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The Case Against Andrew Garbarino

“New Yorkers deserve better than Andrew Garbarino, who constantly works to block efforts that would lower costs for families, and is nothing more than a rubber stamp for his party’s extreme crusade to rip away women’s rights. Jackie Gordon represents the best of public service: a military police officer, union member, educator, mom, and local elected official, Jackie knows what it means to put her community first. I’m confident that voters will recognize Jackie’s incredible servant-centered leadership, and help her flip this district in November,” said DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney.

To: Interested Parties
From:  Nebeyatt Betre
Date: August 23, 2022
Subject: The Case Against Andrew Garbarino

In his short time in Congress, Andrew Garbarino quickly abandoned Long Island families and values, and instead has used his office to enrich wealthy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, and his extreme D.C. bosses. His record is littered with proof that when it comes time to choose between delivering for Long Island or his Washington donors, Garbarino will always leave Long Islanders behind.

Now more than ever, as working families deal with rising costs, Long Islanders need a leader in Congress who is fighting for their best interests. Yet, instead of working to deliver real solutions, Garbarino has remained fixated on blocking efforts that lower costs and uplift middle class families. Garbarino’s consistent lies about his actions in Congress make clear he’s more interested in exploiting people’s real problems for political gain rather than actually solving them.

In just his first term in Congress, Garbarino has:

  • Voted against the American Rescue Plan, which provided millions of dollars to help Long Island’s economic recovery, get parents back to work, students back in schools, and provided millions of New Yorkers access to affordable health care

  • Voted TWICE against codifying Roe and guaranteeing reproductive rights for women, voted against protecting a woman’s right to contraception, and voted to allow states to put a bounty on the heads of women who traveled state lines to receive an abortion

  • Voted against lowering prices at the gas pump and in grocery stores, siding with wealthy oil companies over his constituents

  • Voted against a $35 per month cap on the cost of insulin that would provide necessary relief and significantly bring down costs for Long Islanders

  • Voted against funding to address the baby formula shortage that impacted New York families

  • Voted against addressing gun violence by choosing to keep guns in the hands of dangerous individuals

In Congress – just like in Albany – Garbarino has established himself as yet another career politician who votes for corporate special interests over New York’s working families. From basic health care access to bipartisan efforts to tackle inflation, Garbarino has chosen politics nearly every time at the risk of serious damage to those who live and work in New York’s Second Congressional District.

For Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Jackie Gordon, the opposite couldn’t be more true. A Jamaican-American who proudly made Long Island her home, Jackie understands the American Dream, and is dedicated to ensuring Long Islanders have the means to achieve that dream for generations to come. For nearly 30 years, Jackie served this country as a military police officer. She continued her dedication to service as a guidance counselor at Long Island public schools, preparing students for economic opportunities, and then on the Babylon Town Council, where – as the first Black woman elected – she worked to lower costs and provide for other military families in need. It never mattered to Jackie whether someone was a Democrat or Republican, she worked with everyone to accomplish the mission. In Washington, she’ll do the same.

After just one term, Andrew Garbarino chose to cast aside Long Island values in exchange for his political ambition. While Garbarino acts as a rubber stamp for his party’s radical agenda, Jackie Gordon will be a strong advocate for Long Island’s economic growth, safety, and environment – and she’ll continue her record of service to get the job done. And with a new district that is more favorable to Democrats than in 2020, Jackie Gordon has what it takes to win this November.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

New York Playbook: ‘Crazy Carl’ tones it down, sort of | [New York Playbook, 8/19/22]

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — An internal poll by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee finds Democrat Jackie Gordon neck and neck with Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino for a Long Island congressional seat. The race is a rematch of a 2020 contest, where Garbarino defeated Gordon for the then-vacant seat. According to the DCCC poll, Garbarino gets 49 percent of likely general election voters to 48 percent for Gordon, an Army veteran. Three percent are undecided.

Newsday: Jackie Gordon seeks rematch for Andrew Garbarino’s 2nd District House seat | [Newsday, 10/26/21]

“I’m running because we deserve a leader who will stand up for us,” Gordon said. “I’m running in defense of our families. Of our neighbors. Of our community. In defense of our interests and our ideals. I’m running to finish what I set out to do two years ago. To go to Washington to solve our problems and to bring solutions back to my home, Long Island.”

WSHU: Zeldin, Garbarino Push Supreme Court To Overturn 100-Year-Old New York Gun Law | [WSHU, 7/9/21]

Newsday: Experts: Roe v. Wade radically alters NY election dynamics |  [Newsday, 5/3/22]

The Hill: Proposed New York maps create House battleground | [The Hill, 5/16/22]

Districts held by Reps. Tom Suozzi (D), who is running for governor, and Andrew Garbarino (R), both on Long Island, would become much more competitive than they have been in recent years.

