Letters

Nancy Goroff has a problem.

There’s a Democratic primary on June 25 to select a candidate to challenge Republican Congressman Nick LaLota. The contenders are historian and journalist John Avlon, and teacher and scientist Nancy Goroff.

The problem for Goroff is that when she ran for this office in 2020 and lost, she was photographed carrying a sign that read: “Cost of Riot Gear for One Policeman = Cost of PPE for 31 Nurses.” PPE, for those who have forgotten COVID times, refers to medical protective equipment.

Any internet search will produce this photo, along with several Republican hit pieces slamming Nancy Goroff as “Dr. Radical” who wants to “de-fund the police.”

It’s not fair, of course. Merely questioning one budget item like riot gear does not equate to seeking to de-fund the police in general, but it’s not about fairness for the GOP. They will just do what they did last time — hang this around Nancy’s neck, make big noise about it, and she’ll sink like a stone.

We have to remember that supporting the police is an article of faith in our 1st Congressional District. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it means any candidate who’s at all vulnerable on this point is in big trouble — and anyone who has actually carried a sign in a demonstration like Nancy Goroff might as well take a trip to Tahiti as campaign for office. It just won’t fly.

We must also remember that primaries are about selecting the candidate who can win in November. Here, one contender, Nancy Goroff, has already lost before as “Dr. Radical” linked to the “de-fund the police” movement.

The other contender, centrist John Avlon, is a respected historian, author, journalist and TV commentator with great presentation and heart. There’s really no contest.

We can see that Nancy Goroff knows all this. She’s getting desperate, going negative in her ads, trying to buy the race with lavish spending. It’s not working, though. The Democratic committees of all five East End towns plus Huntington have endorsed John Avlon in this primary. No committees have endorsed Goroff.

In addition, Avlon has the backing of Congressmen Dan Goldman, Greg Meeks and Tom Suozzi, and New York State Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs. These experienced observers recognize Avlon’s advantage in knowledge, personality and depth, and Goroff’s disadvantage on the important police support issue.

Nancy Goroff has a problem: She’s not electable.

Democrats, it’s of national importance that we flip District 1. Please get out and vote in the June 25 primary for John Avlon.

George Lynch

Quiogue

Lynch is the communications chair for the Southampton Democratic Committee — Ed.