2016 Election Preview: New York's 1st Congressional District

It’s that time of year again.

In addition to electing the next President of the United States, local voters will get a chance to vote for the representative of New York's First Congressional District this Election Day.

Here’s what you need to know before heading out to the polls this November.

Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 8

Polling Times: Polls will open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Candidates:

• Lee Zeldin — incumbent (R)
• Anna Throne-Holst — (D)

Websites:

• Lee Zeldin: https://zeldin.house.gov/
• Anna Throne Holst: http://www.annathrone-holst.co...

District: The First Congressional District of New York includes most of central and eastern Suffolk County, including the East End, Brookhaven Town, and most of Smithtown. View the district map here.

Click here to find your polling location.

As the clock ticks toward Election Day, meet the candidates facing off to represent New York's 1st Congressional District.

Incumbent Lee Zeldin

1) Tell me what about your past experience makes you the best candidate for this position?

Whether serving in the Army, State Senate or Congress, I have always fought to better our community, state and nation. In the State Senate, I worked with colleagues from both sides of the aisle and successfully led the fight to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, cosponsored the nation’s strongest property tax cap, reduced middle income tax rates to the lowest level in 60 years, eliminated the saltwater fishing license fee, created the Joseph Dwyer Program for our vets with PTSD and wrote a new law to protect military families from protests at military burials. In Congress, I have worked with both sides of the aisle to get several of my proposals passed; three bills for our veterans, two proposals to save Plum Island, and my counter-terrorism legislation, just to name a few. My Common Core opt out proposal and Safe Bridges Act were both passed and signed into law. I secured a new health care clinic in Manorville for East End veterans. I also helped lead the successful effort to permanently reauthorize the Zadroga Act for our 9/11 first responders. I consider these efforts to be just a start. There is important work ahead to secure our country and grow our economy, and deliver even more victories for Long Island. I will continue leading that effort on the federal level.

2) Can you tell me your position on:

Gun control:

I have always fought to ensure that the mentally ill, criminals, and terrorists do not have access to firearms or explosives. I support background checks and prosecuting illegal gun cases. I also believe that we need to enforce the gun laws already on the books, which we are not doing right now. In one year, out of over 80,000 attempted illegal purchases of firearms where the purchaser failed a background check, only 44 cases were prosecuted by federal authorities. That's a woefully inadequate prosecution rate of .05%. I also introduced legislation in the House, the Protect America Act, to prevent terrorists from buying firearms and explosives in the United States, while protecting the Second Amendment rights of law abiding Americans.

Immigration:

Every year, there are at least a million people who come to our country legally and I am in full support of legal immigration. However, we have been faced with a major crisis. There are also well over 11 million people living here illegally, and many more breaking the law to come here each day. I do not support illegal immigration. Every nation's backbone is it's rule of law. I believe the first step is border security and interior enforcement. A nation without borders is no nation at all. Some people have insisted on trying to fix every challenge in our immigration system with one piece of legislation. It hasn't worked. There are so many solutions that liberals and conservatives agree upon but those solutions get held hostage over the most controversial components where there is deep disagreement. Step one is stepping up border security and interior enforcement. Individuals should have the opportunity to pursue the American dream, but you have to come here legally. I also believe that we should pause the Syrian refugee program. As Americans, we all have a tremendous amount of compassion for those around the world who are suffering, but until Congress and the American people know with confidence that a refugee from the Middle East doesn't pose a threat, that individual cannot be granted entry. If you have 100 people looking for entry and only 1 is going to carry out a terrorist attack and you have no idea which one that will be, then you can't allow the 100 people in. Even senior administration officials like FBI Director James Comey, Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, have been expressing concern about vulnerabilities with our refugee program as it relates to terrorist infiltration.

Healthcare:

We need to repeal and replace Obamacare. I frequently hear concerns about lost doctors, cancelled policies, and higher premiums and deductibles. Health Republic’s collapse here in New York, a result of Obamacare, triggered enormous financial losses to local health care providers while stranding over 200,000 New Yorkers without insurance. Earlier this year, Congress passed a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. The President vetoed it. The replacement proposal continues to cover Americans with pre-existing conditions and allows children to stay on their parent's policy. It also eliminates nearly 160 different federally mandated commissions and agencies that were created as a result of the Affordable Care Act, immediately relieving taxpayers of the financial burdens of these unnecessary offices. I’ve also been committed to passing legislation, such as the 21st Century Cures Act, bipartisan legislation that I cosponsor in Congress, to expand access to the most innovative technologies and treatments so that we can diagnose and treat diseases as early as possible and modernize our nation’s healthcare to provide the next generation of cures. Furthermore, I’ve worked to address the rampant drug use throughout the nation and in our communities, which has become one of the top threats to the health of Americans. Throughout my time in Congress, I have fought to advance legislation that promotes opportunities for rehabilitation and recovery for those struggling with abuse. We must do everything in our power to stop heroin and opioid addiction in its tracks, which has claimed so many lives and will continue to do so unless it is dealt with head on.

