Why I will not be voting for Nick LaLota

Why I will not be voting for Nick LaLota

Nick LaLota cannot vote for himself because he does not live in CD 1. LaLota suggested he would move to the district if he won in 2022. He won and did not move. Living outside the district you are elected to represent is legal, so other than misrepresenting his intention to move, it is not a crime but an untruth. Instead of owning up to the fib, LaLota seeks to tarnish John Avlon by accusing him of living in Manhattan despite his owning a home in Sag Harbor since 2017. Seems a little disingenuous to me.

In 2020, when LaLota was a commissioner at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, he was disqualified from running for a state senate position because of a conflict of interest: “A candidate cannot also serve as a commissioner in charge of counting the votes.” Newsday Aug. 2020. It seems that Commissioner LaLota would have been aware of this conflict. 

In 2024, the former Board of Elections commissioner wants to enact a new law requiring U.S. citizens, including those in CD 1, to provide identification before voting. This is despite there being no evidence of voter fraud in Suffolk County and no significant indication of illegal voting in the 2020 election. Currently, 34 states require identification, but 16 states choose not to. Lalota is pushing for federal law. Currently, all people provide identification when registering. This is a tip of the hat to states that routinely implement obstacles to prevent people from voting. 

LaLota on the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade: “ The recent Supreme Court decision to allow states and their voters, not an unelected federal court, to dictate abortion policy is a step in the right direction.  The next step is for the New York State Legislature to repeal the extreme provision which allows for third-trimester abortions.” Nowhere does his statement mention a woman, a doctor, or a failing pregnancy. Lalota wants states and voters to be the decision-makers for women. People have abortions for many reasons, but what kind of cynical mind would imagine that a parent who finds out their child is pregnant, a victim of rape, possibly incest, should be reliant on the government to decide the health care or a family facing life and death decisions should be burdened with government overreach?  

At a recent Three Village Chamber of Commerce Candidates forum, LaLota, addressing the border bill, stated, “It was not a border bill. It was terrible. It was a four hundred page bill three hundred had to do with Ukraine and some other overseas funding….” LaLota left out that some of that overseas funding was for Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza. It was a bill painstakingly negotiated by Democrats and Republicans. Mitch McConnell, hardly a liberal, was involved. Funding for Israel and Ukraine was included in the bill because the Republicans demanded it be included. LaLota also stated that Krysten Sinema (I), one of the chief negotiators of the bill, walked away from the bill, which is misleading. Ms. Sinema was disgusted by the politicization on both sides of the aisle. In an interview with NPR, when asked about the bill, Senator Sinema responded “And to be clear, over the last four months, we have negotiated with(what) the Wall Street Journal now calls the strictest set of migration policies seen in decades. So we came out with a very robust, very major package on Sunday evening. And, you know, something happened between Sunday evening and today, when many of my Senate colleagues decided that they actually don’t want to secure the border. And, you know, that’s their choice, but it’s clear that folks changed their mind.” LaLota is disingenuous on this.

Perhaps it is time to change “To thine own self be true” to “To your constituents speak truth”. 

Remember to vote in the November 5, 2024 election. Your vote matters!

Pat

Op-Ed All The Hostages Must Be Released

All The Hostages Must Be Released 
BY John Avlon

We need to talk about Omer Neutra.

It has been one year since this son of Long Island was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in the horrific attack one year ago, on October 7^th.

The world has witnessed the ever-widening cycle of violence ever since, and we mourn the death of every innocent civilian. But we cannot forget how this conflagration began and we cannot lose the sense of moral clarity that comes with confronting the tyranny of terrorism.

New Yorkers understand from hard experience that we must always stand with the victims of terrorism and not blame the victims of terrorism. As a former journalist and author of a book on extremism, I believe that there is a special responsibility among people who are not Jewish to stand up to antisemitism and stand up for the state of Israel’s right to exist.  

Nonetheless, over the past year, there has been an impulse to overlook the hostages in our culture instead of the sustained attention each and every one deserves. But this one hits closer to home.

Omer was born in the wake of 9/11. His mother Orna evacuated Manhattan by foot over the Queensborough bridge months before he was born. Like every child who arrived while Ground Zero was still smoldering, he was a symbol of enduring hope in a civil society where posters of missing persons dotted the cityscape for months.

He grew up in Plainview and excelled at school and sports. He was a happy child and a natural leader. His love of the Knicks in the 2010s helped strengthen his innate optimism and resilience.

After graduating from high school, he took a gap year in Israel, planning to attend Binghamton University. He decided to join the IDF as part of his commitment to public service. He responded to the massive terror attack that began with an assault on young people dancing at an open-air concert. It was an assault that targeted women with sexual violence and left dead children on the dusty ground. We cannot ignore or whitewash those atrocities that left more than 1,200 dead and over 250 individuals held hostage. Omer was among them.

We have seen miraculous rescue missions succeed in liberating hostages being held in Gaza. We have received the heartbreaking news that many more bodies have been recovered. Omer’s whereabouts are still unknown. His parents Ronan and Orna have been tireless in their advocacy for the son, speaking to Democrats and Republicans and President Biden. Their steadfast courage and love in the face of this nightmare should inspire and guide us all.

Soon after I began this campaign in the winter of 2024, I was asked at a debate whether I supported an immediate ceasefire. I immediately and instinctively said, “not unless all the hostages are released.” I still believe that is a necessary precondition for peace.

Throughout this tumultuous year, I have seen the fading away of the rightful focus on the hostages. I have marched with those local citizens who fight to keep their memory alive, walking with police escort because of the threat of further violence. We need to stop the hate here at home – condemning hate crimes against synagogues, temples, and mosques alike.

We need to work toward a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. We need a two-state solution with a demilitarized Palestinian state, the eradication of Hamas, and an extension of the Abraham Accords that recognizes Israel’s right to exists and rebuilds Gaza into something better than it was under Hamas. These are not easy goals and they will not be achieved from the extremes.

But it is our responsibility to see that Omer Neutra does not fade from memory. He is a son of New York, a child of Long Island. And he is not forgotten. Just the other day, at the Sweet Hollow Diner, in Melville, a woman came up to me and pleaded to keep the focus on the release or Omer, pointing down the street and saying with despair, “he grew up just a few blocks from here!”

We will keep our promise as a community. We will march and walk and talk together to commemorate this dark anniversary and we will not rest. Because there can be no just and lasting peace until all the hostages are released. 

John Avlon is the Democratic candidate for CD 1