By Juan Soto
Voters in some northeast Queens neighborhoods will play a key role in the 3rd Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Melville), who is seeking his eighth term in office, and Republican Grant Lally, who survived a tough primary challenge in July by Stephen Labate.
They will face off on Nov. 4.
“I enjoyed traveling throughout the district and listening to what’s on people’s minds,” Israel said in a telephone interview. “I get the sense that Washington’s priorities are simply wrong.”
The legislator said there is an urgent need to put the middle class “first and foremost, and instead we have people in Congress who stand up for the special interests.”
Israel said he has three top priorities “to stabilize our middle class.”
He proposes to end corporate tax loopholes for job creation overseas and instead offer tax incentives to create jobs in New York. He also wants to stop providing subsidies to big oil companies and use that money to allow families to refinance college debt. Israel also wants to require that businesses observe pay equality in the country.
“They have to pay a woman the same salary as a man for the same work,” said Israel.
Grant, in an interview at the TimesLedger offices, said one of his objectives would be to make the United States more competitive by lowering taxes.
“If you want to grow, you better be competitive,” Lally said, who also calls for “a more serious foreign policy.”
Lally, who touts the backing of the district’s Republican committees, said he advised the Bush administration during the Irish peace process.
Israel, whose district includes Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Douglaston, Little Neck and Bellerose and stretches to Nassau and Suffolk counties, is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In the Queens section of the district, there are 40,389 registered Democrats, 14,062 Republicans and about 15,000 voters without party affiliation, according to the New York State Board of Elections.
For Grant, his rival’s fund-raising responsibilities make him “an Obama Mini-me.”
Grant, a lawyer who worked in the 2000 presidential recount battle in Florida, said, “Steve Israel has big problems because he is very close to Barack Obama.” He said, “He is a party politician.”
But the lawmaker rejected the claims. “That’s just politics. I stood up to President Obama in many occasions”
Israel pointed out he opposed President Obama’s plan to end Bush’s tax cuts and raise taxes for people making $250,000 or more a year. “He though $250,000 makes you rich, but $250,000 does not make you rich in New York. I actively opposed him and succeeded,” he added.
The legislator said in the end Congress passed a law maintaining those tax cuts for middle-class families making up to $450,000.
On Common Core, Lally opposes the federal standards which depend on standardized testing, adding, “I am no fan of centralized imposition.”
The Republican candidate for Congress said some of the best school districts in the country are in New York “and they achieved it because of the local school boards, very good administrators and parents that are engaged in making sure their kids are taught well.”
Israel introduced legislation recently allowing states to use alternative testing from Grades 3 to 8.
“The legislation will reform the entire testing process,” said Israel, adding that those students will be tested once a year instead of the actual two. “Hopefully, my colleagues in Congress will support it.”
Lally promised to open a district office in Queens if elected.
“I believe in representing the district and I will open an office in Queens, That’s an absolute promise.”
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