3) What experience do you have that makes you uniquely qualified to address the environmental issues we all face on Long Island?

One of my top priorities in Congress has been to safeguard our environment and preserve the abundance of our natural resources that are so important to our life, culture and economy. Working with colleagues from both sides of the aisle, I secured House passage of my legislation to stop the sale of Plum Island (H.R. 1887) to pursue a better direction for Plum Island that would allow for continued research, public access and permanent preservation. I've been advocating for my bill with Rep. Steve Israel to protect the Long Island Sound by authorizing $65 million in funding per year through 2020 for a water quality and shore restoration program (H.R. 2930). Whether it was the effort to reverse President Obama’s proposed 22% cut in funding for the Long Island Sound, opposing the misguided plan to dump Connecticut’s dredged waste into the Sound, or supporting $27 million in funding for the National Estuary Program, there have been so many local environmental issues worth championing. To protect our air quality, I've supported millions in funding for clean and green energy to heat and cool our homes with technology that doesn't pollute our air, with much of the research taking place right here on Long Island at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Lab. I also successfully fought to kill a misguided proposal to reroute thousands of CT's tractor trailers onto rural east end roads via the Cross Sound Ferry, kept bigger and heavier trucks off our local roads, and supported the expansion of freight rail service to Long Island and better service on the LIRR, all key to reducing air pollution and congestion on Long Island. There are so many other important efforts that we can and should pursue to protect our environment.

4) What can you to do spur job creation on Long Island?

To create jobs and raise wages, we need to allow businesses to flourish. When businesses grow, we need them to stay here. This will create more good paying, private sector jobs, improve liquidity throughout our local economy, and expand the middle class locally. As a State Senator, I led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers. I cosponsored the nation’s strongest property tax cap, and reduced middle income tax rates to the lowest level in 60 years. In Congress, I've been working to remove barriers that prevent businesses from growing and jobs from being created, while providing tax relief for the middle class. I voted for the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, which was signed into law, making permanent 20 different tax relief provisions to help Long Island businesses and families. I have worked to advance legislation to shut-down job killing red tape hurting our small businesses, such as the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 427); reform and simplify our broken tax code so that more Americans can do their taxes on a form as simple as a postcard; and reject flawed trade policy, like President Obama’s Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). I also helped pass the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act (H.R. 4923), which was signed into law, to boost “Made in America” products to keep good paying jobs here in the United States, and legislation, such as the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, to reduce healthcare costs. While there is no single piece of legislation at any level of government that is going to completely address this challenge, we must continue to pursue solutions that help grow our middle class and improve the business climate on Long Island, put American workers first, and create more good paying jobs.

5) What can we do to help create affordable housing and keep young people from leaving the area?

One of the most commonly shared challenges about life on Long Island is our high cost of living. Individuals and families are working so hard just to make ends meet. Long Island is one of the most beautiful places in America to live, but most of us struggle to raise our families here. Seniors and young families are being forced to move off Long Island. There is not one single easy solution, but whenever possible, we must advance policies that will help ease the burden on Long Island residents, including passing legislation to reduce healthcare and energy costs. To help young people afford to stay on Long Island after college, I introduced The ExCEL Act in the House to simplify the student loan process by establishing an affordable, income-based repayment method that is molded to each individual’s needs. We should do all that we can to help younger Americans achieve their full potential as future leaders of this great country. That goal can not materialize when new college graduates are saddled with excessive volumes of debt.

6) What is the basis of your platform? If elected what can you promise you will bring to the proverbial table?

Two years ago, when I was running for Congress, I promised to do everything in my power to secure victories whenever possible. Advancing my “New Era of American Strength” Agenda, I have worked to protect America’s security at home and abroad, help grow our economy and create more good paying jobs, support our veterans and first responders, improve the quality of education, repair our nation’s infrastructure, improve healthcare in America and safeguard our environment. In Congress, I will continue to pursue every possible opportunity to fight for our district. Whether it’s been helping residents solve issues through casework, providing greater healthcare options for our veterans, fighting for more local control of our schools, or protecting our environment, it has been an honor to serve our Congressional District. I’m proud of the progress that we have made together. This is the start and there are still so many victories ahead.

