Rob Lubin

Candidate: Rob Lubin
Residence: Lindenhurst
Prior Elected Office: None
Office Sought: New York’s Second Congressional District
Party Lines: Democratic, Working Families
Endorsements: Congressmembers Jerry Nadler (D, NY-12), Grace Meng (D, NY-06), Adriano Espaillat (D, NY-13), Pat Ryan (D, NY-18), Dan Goldman (D, NY-10), Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), CWA 1109

Rob Lubin, 30, is making his first bid for public office against two-term incumbent Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport).

Rob Lubin sat down with The Messenger for an interview for this candidate spotlight.

Q: What is your professional background and how does it equip you for Congress?

A: I was the youngest partnerships executive in history of the soccer club FC Barcelona. I focused on generating revenue for North and Latin America and building out the FC Barcelona’s women’s team. Being a young executive for a top-five revenue team in the world really gave me some perspective. I’m also fluent in Spanish and Italian. I also got a lot of perspective from traveling around South and Central America.

I took an internship in 2015 at the New York Jets’ ticketing office. I learned the art of picking up a phone and fighting for things. A lot of that is what I do when I’m knocking on doors.

My first internship in sports was when I was still in high school, for a soccer team called the Philadelphia Union. I was in their data analytics cybermetrics department, which focused on player formulas based on player performance. It was pretty prenatal because statistics weren’t emphasized in soccer as they are in other sports.

I then interned with the Washington Commanders (Redskins at the time) in their partnerships department. I worked on marquee partnerships like StubHub, Bank of America, and other big accounts. When I graduated college from George Washington University, I went to work for AS Roma, an Italian soccer team I’ve cheered for my whole life. I even spent some time in Italy while working for them. I was a manager of business development. We closed two very big deals for the clubs, which was Hyundai for the back of the jerseys and Qatar Airways for the fronts. FC Barcelona called me the following year in need of help running their NYC office.

After about seven years in the sports world, I started my own business called IN-HOUSE, manufacturing clothing and athletic wear. Being a small business owner teaches you the importance of protecting our small businesses, how hard it is to make payroll, and how important it is that employees are insured. With the clothing line, we see how much brand power athletes have. They dictate a lot of trends and styles. I am no longer with the business since I’ve been running for Congress full time.

Q: What is your top priority if elected?

A: Capping prescription costs. I have a rare condition called keratoconus. I lost vision in my left eye in just six months. I take a daily medication that is really expensive and the surgery was really expensive. I pay out of pocket for my prescription and it’s really tough for me and a lot of other Americans. Negotiating with the pharmaceutical companies and making sure it makes its way into a bill and not getting lost in the other stuff is a priority.

I like Harris’ idea of capping insulin costs at $35. It’s fair when it comes to not affecting the flow of business. We want our pharmaceutical companies to be making pharmaceuticals, but it needs to be done delicately and diplomatically. Insurance companies also don’t step up to the plate with what they’ll cover.

I’m not scared of going against my own party and working with Republicans. I would work with the Trump Administration if he is elected because my job is to make my district better, point-blank.

Q: What would you consider to be the defining issue of this election?

A: It matters to different people, but the American Dream is one of those things all of us are after. Repealing the SALT cap is one way to tackle affordability, and I know the Republicans also want to repeal the cap. The problem is it was lost under their leadership, so maybe a fresh set of eyes could fight for it differently. I would also say expanding the child tax credit is another way to tackle affordability. We also need to increase our housing supply, but it’s not as simple as building. The communities have to be for it and the construction has to be in conjunction with them.

From a federal perspective, it means working with the local electeds. I appreciate Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) $25,000 down payment credit that she’s proposing. It has to be fleshed out further, but it’s something I’m dedicated towards looking into more.

Q: What’s your pitch to voters to flip a red seat blue and possibly flip the House majority to the Democrats by sending you to Congress?

A: It’s threefold. One, I live the housing crisis and health care problems. I’m a small business owner and recognize the plight of a small business.

Two, where is Garbarino? My opponent doesn’t do town halls, debates, and meet-the-candidates events. Even if you have a bad day, showing up is important. Showing up for your constituents and making that a cornerstone of your campaign is just being present with your community so that people see you. Even if you’re doing a fantastic job, people still have questions and it’s their right to have them. Party over people; sometimes, it feels that my opponent is party over people because he’ll vote the Republican line. He portrays himself as bipartisan, but he is endorsed by Trump, he’s voted against women’s rights, capping prescription costs, and red-flag laws.
Three, I’m a new perspective. I’m 30 and I understand these issues from first-hand personal experience. I feel like I can fight for the people of this district and represent them in an honorable way. 30% of the district is Hispanic, and I connect with voters in the native language.

