Nancy Goroff, the Democratic candidate to represent New York’s First Congressional District, has picked up the endorsement of two prominent Democrats in the state, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Both Mr. Bellone and the governor have been critical of the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic, the former repeatedly calling for federal disaster assistance and decrying President Trump’s reference to assistance as a bailout, the latter attacking the president repeatedly for his response to the pandemic that has killed more than 222,000 Americans.
“We’re at a critical moment, obviously, in our county, in our country,” Mr. Bellone told The Star on Wednesday. “If any moment in our history called for elevating into Congress a person of science, a person who has fidelity to truth, I think now is the moment.”
“Think about what’s happening now,” he said. “We’re going through a public health crisis, a pandemic, and a moment in which it’s hard to know what truth is anymore. Nancy is somebody who has dedicated her life to the advancement of people through science and truth. We need that desperately in Congress right now.”
In a statement provided by Ms. Goroff’s campaign, Governor Cuomo leveled a thinly veiled criticism of her opponent, Representative Lee Zeldin, as well as Representative Peter King of New York’s Second Congressional District. “Long Island was hit incredibly hard by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, “and the representatives from Long Island who played politics and refused to support federal stimulus money, frankly, have a lot to answer for.” Mr. Zeldin, a Republican seeking a fourth term in Congress, is one of the president’s most ardent defenders.
“Nothing makes more sense to me than to have a mother, an educator, and a scientist represent eastern Long Island, which is why I am proud to support Nancy Goroff for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District,” the governor said. “In Congress, Nancy will trust the facts, listen to the experts, and do what is best for her community.”
“There’s no issue now more important to our recovery than the delivery of disaster aid from Washington,” Mr. Bellone added. “It is deserved, it is justified. We send billions to Washington every year that we never see returned, and it was only made worse two years ago by, effectively, the loss of our state and local tax deduction,” a $10,000 cap imposed on state and local taxes that can be deducted on federal income tax returns, part of the Republican-led tax overhaul of 2017. “That is something I know Nancy has committed to reverse when she is in Congress, and that’s very important.”
(In a debate between the candidates on Monday, Mr. Zeldin said he voted against the 2019 Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act, which would have doubled the deduction cap and restored the top marginal tax rate to its previous level, because it “would permanently increase tax rates in exchange for a temporary change to” the state and local tax deduction.)
“I’m honored that Governor Cuomo and County Executive Bellone have put their faith in me and endorsed my campaign,” Ms. Goroff said in a statement provided by her campaign. “The governor and the county executive have worked tirelessly to guide New York and Suffolk County through the pandemic, and they deserve to have a representative in Congress who will work with them, not against them, to get the federal aid that New Yorkers need.”