7) Why do you think residents should choose you on Election Day rather than Anna Throne-Holst?

There is a lot we disagree with. I believe that we should pause the Syrian refugee program. I want to correct the flawed Iran Nuclear Deal. My opponent supports it. I want to close the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I believe Obamacare was fatally designed and should be repealed and replaced. I also believe that it’s important that we have more military veterans serving in Congress. Just after Vietnam, over 75% of Congress was made up of military veterans. Now that number is less than one in five. Since day one, my opponent’s campaign has been running a negative and completely dishonest campaign, while I have been focused on bipartisan solutions to move our country forward. I have and will continue to work tirelessly to secure victories for our community, state, and nation.

Anna Throne Holst

1) Tell me what about your past experience makes you the best candidate for this position?

I was elected as Southampton Town Supervisor as the only non-affiliated member of the town council, and I was determined to bring together our diverse political opinions to get work done on behalf of our constituents. When I walked through the doors of Town Hall in 2008, I was confronted by financial mismanagement and got to work to clean it up, ultimately upgrading our town to the highest possible AAA bond rating, while holding the line on taxes.

My experience in the private sector has also helped guide my work in public office. As the executive director of not-for-profit child care and social service agencies, I saw first hand the importance of comprehensive family services and the importance of responsible fiscal management to serve my community.

Overall -- my time in both the public and private sector gives me a unique perspective on public service that is often missing in career politicians. I will work with anyone regardless of political stripe and am determined to end the deadlock in Washington so we can make government work for all Americans.

2) Can you tell me your position on gun control? On immigration? Healthcare?

I believe Congress has abdicated its responsibility to provide for the common defense in its refusal to act on passing meaningful gun safety laws. We need to come together across party lines to ensure that terrorists, domestic abusers, criminals and the mentally ill cannot purchase weapons. In Congress, I will work to pass common-sense gun laws, while protecting the rights of law-abiding American citizens.

We need comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform to fix our visa system and secure our borders to ensure that we can address the 10-15 million undocumented workers in our country today. Our schools are taking in more children, our hospitals more patients, and the tax dollars aren't there to support the system. To adequately address this, we need to ensure that there is a path forward for undocumented immigrants who want to pay taxes and contribute to our society, while making sure that any criminals and law breakers are extradited outside of our borders.

It is critical we fix the Affordable Care Act. This means ending the Cadillac tax on high end health care plans, ending the tax on medical innovation, and helping our small businesses by changing the definition of a small business to 100 employees or less rather than just 25 or less. Medicare needs to be able to negotiate the price of pharmecuticals. There has been far too much partisanship on this issue, and we need to come together to fix the problem. In Congress, I will work across the aisle to make critical improvements to the ACA and help First Disrtict residents access high-quality, affordable healthcare.

3) What experience do you have that makes you uniquely qualified to address the environmental issues we all face on Long Island?

As Town Supervisor, I knew that we had to address issues related to climate change. That's why we implemented the Solarize Southampton program to encourage more people in the Town of Southampton to install solar panels on their houses and move away from fossil fuel energy. Under the program, installation rates were reduced, and as more people joined the program, household utility costs began to decline. I was also able to work with members of the New York State government to create the New York State Clean Water and Technology Center at Stony Brook University. This Center researches solutions to the nitrogen loading in our ground and surface water, protecting our environment and creating good-paying jobs right here in Suffolk County.

In Congress, I will be an advocate for the environment and work to combat the dangerous and costly impacts of climate change. The vast majority of scientists and the US Military conclude that climate change is both a reality and a threat, especially to our communities here on Long Island. I will work to fight the dangerous and costly effects of climate change including sea level rise. The federal government needs to show leadership in responding to climate change. We have the the ability to become energy independent by relying on a combination of solar, wind, and biofuels, I want to make sure that companies in this new industry have the support necessary to succeed.

4) What can you to do spur job creation on Long Island?

In Congress, I will fight to create good, high-paying jobs, just as I did as Town Supervisor. I want to ensure we are protecting and growing existing jobs and career opportunities - by investing in job training programs, both on Long Island and across this nation.

Small businesses are the backbone of Long Island’s economy, and we need to help them grow. Today too many small businesses are denied access to loans and overwhelmed with government paperwork and red tape, and an unfair corporate tax system. We also need to treat small businesses fairly on taxes. Today, only large corporations benefit from tax loopholes that allow many highly profitable corporations to pay no federal taxes at all. They even get a tax break for the expense incurred in sending jobs overseas. I believe that we need to reform the tax code so that it benefits small businesses and middle class residents here on Long Island.

