State Sen. Jim Gaughran said Friday that he won’t run after all for re-election, after redistricting changes moved him into a new district.
He represents the current Fifth District, but map changes meant he would have no longer lived in that district. If he had stayed in the race, he woud have been eligible to run in the Second District, represented now by Mario Mattera.
“I’m proud of everything the Democratic Conference has accomplished under Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ leadership in just two terms, and I am confident that they will hold that majority moving forward. But the electoral realities of my home district as drawn by the special master cannot be ignored. After speaking with my family, friends, and colleagues, I look forward to serving my district, my constituents, and my state for the rest of my term.
“The unspeakable loss our state and our nation have shared in just the last two weeks demand action from our representatives in Washington. I also intend to spend the next five months working to elect Bridget Fleming and Jackie Gordon to Congress and helping any candidate – anywhere – that can bring the United States Senate to its senses.
“We’ve seen what inaction from Washington gets us. We’ve seen where the Supreme Court plans to take us. We all need to fight like hell for a better future. Our children deserve nothing less.”
“When I first ran for the State Senate in 2016, I ran to break the logjam in Albany, to pass critical legislation that languished for decades under the Republican majority,” Gaughran said in a statement. “Since taking office in 2018, we’ve done just that. In the last four sessions, we’ve: codified a woman’s right to seek an abortion; secured justice long overdue for survivors of child abuse; passed groundbreaking gun safety measures including a Red Flag Law, a Safe Storage Law and a ban on Ghost Guns; set nation-leading environmental standards and water protections; strengthened union protections, guaranteed a prevailing wage for public projects, and approved the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act; took on bias in the workplace, the housing market and public safety; and we’ve begun the process to finally get rid of PSEG’s mismanagement and bring Public Power back to Long Island. I’ve also personally chaptered over 70 bills into law and my office has helped thousands of constituents with every issue imaginable amidst an unprecedented pandemic.”
Gaughran has a long history of public service, ranging from his election to the Town Board to the Suffolk County Water Authority and then state senator.
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