Craig Heller is the Democratic Party candidate for the 12th Assembly District.

A native of Merrick, he is a graduate of Hofstra, where he earned both a B.A. and a J.D. from its law school. Heller has resided in North Massapequa since 1994, where he currently lives with his wife, Donna and two children, Joshua and Alexandra. He is an attorney with a law office in East Meadow as a partner in the firm of Heller & Verdi, P.C.

"I am a person of conviction who will represent the 12th at every turn," Heller said. "It is the job of an Assemblyman to be a visionary leader. My background as an attorney has trained me to be able to work with adversaries to resolve differences to the satisfaction of everyone. As a Democrat in the Assembly I will be in the majority. I will be able to pass legislation in that body, as opposed to a minority member who cannot even get bills out of committee."

Heller listed the following concerns as his major campaign issues:

"High real property taxes must be controlled," he said. "The school taxes are the portion of our tax bill that is the most onerous. We must change the manner in which we receive school aid from the State. The state aid formula for education, as set up, is based too much on real property values and fails to take the regional costs into account. Since the values in Nassau County are the highest in the state, we receive the least amount of state aid. My number one priority is to lower property taxes and changing the state aid formula for education is the first step in that direction. If my plan is passed, all of the school districts in Nassau County will receive a significant increase in state aid. The Plainedge and Island Trees School Districts would receive in excess of $9 million dollars a year and the Massapequa and Farmingdale School Districts would receive between $4 and $5 million dollars a year. This would significantly lower the real property taxes.

"We must eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program," the candidate continued. "These efforts will save billions of dollars a year.

"We must create new power sources to deal with our energy requirements without negatively impacting our environment," Heller also said.

"We must create affordable housing on Long Island so that we do not lose our seniors and younger people to other regions of the country," he added." I support the DiNapoli-Balboni bill that requires builders to provide 10 percent of the new homes being built to be affordable.

"We must past comprehensive legislation to keep child predators off the streets, so our children can always remain safe," Heller said.

"There is no question that the number one issue on Long Island today are the high real property taxes," Heller concluded. "The other reason that people leave Long Island is that homes are difficult to afford. The major issues on Long Island are high taxes and affordable housing."

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Joseph Saladino was elected to the New York State Assembly in a special election held on March 9, 2004 and won his first full term eight months later.

He is currently the Ranking Member of the Assembly Government Employees committee. Saladino is also a member of the Assembly Education and Environmental Conservation Committees.

He previously was the director of operations for the Town of Oyster Bay, serving as an executive assistant for the Town of Hempstead as well as working in journalism as a news anchor and broadcaster at local television and radio stations.

"Nothing is more important to me than preserving and improving the quality of life in our community," Saladino said, listing reasons he should be re-elected to the assembly. "I will continue to be a leader in the fight to fully protect children from sexual predators and am creating the felony crime of luring a child on the Internet. I have developed a plan to greatly reduce property taxes by including a full regional cost index to the school aid formula and am calling on the state to investigate fraud and abuse in school districts and in the Medicaid system. I am working to bring solar energy and flex fuels into the mainstream to reduce dependence in foreign oil and protect the environment."

When asked to list approved legislation that is most significant to him, Saladino listed "greatly increasing" state school aid to ease property tax payers; passage of Real Property Tax rebate checks; passage of the $330 per-child Empire State Child Tax Credit; capping the state sales tax on gasoline; strengthening Megan's Law to increase the length of registration for sex offenders; eliminating the statute of limitations for rape; expanding the DNA Database to include all felonies and certain misdemeanor crimes; enacting legislation to keep illegal guns off the streets; increasing penalties for those who injure or kill police officers; and creating the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General to combat fraud.

Concerning the exodus of young people leaving Long Island, Saladino said his response, in part, has included developing a plan to reduce property taxes by including a full regional cost index to the school aid formula. "I am calling for an in-depth study aimed at paying for education through the state budget," he continued. "I have also drafted legislation that will have legal fees reimbursed to homeowners who win their assessment challenge.

"The business climate in New York makes it difficult for businesses to locate here, so jobs can be hard to find," he continued. "The fiscal restraints on our businesses are such that it is hard for them to create high-paying jobs. We need to improve conditions for businesses and manufacturing operations, and foster growth of the high-technology industry, including development of solar energy."

Finally, Saladino said other issues facing voters in the 12th AD include job creation and retention, improving education, improving health care, further tax reductions and the creation of an Alternative Fuel Incentive Fund to transition away from fossil fuels.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.