Stuart Finz, a political newcomer running on the Democratic party line, is seeking election in the third congressional district. Although a new face to politics, he believes his experience in fighting for people's causes as a lawyer has given him a great deal of political experience.

Finz was born in Queens in 1957. Growing up in Little Neck, he attended the local public schools and graduated from Cardozo High School. Finz's interest in politics was initiated during the political campaigns that he participated in during his father's run for U.S. Congress, New York Civil Court Judge and New York State Supreme Court.

After graduating from Long Island University, C.W. Post campus, Finz worked full-time at the Manhattan law firm of Julian, Schlesinger & Finz where his father, Leonard L. Finz, a former New York State Supreme Court Justice, was partner. Finz holds a Juris Doctor degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

Stuart Finz and his wife Cheri, who also became an attorney and is admitted to practice law in the state of California, have two children - Jacqueline, who attends Jericho High School and Brandon, who attends Jericho Middle School.

Finz is the president and CEO of Finz & Finz, PC, a litigation law firm located in Jericho that specializes in representing seriously injured victims. "One of the most important things to me is that I have been fighting for individuals over my entire professional life against corporate giants," said Finz. "I want to continue my fight in Washington."

Finz maintains a strong stance on many important issues. Firstly is Campaign Finance Reform. "We need campaign finance reform so large corporations are not pouring billions of dollars into the political system to secure special favors from various political parties and individuals. There must be a separation between large corporate America and our political system," he said.

Social Security is an important issue to Finz. "People work their entire lives and they pay into a system that's supposed to be there when they retire. I am a strong proponent that we must have a strong lock box for Social Security," he said.

Finz said he realizes the critical nature of environmental issues on Long Island and stated that the Superfund agenda needs to be revisited to be sure that polluters are the ones who pay. "We should not have Superfund dollars be funded by general tax dollars. Those corporate giants who pollute our air, water and ground must be responsible and must pay into the Superfund for cleanups."

Two other issues very important to Finz that he intends to focus on are a woman's right to choose and education. "A woman's right to choose is very important to me. She has the right to choose the destiny of her body and the government should not dictate to a woman whether or not she can make her own choice with regard to pregnancy,"

"I am also a strong advocate for education. Every dollar we can put in the educational system will benefit our children and our society," Finz said.