Background: Lavine, 71, of Glen Cove is running on the Democratic, Working Families, Women's Equality Agenda, Reform party lines. He was elected to the Assembly in 2004 having previously served on the Glen Cove City Council. He is chairman of the Assembly committee on election law and serves on the ethics, health, codes, insurance and judiciary committees. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his law degree from New York Law School. He is president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators and is on the board of directors for the Nassau County Jewish Lawyers Association. He is married with two adult children.

Issues: Lavine said the biggest issue facing his district is how to protect the environment and water supply. Lavine said he wants state funds directed toward building sewers on Long Island and wants to see requirements that new development on Long Island have sewers. "Sewer systems are much better for the environment than septic systems," Lavine said. He also said the aquifers need to be protected from salt water infiltration. "We have to be environmentally vigilant to protect our barriers between the land that surrounds the aquifers and the ocean and the sound," Lavine said. Public transportation such as light rail or bus lines should running north and south are needed to reduce the number of automobiles on the road, he said. "There has to be a way for people to be able to get from the North Shore and the South Shore to the main rail lines which run central to Long Island," he said. Lavine called for gun control legislation to be enacted that would allow firearms to be removed from people "who are in danger to themselves or others" following a report by law enforcement and a court order. "It will protect our lives and the lives of our children," Lavine said.

Background: Monteleone, 45, of Syosset is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines. He practices criminal and personal injury law as a partner in a Mineola law firm. He received his undergraduate degree from Bucknell University, a master's degree in political science from C.W. Post and his law degree from Fordham University. He is on the board of the Criminal Courts Bar Association of Nassau County. He is married with two children.

Issues: Monteleone said the most important issue facing his district is high taxes. "The big problem with New York State is people leaving and the reason why they're leaving — both young and old — are the incredible taxes that we pay," he said. Monteleone said he supports a proposal by Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro to reduce school taxes by 30 percent. He said he would need to look at what state programs can be cut to pay for the reduction in school taxes. "What we need to do is prioritize what programs we need and what programs are not necessarily needed," he said. Monteleone said businesses that remain on Long Island should get "tax benefits" and that the state and local economic development agencies "can work wonders for bringing in economic development, bringing in new business to the state." Those entities, however, need better oversight, he said. "There should be more due diligence into what companies are coming in and what they can bring in," he said. "It should be less of a gamble." He said he was unsure whether clawbacks of benefits from companies that don't meet economic development goals would be appropriate: "That kind of hinders the businesses from coming in at the beginning and every business is a risk to some extent." He also said suburban areas such as Long Island "give a lot of money into the state government and my goal would be to protect that so we get our fair share back."