We can and must create jobs by rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, starting right here on Long Island. Building and improving roads, bridges, and the Long Island Railroad will create and protect jobs, reduce commute times, and make Long Island a better place for businesses to grow and people to live. By fully developing our renewable energy potential on Long Island we can help make America energy independent – making it more cost effective to manufacture new products here in Suffolk County, tapping into new areas of technology and energy needs. It will help protect our environment, while allowing our children and young professionals to realize the American dream.

5) What can we do to help create affordable housing and keep young people from leaving the area?

I want to make sure Long Island's economy works for everyone and that future generations can afford to live and work here. This issue is deeply personal for me. I raised my four children here in Suffolk County. After completing their education, all of my children relocated elsewhere to pursue their careers. While I would have loved to have them close to home, the difficult job market and lack of affordable housing on Long Island has made this impossible.

I understand the issue of housing affordability. In my time as Southampton Town Supervisor we passed affordable housing projects with unanimous votes by getting everyone on the Town Board to work together. That's why I will remain committed to supporting budgets that place hardworking families ahead of special interests and corporations. I believe that if we provide tax relief for the middle-class, while forcing the high earners to pay their fair share, this will empower families to have adequate financial resources to invest in housing. Additionally, we must empower local and state communities to provide housing subsidies to those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Ultimately, the issue of housing affordability is intrinsically linked to economic security of our families. Through investments in industries of the future - innovative, 21st-century infrastructure and green energy - job creation and financial prosperity are within arms reach.

6) What is the basis of your platform? If elected what can you promise you will bring to the proverbial table?

When I first ran for the Town Board in Southampton, my campaign ran on the promise of 'People not Politics.' I still hold this to be true today - I think if we dig deep in ourselves to find a place of where we can all compromise - our collective potential is endless. When I was first elected, I was the only unaffiliated candidate elected to the Town Board, so I had to work with both Republicans and Democrats to do what was best for the Town of Southampton. As Town Supervisor, I was able to work with members of both parties to cut wasteful spending and reduce the deficit so that we could invest more into senior services, a solar energy program and job creation programs, all while holding the line on taxes and getting the Town upgraded to a AAA bond rating.

In Congress I will work across the aisle to make Long Island more affordable, while supporting green energy and 21st century technology and infrastructure. I will work to protect social security and medicare, to support the rights of every Long Islander - regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religious affiliation. Because again, people over politics - it's time for us to unite as a country and regain the promise of America.

7) Why do you think residents should choose you on Election Day rather than Lee Zeldin?

My vision for the future of Suffolk County and its hardworking families could not be more different than my opponent. We live during a time of unprecedented challenges. Long Island families are concerned about their security, the endurance of their paychecks and careers, and the strength of their voice in our democracy. I want to put people -- not politics -- first as we work to put forward pragmatic solutions to secure a future that is safe, prosperous, and fair for all. Unfortunately Lee Zeldin has put the Tea Party ahead of Suffolk County residents and voted with his own party 90% of the time.

To move Suffolk County's economy forward, we need to create a secure financial future for all Long Islanders, so everyone is able to purchase a home, send their children to college, and save for retirement. We need to reduce the burden of student debt for families and address the costs of college. We need to ensure equal pay for equal work and level the playing field for hardworking women.

We need to strengthen and expand Social Security for those who have earned their benefits through a lifetime of hard work. Lee Zeldin wants to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher program, which would force seniors to negotiate with insurance companies and increase their out of pocket costs.

We need to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share and provide tax relief for middle-class families. Lee Zeldin wants to shift the tax burden to the middle class while giving away the store to the richest 1% of Americans. He supports tax giveaways for big oil and companies who shift jobs overseas, while the rest of us continue to struggle to afford to live on Long Island.

I believe we need to protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans, protect a women's right to choose, and advocate for the preservation of Long Island's beautiful environment, of which we can harness so much potential. Lee Zeldin opposes marriage equality and voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

I believe we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and secure our borders, while protecting the humanitarian integrity that our country was built on. Together, we can achieve so much for Long Island. Lee Zeldin put partisan politics first and voted against funding Homeland Security in the hopes of deporting children who came to this country at a young age.

In Congress I will always put the people of the Suffolk County over partisan politics. This was my guiding principle in local government, and I will carry it with me to Washington. I'd be honored to represent the First District in Congress, and will roll up my sleeves to tackle the tough issues impacting our country -- and most importantly -- the tough issues affecting us right here on Long Island.