I think I can do better than my opponent with infrastructure. We need to redo our roads, upgrade public transportation, and a lot of residents feel we need revamped sewage infrastructure. Federal funding towards community health centers for preventative care is important, and we can get union jobs there. Federal funding for vocational schools is also important.

I would buck my party on the rise in capital gains tax. That’s insane. I’m happy to say that that doesn’t make any sense. I think while both Harris and Trump are running to make people’s pockets better, I just think that her plan is a little more clear.

Q: What is your favorite quote, motto, or work ethic?

A: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Teddy Roosevelt

I have it at my home and I look at it every day. You have to try to succeed, because if you don’t try, then what’s the point?

Q: How do you like to connect with your community?

A: My fiance and I have a routine. We wake up, walk our dog to Argyle Park, go to Jack Jack’s in Babylon for coffee, and after work, or campaigning as of now, we’ll watch something together or go to dinner. I love Teller’s Steakhouse in Islip. I love to fish as well. There’s great places along the south shore, or even Montauk Point, to catch some blues and bass.

The Messenger thanks Rob Lubin for his time for this interview.

Congressman Andrew Garbarino

Candidate: Andrew Garbarino
Residence: Bayport
First Elected: 2020
Prior Elected Office: Seventh Assembly District, 2013-2020
Office Sought: New York’s Second Congressional District
Party Lines: Republican, Conservative
Committees: Financial Services (Vice Chair of Capital Markets Subcommittee; Housing & Insurance Subcommittee); Homeland Security (Chair of Cybersecurity & Infrastructurze Protection Subcommittee); Ethics
Caucuses: Problem Solvers Caucus, Republican Main Street Partnership, Republican Governance Group
Endorsements: AFL-CIO, NYSUT, NEA, LINSBT, Suffolk, Nassau, and NYC police conferences, Superior Officers, Detectives, NYFD

Andrew Garbarino entered Congress to succeed the legendary Peter King (R-Seaford) in 2020. He was re-elected in a landslide in 2022 and is now running for a third term.

Congressman Garbarino sat down with The Messenger for an interview for this candidate spotlight.

Q: What is your professional background and how does it equip you for Congress?

A: I’m an attorney with a degree from Hofstra. At my Sayville firm, we practiced commercial law, real estate law, wills, trusts, estates, and zoning laws. We did pretty much everything but divorce and personal injury. I could go into my office, have a real estate closing in the morning, a will signing in the afternoon, and a zone hearing at a town hall at night. As an attorney and legislator, you learn how to read the laws, how actual technical legislation language matters, and why an idea might be great on paper, but if the bill isn’t written properly, you have unintended consequences. That allows me to review legislation and be able to really focus on what the intent is in the way it’s written. I’m not currently practicing anymore, but being a small business owner of a law firm, I know the costs of running a business. I also served on the Small Business Committee in my first two years in Congress. I learned in the Assembly that New York is a big state and each region has different needs. Congress is the same way, but the nation has even more different needs than Long Island. I’m able to learn the issues and work on a topic that I didn’t grow up with in Sayville.

Q: What are some of your accomplishments for NY-02, New York, and the nation overall?

A: It’s unbelievable what we’ve been able to do in NY-02. Over the last four years, we’ve been able to bring back almost $100m in funding to our villages and towns for projects, like sewer projects in Wyandanch, Babylon, Oakdale, Central Islip, Patchogue, and North Bellport. I won’t stop working until we are able to fully sewer this county. I want a Blue Point oyster that comes from the Great South Bay again. Most come from the Sound. We’ve also gotten funds for police vehicles, not-for-profits, and drainage programs. The fact we’ve been able to get that in four years is something we’re very excited about. We’ve also solved over 7,000 constituent cases in four years. One case was a father from India who was coming here to attend a funeral. We were able to get him a special visa. While a passport might not seem like something that matters to most people, for someone, it can mean the whole world.

For the state, I’ve been traveling with Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-04) to discuss how we can increase the State and Local Tax (SALT) cap from $10,000. Peter King led the fight on the 9/11 healthcare bill, and when he left, I took the charge on it. There was a $3 billion shortfall that was going to hit that program, which is designed for firefighters, trade workers, police, and anyone who got sick from 9/11. They would have faced cuts to their healthcare. Myself along with Senator Gillibrand (D) got $1.5 billion in the last two years to help cover the shortfall. We’re working on more, but we’ve cut it in half and that’s been very exciting. It’s also a national issue because people came from all over the country to work on Ground Zero and they got sick. The program is not easy to get into because you have to prove you were there. There are beneficiaries in all 434 out of 435 congressional districts across the country. They deserve what they were promised.

For the nation and district, I’ve led on making sure that the national flood insurance plan doesn’t expire. People who are in flood zones have access to that program. Making sure that doesn’t expire is hugely important to the entire country.