ANDREW GARBARINO DOESN’T SHARE LONG ISLAND’S VALUES

Bad for Long Island Families and Workers

In the wake of rising costs that are hurting Long Islanders, Garbarino has resorted to spewing out lies in order to hide the fact that he is constantly voting against efforts that lower costs for families and workers. The recent Inflation Reduction Act is an historic game-changer in the fight to slow down inflation and get costs back to normal. However, Garbarino chose to play politics, lie to voters, and vote against this legislation that will benefit Long Island families. From lowering health care premiums and drug prices, reducing energy costs, and finally ensuring the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share, the IRA is a win for New Yorkers that Garbarino tried to block.

His IRA vote is only the most recent addition to Garbarino’s long record of selling out working families. As House Democrats worked to deliver much-needed relief at the gas pump, Garbarino voted to keep prices high and defend oil companies who were price gouging consumers to line their own pockets. A month later, Garbarino doubled down on his refusal to help Long Island and lower costs both at the gas station and in grocery stores by voting against the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act.

This pattern is just a continuation of who Garbarino has always been. While in the New York State Assembly, Garbarino voted against a budget that increased support for workers and families during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising unemployment that went along with it.

In stark contrast, Jackie will work to make Washington work for Long Islanders, lower prices, and ensure economic opportunity for everyone. Jackie knows firsthand the importance of addressing New York’s affordability crisis, and delivering on affordable, quality health care for working families. Jackie’s running for Congress because for far too long politicians like Garbarino choose to vote in favor of corporate special interests. Jackie will work to combat inflation and rising costs, make health care more affordable, lower prescription drug costs, and ensure our economy works for working families.

Anti-Choice, Anti-Woman Extremist

The Supreme Court’s catastrophic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has put millions of women’s livelihoods at stake, and has made Andrew Garbarino an even greater threat to women’s rights in New York than he already was. With an extreme anti-choice and anti-woman record that goes back nearly a decade, women on Long Island can’t afford to send Andrew Garbarino back to Congress.

In the months since Roe was overturned, Garbarino’s and the Republicans’ extreme crusade to turn back the clock on women’s rights and ban the long-held right to abortion access has only further intensified. Garbarino voted twice against codifying Roe into federal law, allowing states to terrorize and criminalize women who seek an abortion. This is the future Garbarino fought for when he and more than 200 other extreme Republicans urged the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, despite the majority of New Yorkers supporting it.

In the State Assembly, Garbarino was no better. He voted to block the Reproductive Health Act four times, voted against protecting a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, and even voted against prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s reproductive health decisions.

It doesn’t just stop at the right to an abortion. Garbarino disturbingly voted against the Right to Contraception Act, commonsense legislation that would enshrine women’s and families’ right to access contraception, and voted against legislation that would stop states from putting a bounty on the heads of women who traveled state lines to receive an abortion. He also repeatedly voted against ensuring women received equal pay.

Garbarino thinks the rights and freedoms that women on Long Island have held for decades are up for re-negotiation. Jackie understands better than Garbarino that women’s freedom shouldn’t be up for debate, and will be on the front lines of efforts to restore women’s freedoms in Congress.

Can’t Be Trusted on Guns or Public Safety

Garbarino has a long record of opposing common-sense gun safety measures. He sides with the NRA and voted against universal background checks before gun purchases, supports allowing people with a history of domestic violence to own guns, and even voted against the historic bipartisan agreement that Congress passed following the tragic Uvalde shooting which even included funding for mental health services to prevent mass shootings.

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s reckless ruling to overturn a century old law that protected New Yorkers from gun violence by restricting the carrying of concealed firearms, Garbarino urged the Court to overturn the state’s popular gun law. A new study found that concealed-carry laws actually lead to a boost in gun crime, particularly by elevating gun theft by roughly 35%. Top New York police officials even worried the ruling will turn the state into the “Wild East.”

However, Garbarino remained silent following the ruling, once again choosing to be more concerned with his vulnerable political career than speaking up for New Yorkers.

In another threat to public safety, Garbarino voted against millions of dollars in funding for Long Island to hire new police officers and first responders to keep our community safe and crack down on violent crime. He also voted against the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, even though domestic extremists killed at least 29 people in America in 2021 alone and are known to target police.

Put simply: Long Islanders only need to take a quick look at Garbarino’s record to know they can’t trust him to lift a finger to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or strengthen public safety in their community.

PATH TO VICTORY

In the latest configuration of NY-02, demographic trends favor Democrats. The new map presents an increasingly diverse district that has seen democratic support increase at both the congressional level and at the top-of-ticket since 2016. A recent poll shows Jackie Gordon neck and neck with Rep. Garbarino, and by engaging with underrepresented communities in the district, Jackie Gordon has the opportunity to flip this purple Long Island district.

Voters who meet Jackie Gordon quickly come to understand why she’s the best choice to represent this district. Off the heels of her 2020 campaign, she’s building yet another strong campaign of grassroots support from around the district.

Jackie Gordon’s service to her country and community ties have given her the resources to win, and she has the support and momentum needed to flip this seat in November.

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