Veteran County Legislator Plans Political Return After Carini's Death

FREEPORT, NY — Democrat Kevan Abrahams is well-known to voters, having served more than two decades in the Nassau County Legislature, including a dozen years as Minority Leader.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Hempstead Town 5th Councilmanic District is open.

Abrahams is taking that opportunity to reenter politics.

"I was looking for a new challenge," Abrahams told Patch. "I never thought I'd be doing this again, seven months after my retirement."

But upon Christopher Carini's sudden death last month, Abrahams expedited his timetable.

"I just want to express my condolences to his family and to his loved ones," he said.

Town Supervisor Don Clavin appointed Chris Schneider to fill Carini's seat. He was approved by the Town Board, setting up a Schneider/Abrahams matchup in the special election in November.

"I feel right now, in this capacity with my experience, I feel I'm best suited to run and serve," Abrahams said.

He pointed to securing Superstorm Sandy funds for families, and road and park projects as efforts that make him the best candidate.

Schneider, of Wantagh, is a veteran community leader.

"I believe I met him before," Abrahams said. "He's a very hard-working individual. He's going to work the district hard."

Experience notwithstanding, Abrahams knows flipping the seat Democrat is another challenge.

"It's a very tough district to flip it to blue," he said. "My focus has always been on infrastructure [and] delivering for taxpayers. Those are things that everybody cares about."

But Abrahams expects the "Republican party is going to support [Schneider] as well with a lot of vigor and strength. It's not going to be an easy race."

The 5th District encompasses much of Nassau's South Shore, including Abrahams' hometown of Freeport.

"There's going to be a lot of issues of common interest that I have already worked on," he said.

The special election is Nov. 5, when the presidential candidates will also be on the ballot.

"Whether I lose, or I win, it's always better when you have more people that show up," Abrahams said. "That being said, based off of the data that I've seen, It's going to be a really good race."