In the only Nassau County Primary, incumbent Norma Gonsalves defeated Patricia Maher nearly 4-1 in Tuesday's race to represent the Republican Party in the November election for the 13th Legislative District.

This was the second time that Maher, an East Meadow resident, was defeated by fellow East Meadow resident Gonsalves in the Republican Primary. The two women faced each other in 1997 when they vied to represent the Republican Party in a race for the then-empty seat in the county's 13th Legislative District.

Gonsalves, who defeated Maher in 1997 by a margin of two and a half to one, made the margin even wider after her first full term as legislator. The unofficial results of this past Tuesday's Republican Primary showed Gonsalves winning with 1,332 votes to Maher's 357 votes.

Prior to the primary Gonsalves had expressed confidence in her ability to win this primary, based on both her community activism that she was known for before her election and what she has accomplished as a legislator.

Maher, prior to the primary, knew that she had an uphill battle. In an interview the week before the primary, Maher said that one of the major struggles plaguing her campaign was a lack of funds. She also believes that an antiquated election system which still uses buff cards rather than digitized signatures has also been one of the factors that has hurt her political bids. She said that this problem could have been overcome though had she had more funds because she would have been able to hire pollsters to get more people out. The lack of funds is the root of her campaign's problems according to Maher, who admits, "I'm a terrible fund raiser, I don't like to do it." She said that for her next campaign she will hire fund-raisers to do it for her.

Gonsalves, in an interview the week before the primary, said that she is looking forward to continuing the work that she has started in her first term of office. When asked about how the county's fiscal difficulties would affect her campaign, she stated, "The legislature, and I as a Republican, are going to take the lead in restoring that fiscal responsibility and there will be no more fiscal gimmickry." Gonsalves, whose legislative district spans part of East Meadow, North Bellmore, North Merrick, and part of Wantagh, continued, "There's a lot to do and I want to be returned because I want to be part of the restoration of the structural balance to the county budget so we will not have this kind of situation again and I do not want to leave a legacy that is not something that I would be proud of and fiscal reform is one of those things that I want to hang my hat on. I want to be part of it. I'm part of the solution, not the problem."

On Nov. 2 Gonsalves will face Democrat Rita Eilenberg, of North Bellmore, in the general election.