The U.S. and Israel are the most attacked cyber spaces. We have a grant program that helps support businesses that partner with U.S. and Israeli businesses to come up with cyber defenses. The K-12 Cybersecurity Act gives money to help states develop curriculums for teachers to teach cyber issues. For kindergarteners, the curriculum is built around wording that includes cyber security technology to make sure kids are open to it at an earlier age. We need to give companies and municipalities grants to be able to focus on updating cyber security in their systems. We saw how bad it could go when Suffolk went down for over a year. The next thing we’re focusing on now is getting people into the cyber workforce. Over 500,000 cyber security jobs nationwide are open. That is not a good thing for us and it puts us at a major disadvantage, especially when China and Russia are forcing people into the industry. We need to close that gap.

I’ve also led the Climate Solutions Caucus to focus on making sure that we can produce clean energy, including natural gas and nuclear. Companies have cleaned up how natural gas is done, as well as hydrogen. The energy demand with data centers, chip manufacturing, and population growth will see a double-digit rise in energy demand. You’ll need an all-of-the-above approach to meet that demand. No one is going to want to face a blackout or brownout in August. I’ve worked with Senators Manchin (I-WV) and Barrasso (R-WY) to pass permit reform to be able to get these projects moving quicker. It should not take three years to set up a solar field or wind farm. There should be oversight but we should be able to move quicker

Q: What is your top priority if re-elected?

A: SALT is expiring next year and the tax bill is done in the first 100 days. We haven’t put out a number on the new cap yet. Knowing who the president is and what the Senate majority will be will matter with negotiations. Putting a number out now would effectively be negotiating against ourselves.

Q: What would you consider to be the defining issue of this election?

A: People are talking about the migrant crisis on Long Island more than other places. My constituents go into NYC for work and they see the effects. We’ve seen a growth of unaccompanied alien children and rising school district costs. Solving the migrant crisis is definitely the top issue.

The Senate could have passed the border bill, but they didn’t. The House passed HR2 to close the border and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy. People coming across the border know our laws better than we do. It’s not a one-step solution. We need to fix the asylum issue: who can claim asylum and how long it takes for a hearing. Legitimate asylum claims shouldn’t have to wait two years, but we can stem the flood with Remain-in-Mexico, which can be done by Executive Order. Someone shouldn’t just claim asylum and be released in the country until the hearing. We have to fix the visa program because we need more workers here for certain jobs that local people won’t take, such as in agriculture and hospitality. I think we need a better physical and technological border; more border patrol officers and technology that focuses on knowing whether people are digging below us or coming through us. The amounts of fentanyl and people on terrorist watch lists that have come across the border have to stop. I thought HR2 was very good; we negotiated it through Homeland Security. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good bill.

Q: You’re consistently ranked as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. Some people in the district feel you’re not conservative enough. How would you defend your record?

A: I’ve always voted for bills that help the district. For the Infrastructure bill, 10% of that bill came to New York State. We need that money here. We have had multiple governors over twenty years. Hochul has done a terrible job with our roads. When Cuomo was governor, we had a meeting with him about sewers and he said “I don’t do pipes.”

He wanted to build a bridge to do a ribbon cutting. There was such an abandonment of what the state was required to do, such as tending to Long Island’s roads, sewers, water quality, and coastal erosion. Our electrical grid on Long Island is terrible. PSE&G has even said that some solar projects are unsustainable because the current grid can’t handle it. That’s what happens in third-world countries. The money has been invested in our airports, like Islip MacArthur, Farmingdale, JFK, and LaGuardia. That’s a vote I would still take today. At the end of the day, my district has 22,000 more Democrats than Republicans and the south shore has specific needs. I will always do what I believe is right for the district and people might personally disagree, and they have that right, but I will always do what I think is right. I would never want to regret not taking a vote that was right for the district because it was better politically. Some of my colleagues don’t have that freedom and it’s unfortunate, but I will always do what I think is right.

Q: What is your favorite quote, motto, or work ethic?

A: Work is what you make of it. You have to have fun and enjoy life and if you have a tough job, you have to make it fun and enjoyable. By the time you realize that in life, it’s usually too late.

Q: How do you like to connect with your community?

A: I love going to events that are in the district. I recently went to the Chowder fest in Patchogue over the weekend. Sometimes, all I want to do on a weekend is watch football and have a drink, and I hope my constituents can sit with me. I always talk politics with my constituents, but sometimes I’d rather yell at the TV with them when the Jets or Giants are losing. I’ve loved growing up on Long Island; I don’t think I would ever want to live anywhere else. I’ve had great opportunities, climbed the Pyramids, and met the Pope, but at the end of the day, Long Island is the best. We have the greatest golf courses, the best beaches, and all four seasons. We have everything.

The Messenger thanks Congressman Andrew Garbarino for his time for this interview.