Long-time Congressmember Gary Ackerman, a Democrat, will continue to serve the fifth Congressional District after an overwhelming victory over Republican Dr. James Milano.
With a little less than 25 percent of the precincts reporting, Ackerman was declared the winner, having received around 72 percent of the votes. Milano received almost 27 percent of the votes. A third candidate, Long Island attorney Elizabeth Berney, who ran on the Tax Revolt Party line, had less than 1 percent of the votes at the time the winner was declared.
Ackerman, a 67-year-old former New York City school teacher, was first elected to Congress in 1983, having previously served in the New York State Senate. Congressional District 5 covers parts of northeast Queens and Long Island.
Ackerman said that the reason he decided to run again for the position was “to continue our work in making sure the world is a better place for my grandchildren and everybody’s children and grandchildren. It is essential that we continue to confront the immense challenges facing our nation in such critical areas as jobs and the economy, education, national security and working to assist our veterans and senior citizens.”
Leading up to the election Ackerman said that he felt confident and that he felt “good that we’ve done everything right in the campaign.” However, he said that, more importantly, he felt everything had been done right throughout his Congressional career.
“I’ve worked hard fighting for the people and their interests…,” Ackerman said about a week before Tuesday’s election.
Now that he has successfully won his bid for re-election, Ackerman plans to continue to do the work he has started. This includes working to improve the job market and economic climate.
Accomplishing this, Ackerman said, will include “continuing to work to create and retain jobs throughout the district and the region, initiating programs to spur economic growth, [and] continuing to bring back millions of dollars for infrastructure, construction, transportation and other projects.”
In addition, Ackerman said that incentives need to be created so businesses will bring jobs back to the United States.
Also on Ackerman’s list of priorities is financial reform and consumer protection.
