ADVERTISEMENT | ADVERTISE ON NEWSDAY
Nassau Legis. Laura Curran, the Democratic Party’s pick for county executive this fall, is soliciting donations from Republicans by citing a vote that angered her Democratic colleagues and led to her expulsion from party legislative caucuses.
A Curran fundraising package sent to at least one Republican businessman who has contributed in the past to GOP candidates includes an appeal for a donation to Curran’s campaign committee, a one-page biography of the Baldwin Democrat and a copy of a Newsday story headlined, “Nassau legislator breaks with Dems and votes with GOP on projects.”
ADVERTISEMENT | ADVERTISE ON NEWSDAY
In October, Curran broke ranks with Democratic lawmakers to vote with the GOP majority to approve $50 million in borrowing for capital projects. Her surprise late-night vote blindsided Democrats, who had jointly opposed borrowing for months unless Republicans agreed to combat corruption by creating an independent office of inspector general.
Since then, Curran has been banned from Democratic legislators’ backroom meetings and no Democratic county legislator has endorsed her candidacy for county executive, which is supported by Nassau Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs.
Acknowledging the solicitation, Curran campaign aide Isaac Goldberg said Curran “is and has always been an independent voice for Nassau County taxpayers and that will never change. Laura’s a proud Democrat, but ending the culture of corruption in Nassau requires campaigning and governing to Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters, and she’ll never shy away from driving home her message of cleaning up the mess in Mineola.”