Nassau Legislator Joshua Lafazan Launches Bid For Congress

SYOSSET, NY — Nassau County Legislature Joshua Lafazan announced that he would be running for Congress to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District, filling the seat being left by Rep. Tom Suozzi as he runs for governor.

Lafazan, a 27-year-old Democrat, was elected to the Syosset Board of Education at just 18, and was the youngest person ever elected to the Nassau County Legislature. He is running to keep a Democrat representing the 3rd CD, and believes he's the one for the job.

“I was born and raised in this district. I graduated from our public schools, and have served my community as a volunteer, an advocate, a school board member, and a county legislator," Lafazan said in a release announcing his bid. "Now I’m running for Congress because in these unprecedented times we need leaders in Washington that are battle-tested and ready to sit down and get to work to solve our toughest challenges.”

Lafazan said he believes he can keep the district Democratic because he has won election to the county legislature three times in a district that tends to go Republican, and which voted for Donald Trump.

“My top priorities are clear: getting property taxes under control, making healthcare more affordable, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, ending the gun violence and opioid epidemics, protecting our environment, and finally ending the global pandemic," said Lafazan. "These are not poll-tested platitudes but priorities that come from the thousands of conversations I’ve had with residents across this district over the past decade. But none of them can be reality if we don’t keep this seat in Democratic hands. And I’m the pragmatic Democrat who can do that.”

Lafazan says he has passed more bills than any Nassau County legislator ever. He was also the architect of the highly controversial bill that would have made first responders a protected class under the county's human rights law. The law was passed by the legislature but vetoed by County Executive Laura Curran.

New York's 3rd Congressional District covers northern Nassau County, northwestern Suffolk County and part of Queens.