Politics & Government

Will Tea Party Politics Influence The County Exec Race?

Share your thoughts about the upcoming race on our new open blog, The Soapbox.

Written by Adina Genn

Will tea-party politics and the partial federal government shutdown hurt Republican County Executive Edward Mangano in the November election? His political rival says yes, according to Newsday.

At a Monday news conference, Tom Suozzi, the Democrat and former two-term county executive vying for his old seat, painted Mangano as not backing federal and state gun control legislation.

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"My opponent in this race is sending a very strong message, but it's being done like a dog whistle where only certain people can hear it," Suozzi said Monday, according to Newsday. "He is a strong tea party conservative, and that agenda, among other things, is that they're against any gun control legislation.”

Yet Nassau police seized 3,000 illegal guns under the current county executive, a Mangano spokesman countered to Newsday.

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"It sounds like Tom Suozzi is running for governor again, as this is a state issue," the spokesman told Newsday, alluding to Suozzi's gubernatorial campaign in 2006.

Suozzi, who lost to Mangano in 2009, claims to have taken the first steps to curb gun violence in Nassau while in office, launching the county’s gun buy-back program, among other initiatives.

Meanwhile, a recent Siena College/News 12/Newsday poll shows Mangano leading Suozzi, 52 to 35 percent.

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