Assemblyman Ramos seeks reelection

Background: Ramos, 55, is also on the Independence and Working Families lines. He is a retired Suffolk County Police detective who is seeking his 5th term in the State Assembly. He is chairman of the 12-member Long Island Black and Hispanic Caucus in the Assembly. He is also chairman of the Long Island Latino Elected Officials Association. He is a divorced father of twins.

Issues: High taxes, the economy and crime are priorities for Ramos. He said he supports a “tax circuit breaker,” where people “who can least afford it are given the most relief.” He said he is engaged in efforts to help boost economic opportunities in downtowns in his district. He said his projects include providing funding that brought in a company that helps communities transform themselves to attract visitors who could spend money at local restaurants and other businesses. On crime, he said “the biggest issue on the burner right now is the gang issue.” Ramos said legislation he sponsored and passed in the Assembly — though not yet okayed by the Senate — would create a gang court, modeled after what he called successful drug courts. “The right approach is to put all this under one roof and start to focus on this in a comprehensive matter. Right now, we’re doing it piecemeal.”

 http://politics.newsday.com/politician.php?id=82

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Suffolk: Assemb. Ramos rival ruled off the ballot

Tuesday August 10, 2010 1:49 PM By Dan Janison

Giovanni Mata, former chairman of Suffolk Executive Steve Levy’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, has been ruled off the ballot in his effort to mount a primary challenge against Assemb. Phil Ramos (D-Central Islip).

The Suffolk Board of Elections notified Mata last week that it determined Ramos’ challenges were sufficient to invalidate Mata’s petitions. Earlier, other questions were raised about Mata’s residency, but that wasn’t at issue here.

Ramos said he welcomes challenges from other candidates, and so did not go after the petitions of another rival in the race. But in Mata’s case, he said, “if one aspires be an elected officical creating laws I think it’s fundamtental that they abide by the laws. These rules are basic to our democracy and he didn’t qualify. So the process, in the end, found that his candidacy was not valid.”