Suffolk County Legislator - 17th District

DEMOCRATIC

Donnelly, 53, of Deer Park, is running on the Democratic, Independence, Conservative and Working Families party lines. He is seeking his second two-year term as a legislator, having served as the fire commissioner in the Deer Park Fire District from 2003-2011 and a Town of Babylon councilman from 2011-2017.

• Strong public safety — keeping our neighborhoods and community safe and addressing quality of life issues are his top priorities.
• Maintaining fiscal responsibility by ensuring we are operating within the tax cap.
• He seeks to continue to work with the municipal workforce to maintain these services. He also seeks to continue to work across the aisle in a bipartisan nature.

REPUBLICAN

Lonardo, 38, is running on the Republican line. She is seeking her first two-year term in the Legislature.

• Her top priority is Suffolk County’s budget deficit, she said, adding that the county needs to curtail spending rather than continue to raise taxes and fees.
• Keeping county citizens safe is another priority, she said, in particular, stronger measures to combat gang crime and violence.
• Water quality is a top concern. Lonardo said drinking water, waterways and shorelines need proactive efforts to protect them. We cannot afford to wait until contamination occurs, she said.

LIBERTARIAN

McDermott, 66, is running on the Libertarian line. He is seeking his first two-year term on the county Legislature.

• McDermott said a top issue concerns special interest groups that donate money to legislators and who are literally “buying” their votes.
• Another issue, he said, is that legislators hold meetings at times when the public cannot show up.
• McDermott also said he is concerned about the number of homes being taken away from people that have lived there their whole lives.