The Port Washington-Manhasset League of Women Voters will be hosting state Senate District 7 Democratic candidates Kim Keiserman and Brad Schwartz at a forum to precede the primary election this June.
The forum will be held from 7:30-9 p.m. on June 6 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock Road. It will also be available to watch via livestream through North Shore TV and after the fact on the league’s YouTube channel.
Keiserman and Schwartz are set to face-off in the race to replace state Sen. Jack Martins – a Republican.
The district, which includes much of the North Shore and the Town of Oyster Bay as far east as Woodbury, is currently represented by Martins, who flipped the district red in 2022.
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 encompasses advocating for reproductive rights, investing in public education, fostering gun safety legislation, lowering taxes and bolstering affordability, protecting the environment and standing up against bigotry.
Keiserman’s intent in running is to give Long Island a seat at the table at the state level to ensure their voices are heard, according to her campaign.
She has received endorsements from many local Democratic leaders present and past, including Rep. Tom Suozzi, Nassau County and New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, state Assemblymember Gina Sillitti, former state Sen. Anna Kaplan, Democratic National Committeeman Robert Zimmerman and Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton.
Schwartz, who ran in the 2018 race but dropped out before the primary against former state Sen. Anna Kaplan, is a former television editor and producer with a Ph.D in public policy. He is a lifelong resident of Long Island’s North Shore and lives in Roslyn.
He is the founding chairman of Sid Jacobson JCC’s Community Needs Bank.
Schwartz’s campaign is focused on addressing the district’s high cost of living, bolstering public school funding, developing housing, supporting reproductive rights, healthcare affordability, combatting hate and antisemitism, protecting the environment and bettering public safety.
Schwartz has been endorsed by the New York Working Families Party and Frederick Brewington, a Long Island civil rights attorney.
The primary election for party nominees is June 25. The general election will then be held on Nov. 5.
