Nick LaLota

for New York’s First Congressional District

Since taking office less than two years ago, Congressman Nick LaLota has been a firm leader for Suffolk County in the U.S. House. Being a freshman in the House is usually difficult work, and representing the large swath of land that consists of eight of Suffolk’s ten towns is no easy feat. Yet, LaLota has brought back funding for each of them, far and above what other freshmen members of Congress are able to accomplish.

Notably, his $1.4 million for Smithtown’s much-needed wastewater solutions is a huge prize for a major part of his district. The funds are expected to help mitigate floodwaters from heavy rainfalls, which usually result in Main Street businesses dealing with flooded basements and the Nissequogue River receiving large doses of road runoff.

For Brookhaven, a recent notable achievement is $1.5 million for badly-needed dredging and infrastructure improvements to the Port Jefferson Harbor, a major port of entry to Long Island and a massive economic hub of the north shore.

Island-wide, LaLota has admirably carried the torch from his predecessor Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) in ensuring Plum Island remains undeveloped and receives protections in perpetuity.

He’s also been an incredibly valuable asset in making the conversation of State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions a national conversation. He and the other Long Island Republicans held up last year’s vote on the Speaker of the House to ensure they could find a partner sympathetic to that particular cause. He and his colleagues have formed a national coalition of other House members to bring this to the table next session. And if Donald Trump is elected president, LaLota will have another staunch ally in the fight to ensure we receive those deductions.

Moreover, LaLota has been a pragmatic conservative. The Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index ranks him as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, a much-needed and well-deserved position for a district that isn’t as intensely Republican-leaning as some think. His bipartisan work with other members have Congress have been a valuable asset to both our district and the country, as his work with others have seen bills and amendments pass the House, including, but not limited to, stopping the scourge of fentanyl and xylazine in our communities, protecting our Pine Barrens from invasive species, and working to ensure Veterans’, their services, and their families are cared for.

LaLota has also been a fierce advocate for the border, turning down a Senate bill with three hundred pages of bloat that didn’t even pertain to our national emergency to the south.

His opponent, John Avlon (D-Gramercy Park), touts his own records as having worked with Republicans and with the nonpartisan No Labels group. However, Avlon carefully toes party lines to hold the bottom line in a district that is likely to stick with a productive incumbent. Avlon is also yet another carpetbagger in the long series inflicted upon NY-01 over the last decade or so. He’s been intentionally vague about his residency, but The Messenger takes pride in being the first source in the nation to uncover his tax documents, revealing a much more intimate New York City habitation than advertised.

He’s knocked LaLota on his residency too. We hold that LaLota living just south of the border of a district in which he’s otherwise spent his whole life is fundamentally different from a Manhattanite who used his summer rental home as an anchor to claim residency. Only adding insult to injury is that Avlon’s Sag Harbor home is in one of the most affluent parts of the district, which isn’t a problem in and of itself, but becomes a major problem when he’s trying to represent a predominately working-class district.

On the campaign trail, LaLota was regularly called a “MAGA” Republican by Democrats, and a “RINO” by the likes of disgraced Congressman George Santos (R-Queens). Multiple times, we editorialized him as being neither. We’re inclined to hold that position.

The Messenger endorses LaLota.

Michael Fitzpatrick

for Assembly District Eight

A fiscal stalwart as ever, Michael Fitzpatrick is regularly a much-needed voice of reason in the Assembly.

His decades of pension experience lends well to his red-pen run-throughs of bloated spending packages, the needs for pension reform in New York, and his understanding of government being run as a business to ensure the lights stay on and the customers are satisfied. Unfortunately, customers haven’t been satisfied with Albany in several years, necessitating a voice of reason like Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick’s idea of rebranding the SUNY system to a University of New York (UNY) system is one we believe could completely overhaul not only the State’s higher education system, but also our standing in national athletics. Such an idea would be an economic boon to the state, especially Long Island with our prominent college towns, and would likely allow the state to finally profit off of the age-old New York skyline in a prestigious national sports conference.

Fitzpatrick’s opponent, Steven Basileo, 24, offers a respectable amount of work in lobbying school staff across the country to join their respective unions, but he contended to us in our interview that the need isn’t as apparent in New York. Nonetheless, he asserts that his skills are transferable. However, Basileo spoke more of his grievances with Fitzpatrick than he did of his plans for the Assembly. The St. James Democrat is concerned primarily with Fitzpatrick’s apparent lack of public appearances, no press release updates to his Assembly website since 2021, and his lack of social media presence.

We see Fitzpatrick around plenty and his management of his campaigns over the years certainly hasn’t translated into negative energy at the ballot box. The St. James Republican is and has been well-known in Smithtown for years and we don’t see that changing any time soon.

Fitzpatrick also brings a different flavor of Republican values to the capital. Regularly considered the most conservative member of the lower chamber, it’s inevitable that sometimes, he is a maverick compared to his caucus. His membership shows that Republicans can bring a wide variety of perspectives upstate and can produce good results and commonsense goals with decorum and a lack of embarrassing intraparty feuding. Additionally, his warm relationship with the Governor makes us optimistic that he can continue being a firm voice for his constituents in Albany.

The Messenger endorses Fitzpatrick.

Mario Mattera

for Senate District Two

Some say that being in the minority of a legislative chamber is a kneecap. Mario Mattera regularly proves why that is, by most accounts, a giant myth.

Mattera has been one of the most outspoken members of the Senate minority, and perhaps even the most vocal on certain issues. His campaign to “be vocal with Governor Hochul” regarding restoring State foundation aid to school districts set the tone county-wide, and an October 2023 rally outside the Duryea Building in Hauppauge against the state’s fossil fuel bans attracted officials from across the county, even Chairman of the Suffolk Democrats Rich Schaffer. Mattera proves that one can be vocal as well as bipartisan.

Mattera also knows every inch of his district and spares no expense in ensuring each part is cared for. From protecting millions in sewer funds for both Huntington and Smithtown, to facilitating much-needed repairs for Veterans halls and food pantries, and to rightly identifying the slippery slope our state is on, the St. James Republican regularly exceeds expectations. His decades of construction, plumbing, and union experience also give him the ability to see ahead of the curve when others in Albany cannot, which led to his sounding of the alarm against fossil fuel bans and the migrant crisis undercutting the state’s construction industry, among others. His construction experience also lends well to the badly-needed seawall for the Village of Asharoken, about which Mattera was specific with us in terms of the plan for the road and topography.

Mattera’s opponent, Craig Herskowitz, offers a long resume of experience, but posits that Mattera is only able to bring home a limited amount State funds because of his role in the minority. The Northport Democrat also told us in our interview with him that he feels Mattera is only a “part-time” Senator, that Huntington is relatively ignored by Mattera, and that the bail reform laws are mostly satisfactory as is, even going so far as to say that the April case of the dismembered corpses in Babylon ended well enough as the suspects were released on ankle monitors.

Herskowitz rightly calls for better review in how laws are pushed through Albany, but we doubt that his caucus would be willing to take him up on that. Mattera, as vocal as he’s been, is already in that fight and can already navigate Albany to the benefit of his constituents and the state overall. On specific issues, such as the Asharoken seawall, Herskowitz also agrees with Mattera, but Mattera can run laps around him in terms of specifics and in-the-works accounts of these projects.

Mattera has two great terms under his belt. We’re convinced he’s just getting started and we earnestly hope he is part of a Republican Senate majority at some point in his career.

The Messenger endorses Mattera.