Senator Kemp Hannon, the Republican incumbent in the 6th Senatorial District race, is seeking his eighth term in the state Senate. Hannon, who was first elected to the Senate in 1989, said that the last several years in office have been both rewarding and challenging. He noted that one of the biggest issues facing New Yorkers is the economy - in terms of what it means for job creation, job retention, revenue structure and education. As chairman of the Senate Health Committee, Hannon cited healthcare as another of the important issues facing residents today.

"It's been a challenging time. I came into office during a recession, then about midway through I had a chance to become the chair of the Health Committee which meant I had a chance to deal with both the substance in regard to health and the financial makeup of the state's health system. It's a challenging committee. It deals with, on the general funds budget, about a third of the state's expenditures and it continues to be a challenge because all of the things we've done need to be re-examined. As health care and the population change every year, needs change every year," Hannon said. "We've had real success in reinvigorating the finances of the health care system. The challenges will be healthcare for the elderly, both in terms of quality, where it's delivered and then the healthcare would be not just acute care for quick major problems but rather the more chronic problems that arise, and what we do with rehabilitation, nursing home and assisted living."

The senator noted some of his proudest accomplishments as being the continued aid he's been able to secure for local school districts; the STAR Program, which helps hold down real property taxes for all residents, especially senior citizens and the college tuition deduction from state income tax.

"This year 50 percent of college tuition will be deductible from the state income tax," he said. Other accomplishments the senator noted are "the state's EPIC drug program, where those over 65 can receive assistance for their pharmaceutical drugs; and then the drive that we've had to invigorate and reinvigorate the economy on Long Island through tax cuts as well as through our sustained program for technology and biotechnology industries."

If re-elected, Hannon said the things he would continue to work on are the three goals he has for medical patients - that they have better access, affordability and outcomes.

"It will be difficult because medical costs have been rising, double digit inflation for each of the last five years," he said. "We also have to steer the economy, making sure that, with the difficulties ahead for the state budget, that we don't do away with the good that we've accomplished the past few years making New York attractive to business," he added. "The biggest challenge will be also, in regard to education, making sure that the schools have the means to deliver quality education to each of the children and keep up with the new Regents standards and tests."

When asked why he's the best candidate for the position, Hannon said, "I'm enthusiastic about meeting the challenges, I think I have the experience, the intelligence to deal with difficult problems and I have a way of being able to analyze those problems so that the needs of the constituents are met."

Hannon is an alumni of Chaminade High School, Boston College and Fordham Law School. In addition to the Republican party line, he is also running on the Independent and Conservative party lines. A lifetime resident of Nassau County, the senator resides in Garden City with his wife Bronwyn and their twin daughters, Alexandra and Madeleine.

The 6th Senatorial District, which was minimally affected by the recent redistricting throughout the state, covers communities such as East Meadow, Farmingdale, Garden City, Levittown, Massapequa and Plainview.

"I have no prior political experience whatsoever," Norman St. George, Democratic candidate for the 6th Senatorial District, proudly told Anton Newspapers during an interview. "I'm not a politician and I don't want to be a politician." The Roosevelt resident, a trial attorney with a practice in Mineola, said he wants to promote change in a district where he claims there hasn't been enough.

The 6th Senatorial District, which was minimally affected by the recent redistricting throughout the state, covers communities such as East Meadow, Farmingdale, Garden City, Levittown, Massapequa and Plainview.

Spending much of his time at local train stations and malls becoming familiar with his possible constituents, St. George's campaign platform concentrates on several key issues, with excellence in education heading that list. "I went to Roosevelt Elementary School where I received a solid education," he said. "I then spent one year at Roosevelt Junior High. The kids were riding bicycles through the hallways. Teachers didn't have control over their students. It was not a learning environment and that's something that stuck with me."

His parents then sent him to Long Island Lutheran. "I always felt that when I got to a point in my career where there was the possibility or the ability to work for change, that's something I wanted to do to give back," St. George said. "I always wanted to, at the appropriate time, get involved, whether it be in politics for lawmaking purposes or even in my practice, and try to turn the public education system around."

Affordable healthcare is another issue for St. George. "The fact that prescription drugs are not covered by most insurance plans is terrible," he said. "Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege."

Recently returning from a trip to Jamaica, West Indies to visit his grandmother for her 90th birthday, St. George said he's glad she's living there and not here in the United States. "She's a strong healthy woman and when you hear of all the horrors in nursing homes in terms of abuse and safety, it's unacceptable. That's why affordable healthcare, in terms of affordable housing and monitoring and regulating nursing homes and assisted care facilities, is [another] component of my platform. Things need to change."

St. George is also passionate about environmental issues and thinks they've been ignored for too long. "The West Nile Virus is a wake-up call that's letting us know that if we're not going to protect the environment, the environment is going to have a backlash against us. We'd be in a position where we couldn't even go outside because mosquitoes would kill us. If not the mosquitoes, then the pesticides would."

Although those are major issues St. George plans to focus on if elected, he also spoke of the economic problems now facing the county, as well as the state. "There's a major budget deficit in this county and in the state and those are things that certainly need to be addressed," he said. "One problem, in my opinion, causing the county deficit is unfunded state mandates. Nassau County has been in a deficit budget situation for a long time and when we have mandates coming down from the state without the requisite funding, we're just digging deeper into a deficit."

Working in the Nassau County District Attorney's office from 1991-95, St. George is running on the Democratic line. He admits change has become noticeable on the local level. "I want to be a part of that change and take part in causing change. The timing is good."