State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) conceded in the race for the state’s 7th Senate District last week after losing her re-election bid to Republican Jack Martins.
With all 264 election districts reported, Martins had 64,009 of the total 123,144 votes cast, enough for 52%. Kaplan secured 55,846 votes, or 45.5%. Kaplan, in a statement, thanked all of Long Islanders who cast their votes in the election and said serving the 7th District over the past four years has been a fulfilling endeavor.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime representing my neighbors in the New York State Senate,” Kaplan said. “Together we made history, protecting the rights of women, passing landmark legislation protecting New Yorkers from the scourge of gun violence and fighting back against the rising tide of hate.”
Kaplan, who ran on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, is an Iranian immigrant whose parents sent her to the United States for her safety and was an active member of the Great Neck community before her time in government.
Kaplan was elected to serve the Town of North Hempstead’s 4th District as a councilwoman in 2011. In 2016, she sought election to the House of Representatives but lost to current Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in the Democratic primary. Kaplan defeated former Flower Hill Mayor Elaine Phillips in 2018 to represent the 7th Senate District.
Legislation Kaplan pushed for includes a bill that promotes Holocaust education throughout New York’s schools that was signed into law earlier this year. The law, introduced to the Senate in 2021 and unanimously passed in May, permits the state’s commissioner of education to analyze what school districts throughout the state are offering Holocaust instruction.
Additionally, Kaplan was one of the elected officials throughout the North Shore to push for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to retain express train service on the Port Washington branch of the Long Island Rail Road. Plans to reduce the express service as part of the agency’s East Side Access project were abandoned this fall.
Kaplan, without giving specifics, said her commitment to public service will not end after the failed re-election bid against Martins.
“While our campaign has ended, my service to, and love for, our community has not, Kaplan said. “I will always fight for you and am committed to continuing that spirit of service in my next chapter.”
Martins, an Old Westbury resident, previously represented the 7th District from 2011-2016 and served as Mineola’s mayor from 2003-2010. He also currently serves as an attorney for Harris Beach, PLLC.
Martins said at the Nassau GOP’s watch party at the Coral House in Baldwin that he is going to stand up for local communities and keep families safe.
“This year especially we all knew this was the year we were going to draw the line in the sand,” Martins said Election Night. “Right here in Nassau County we stood up and we’re going back to Albany because you and your voices made it happen.”
The 7th Senate district includes Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Williston Park, Mineola, Garden City Park, North Hills, Albertson, Old Westbury, East Hills, Roslyn, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Estates, Albertson, Searingtown, Lake Success, Manhasset, Munsey Park, Plandome, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, and the Great Neck and Port Washington peninsulas.
