Port’s Kim Keiserman was recently nominated as the Democratic candidate for New York State Senate District 7 and has begun taking aim at Republican opponent Sen. Jack Martins ahead of the November election.
“Jack Martins is not getting the job done for District 7,” Keiserman wrote in a release. “He has openly called his legislative role a ‘part-time job,’ he’s voted against many critical priorities for our district and state, he’s shown more interest in sowing division than solving problems, and he’s embraced and enabled extremism–making him increasingly out of step with the people he was elected to represent.”
Martins denied providing comment on Keiserman’s claims.
“Senator Martins will not respond to Ms. Kaiserman’s [sic] gratuitous attacks, which are merely an attempt to draw attention to her campaign,” Martin’s Campaign’s Communications Officer Amanda Martins wrote in an email to Blank Slate.
Keiserman won the district’s Democratic primary Tuesday in a near 75% landslide victory against Roslyn resident Brad Schwartz – who was endorsed by the Working Families Party.
Attacks began before the election, though, as Keiserman touted her ability to unseat the Republican who flipped the seat red in 2022.
Keiserman called the 2022 election different from this year’s because the 2024 presidential election was on the ballot. She said this would help draw in more Democratic voters.
She also added that voters would be coming to the polls this time with knowledge of Martins’ actions during his first term when he was called inactive in the district.
“Together, we’re going to vote him out because this district needs results-driven leadership,” Keiserman wrote.
The seventh district includes much of the North Shore and the Town of Oyster Bay as far east as Woodbury.
Keiserman is an education consultant and serves as a commissioner for the North Hempstead Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, chairwoman of the Baxter Estates Planning Board and a board member of the Come to Believe Network.
She is also president of the Port Washington Democratic Club, a zone Leader for the Nassau County Democratic Committee and co-president of the Baxter’s Pond Foundation.
Her campaign platform advocated for reproductive rights, investing in public education, fostering gun safety legislation, lowering taxes, bolstering affordability, protecting the environment and standing up against bigotry.
She said she intends to give Long Island a seat at the table at the state level, where Democrats control the Senate and the Assembly, to ensure their voices are heard.
Keiserman was endorsed during her primary campaign by Planned Parenthood Empire State Votes Political Action Committee, Everytown for Gun Safety, Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY-03), Nassau County and New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, and various other past and present Democrats.
The newly nominated Democrat applauded her win and the individuals in her campaign who aided in it.
“Through the course of this campaign, we knocked over 10,000 doors, made 182,000 phone calls, raised $600,000, planted over 1,000 lawn signs, and wrote hundreds of postcards. From the start, this campaign has been about uniting our community behind one goal—restoring meaningful, effective representation to this district,” Keiserman wrote. “Now, I’m proud to say that the intense enthusiasm we generated has brought us one step closer towards that goal.”
The general election will be held on Nov. 5.
