated law school in 1986 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army later that year. He served in active duty and as a reserve officer until retiring in 2015, ending his career as the legal advisor to the commanding general of the 78th Training Division. He received the Meritorious Service Medal twice, the Army Commendation Medal three times and was awarded the Army Achievement Medal.

The district includes some or all of the following communities: Garden City, East Garden City, Garden City Park, West Hempstead, Franklin Square, New Hyde Park, Williston Park, Mineola, Carle Place, Old Westbury, Old Brookville and Glen Head.

See also:

• New York Assembly District 19 Election: Meet Ed Ra

Presidential Election

In what's shaping up to be one of the most anticipated presidential elections in recent memory, incumbent Republican President Donald Trump will try to fend off a tough foe in former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden has held a healthy lead in the polls in recent weeks — FiveThirtyEight's website shows Biden has an average of advantage of 10.5 points as of Wednesday, up from 8.2 on Oct. 1. The site notes that polling averages are adjusted based on state and national polls. Candidates' averages can change even if no new polls are added to the calculation.

Historic Early Voting

Nassau County voters turned out early in droves, following a pattern seen nationwide. More than 144,000 absentee ballots were requested by Republicans and Democrats in Nassau, a spokeswoman for the county Board of Elections told Patch on Friday afternoon. About 99,000 of those were requested by registered Democrats and about 45,000 were by registered Republicans

About 93,000 absentee ballots were returned: about 65,000 from registered Democrats and 28,000 from registered Republicans, the Board of Elections said.

Furthermore, about 171,000 people in Nassau voted early, including about 82,000 registered Democrats and 48,800 registered Republicans.

While there was no early voting in 2016, the spokeswoman said, the number of absentee ballots requested and returned in 2020 has been "tremendously larger." In 2016, about 48,000 absentee ballots were cast in all in Nassau County.

How To Vote

There are several ways residents can vote this year: mailing in their ballot, voting early and voting on election day.

Mail-In Voting

Vote-by-mail applications must be received by the Nassau County clerk by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Subscribe The ballot itself must either be personally delivered to the board of elections no later than the close of polls on Election Day, or postmarked by a governmental postal service not later than the day of the election and received no later than the 7th day after the election.

Voting On Election Day

Polls in New York are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day.

You can find your assigned polling place by visiting the New York State Board of Elections website. For questions about voting in Garden City, contact the Nassau County Board of Elections at 516-571-VOTE (8683).