Nassau GOP Picks Martins Over Mangano For Executive Race

On Wednesday, former State Senator and Mineola Mayor Jack Martins officially announced his candidacy for Nassau County Executive. And Thursday evening, the Nassau County Republican Party decided to officially back him over incumbent Edward Mangano, who has not ruled our running for a third term.

Last year, Mangano was arrested on federal corruption charges related to his role as county executive. It threw his future in the role, and with the county GOP, into question. However, Mangano has steadfastly refused to step down, despite calls to do so from Democrats and Republicans alike. He also has not said whether or not he plans to run for a third term.

But if he does, he's going to have some more competition, now that the county party is backing Martins as the official Republican candidate, according to News12.

Martins has a long history of elected office. He served as the mayor of the Village of Mineola from 2003 to 2010 before running for State Senate. Martins served three terms as a senator, opting not to run for reelection in 2016 so he could run for the 3rd Congressional District seat vacated by Steve Israel. However, Martins lost the seat to former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. Martins also ran an unsuccessful campaign against former Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy in 2008.

Martins is the first Republican to officially enter the fray for the County Executive seat. Democrats have already been vying for the spot, though. There are currently three that are running on the Democratic ticket: County Legislator Laura Curran, Assemblyman Chuck Levine and Republican-turned-Democrat Comptroller George Maragos.

Photo: Jack Martins's Campaign