Former Suffolk County Executive, Patrick Halpin, A Democrat, Is Looking To Unseat U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino

OAK BEACH, NY — Former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin, a Democrat, is looking to unseat Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino on Election Day.

See what he told Patch in his responses to our questionnaire.

How old will you be as of Election Day?: 73

Does your campaign have a website?: halpinforcongress.com/

What city or town do you live in?: Oak Beach, Town of Babylon

What office are you seeking?: Member of Congress

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here: 2nd District

Party affiliation: Democrat, Working Families

Education: BA, Old Dominion University

What is your occupation?: Full-time candidate

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.: I have a wife, two daughters, and one adorable grandchild.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?: My wife is a government affairs professional.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?: Former Suffolk County Executive, and past board member and chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority. Current chairman of the Babylon Town Planning Committee.

Why are you seeking this office?: It shouldn't be this hard to build a life on Long Island, yet rising costs are pricing out young people and seniors alike. I grew up on the South Shore, raised my family here, and have spent my career delivering results as a County Legislator, State Assemblyman, Suffolk County Executive, and chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority. Our current congressman voted to
cut healthcare, supports tariffs that act as a hidden tax on families, and stood by while federal resiliency funding was cut.

I'm running to lower costs, protect our water and coastline, and defend Social Security and Medicare.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing constituents is: Affordability. The biggest challenge facing Long Island isn't a lack of hard work; it's that the cost of living has gotten out of control. Corporate consolidation and broad tariffs, which act as a national sales tax on families, have driven prices higher while paychecks lag behind. In Congress, I'll fight to lower healthcare and prescription drug costs by expanding Medicare's negotiating power and taking on pharmacy middlemen. I'll also work to expand housing, lower energy bills, cut childcare costs, and expand the Child Tax Credit. And I'll crack down on price gouging, junk fees, and grocery mergers that reduce competition.

What needs to be done to address water quality issues on LI?:
Every family on Long Island drinks from the same sole-source aquifer, and once it's contaminated, there is nowhere else to turn. As chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority, I helped secure about $170 million from manufacturers of PFAS "forever chemicals" to clean up our water, so taxpayers didn't foot the bill. As county executive, I created the Drinking Water
Protection Program to preserve land over our aquifer recharge zones.

In Congress, I'll make polluters pay, strengthen federal drinking water standards, and bring home funding for water
treatment and sewers to restore the Great South Bay.

What do you think can be done to help improve our infrastructure, highways, etc.?: Infrastructure is the foundation for everything else we need, from affordable housing to a stronger local economy. I'll fight for federal investment in roads, bridges, transit, and sewers, which ease congestion, protect our bays and make responsible downtown housing possible.

Superstorm Sandy taught us what happens when we're unprepared, so I'll fight to restore the FEMA and coastal resiliency funding that has been cut. As chair of the Town of Babylon Planning Board, I require infrastructure improvements as a condition of new development. I'll bring that practical approach to Washington and work across the aisle to keep federal dollars flowing to Long Island.

How would you plan to help local business owners, who are struggling because of high rents, inflation, and labor shortages?: Small businesses are the heart of our downtowns, and right now they're squeezed from every side. I'll push for targeted trade policy instead of broad tariffs that raise the cost of supplies, and for antitrust enforcement against the giant corporations that squeeze small competitors.

Workforce housing and a fixed legal immigration system will help employers fill jobs, and letting employers move workers into Medicare would cut one of their biggest costs. As chair of the Town of Babylon IDA, I focused on bringing good union jobs to Babylon, and as Planning Board
chair I've worked to revitalize Montauk Highway.

How are federal issues impacting local government?: When Washington cuts, the bill doesn't disappear; it lands on counties, towns, hospitals, and property taxpayers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the largest Medicaid cuts in American history, with state officials projecting about $13 billion a year in damage to New York's healthcare system. Cuts to FEMA and resilience programs shift storm costs onto local
governments, while tariffs raise the price of every local road and school project. Pressure to turn local police into federal immigration agents also undermines the community trust that solves crimes.

What is your stance on how ICE enforcement has impacted local communities?: America deserves secure borders and an immigration system that stops drug trafficking, human
trafficking, and gang violence. But enforcement should focus on violent criminals and traffickers, not hardworking families who have lived peacefully in our communities for years. As county executive, I learned that trust between police and the community is one of our best tools for solving crimes, so local police should be fighting crime, not serving as federal immigration agents. Our congressman chairs the House Homeland Security Committee yet hasn't held hearings on fixing our broken immigration system, while taking money from private prison companies with ICE detention contracts.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?: I've spent my career delivering results for Long Island, while Andrew Garbarino has spent his
going along with party leadership in Washington. He promised to protect Medicaid, then voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill, which state officials project will cost 1.5 million New Yorkers their coverage. He supports tariffs that raise grocery and car prices and touts a SALT increase that expires in less than three years, while tax cuts for billionaires were made permanent.

I'm refusing corporate PAC money, while he has taken tens of thousands from PACs tied to companies that do business with the Homeland Security Department he oversees.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?: Beyond affordability, I'll fight to make healthcare a right by letting every American buy into Medicare, reversing the Medicaid cuts, and restoring enhanced ACA tax credits. On housing, I'll support workforce and senior housing near transit and downtowns while opposing one-size-fits-all mandates and Wall Street purchases of single-family homes.

I'll protect Social Security from cuts and privatization by asking the highest earners to pay their fair share. I'll fight for coastal resiliency so we're ready for the next Sandy, and back our police with smart investments in prevention. I'll also work to clean up Washington by banning congressional stock trading, overturning Citizens United, and strengthening ethics laws.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?: First elected at 26, I went on to become the first Democrat in more than a century elected to
represent Babylon in the State Assembly, where I authored New York's landmark Bottle Bill and chaired the Ethics Committee. As the youngest Suffolk County Executive ever elected, I created the Long Island Housing Partnership and led one of the nation's most respected open-space preservation efforts.

My first act as county executive required arrests whenever there was clear evidence of domestic violence, and arrests rose from 146 to more than 2,400 in the first year. As chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority, I helped secure about $170 million from PFAS manufacturers to clean up our drinking water. Today, as chair of the Town of Babylon Planning
Board, I'm helping revitalize Montauk Highway responsibly.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?: I've lived on Long Island my whole life, delivering newspapers, sorting bottle deposits at my father's beverage store, and working the counter at McDonald's in Lindenhurst. As student body president at West Babylon High School, I organized a trip for 450 seniors to register to vote, and that belief in civic participation has guided me ever since. I'm not taking corporate PAC money, so I'll answer only to the people of the South Shore. I'll be an independent voice who works across the aisle and holds quarterly public town halls. For me, it's people, not politics, and I'm ready to make life better from Massapequa to Mastic Beach.

What is the best advice anyone has ever given you and why?:
“Never do anything that will embarrass you and your family name.”- my mother, Rosemary Halpin.