More new women candidates are running on the Republican line in Nassau County this November, part of an effort to help rebrand of one of the oldest GOP clubs in the nation following major victories in 2017 by women Democrats in the county.
Several are first-time Republican candidates who lack political ties but are involved heavily in their communities. They were tapped by Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo, who is seeking fresh faces and the support of Nassau’s growing number of voters who are not registered with a political party.
“If you asked me two years ago if I would run for public office, I’d have said ‘probably not.’ I didn’t seek this out but now I can’t see myself doing anything else,” said Laura Maier, 40, of Massapequa, who is running for one of three open council seats in the Town of Oyster Bay
Maier, a former health care executive who owns several Dairy Queen and Jersey Mike’s shops, is one of a half-dozen new women candidates in Nassau who until a few months ago had no name recognition and never had signed candidate nominating petitions or knocked on doors for other candidates.
They range in age from early 30s to mid-50s and are mostly private-sector professionals in business and law who are raising children attending the local public schools. One is a registered Democrat.
“Forget the labels Republican and Democrat but look at what the parties are doing and what they stand for today in 2019,” said Cairo, who argued that many unaffiliated swing voters identify with his party’s current platform.
“I don’t believe people in their 50s and 60s are going to associate with AOC and that progressive movement,” he said in a reference to freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens).
“I think the independent voter in Nassau is going to lean Republican this year and next year based on values [and] not based on party label,” Cairo said.
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