Jon Kaiman
Jon Kaiman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 23, 2022.
Kaiman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Kaiman was a 2016 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 3rd Congressional District of New York.[1] Kaiman was defeated by Tom Suozzi in the Democratic primary.[2]
Biography
Jon Kaiman earned a bachelor's degree from Hofstra University in 1984, a law degree from the Hofstra University, Maurice A. Deane School of Law in 1988, and a degree from Harvard University in 2021. His career experience includes working as a public servant.[3]
Elections
2022
See also: New York's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House New York District 3
George Devolder-Santos defeated Robert Zimmerman in the general election for U.S. House New York District 3 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | George Devolder-Santos (R / Conservative Party)  | 53.7 | 145,824 |
 | Robert Zimmerman (D / Working Families Party) | 46.2 | 125,404 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 103 | ||
| Total votes: 271,331 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Melanie D'Arrigo (Working Families Party)
- Mekita Coe (People's Party)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 3
Robert Zimmerman defeated Jon Kaiman, Joshua Lafazan, Melanie D'Arrigo, and Reema Rasool in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New York District 3 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Zimmerman | 35.8 | 10,074 |
 | Jon Kaiman | 25.7 | 7,242 | |
 | Joshua Lafazan | 19.7 | 5,554 | |
 | Melanie D'Arrigo | 16.0 | 4,519 | |
 | Reema Rasool | 2.6 | 738 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 51 | ||
| Total votes: 28,178 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Navjot Kaur (D)
- Maryann Maltese (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. George Devolder-Santos advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House New York District 3.
Conservative Party primary election
The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. George Devolder-Santos advanced from the Conservative Party primary for U.S. House New York District 3.
Working Families Party primary election
The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Melanie D'Arrigo advanced from the Working Families Party primary for U.S. House New York District 3.
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as a race to watch. Incumbent Steve Israel (D) chose not to seek re-election in 2016, leaving the seat open. Tom Suozzi (D) defeated Jack Martins (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Suozzi defeated Anna Kaplan, Jon Kaiman, Steven Stern, and Jonathan Clarke in the Democratic primary. The primary elections took place on June 28, 2016.[4][5][6][7][8][9][2][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Tom Suozzi |
53% | 171,775 | |
| Republican | Jack Martins | 47% | 152,304 | |
| Total Votes | 324,079 | |||
| Source: New York Board of Elections | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tom Suozzi |
35.1% | 7,142 | ||
| Steve Stern | 22% | 4,475 | ||
| Jon Kaiman | 21.6% | 4,394 | ||
| Anna Kaplan | 16.3% | 3,311 | ||
| Jonathan Clarke | 5% | 1,021 | ||
| Total Votes | 20,343 | |||
| Source: New York State Board of Elections |
||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jon Kaiman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kaiman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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am a husband, father of three, an attorney, former judge, and presently helping run Suffolk County on Long Island, a county of 1.5 million residents with a $3.8 billion budget.
I’ve served as North Hempstead Town Supervisor (five terms) where I represented 230,000+ residents on Long Island. I’ve served as an advisor to the Governor helping lead the state’s Superstorm Sandy Relief program, New York Rising, and as Chairman of NIFA, Nassau County’s Interim Finance Authority.
In Suffolk County, I co-chaired our Police Reform and Reimagine Task Force (in which we included community advocates and our police representatives); chaired our Opioid Task Force; crafted our intermunicipal Shared Services plan; and introduced the county’s 311 call system.
In North Hempstead, I implemented Project Independence to help our seniors live independently; established the Town’s 311 call center and data analytics and performance measurement system; created a school/town recycling partnership; and initiated an aggressive environmental agenda while ensuring the town’s fiscal stability.
I am a Democrat who believes that every official must show we can manage people’s money, protect their property and keep them safe. We must listen to all voices while we maintain our values and meet current challenges.
- The Economy: I will focus first and foremost on our economy to make sure that we tackle inflation, reduce energy costs through full investment in alternative energy sources and clean fuels, provide access to affordable health care, and reach full employment. I will protect Social Security and Medicare and bring down the cost of prescription drugs.
- Protect a women’s right to choose: We must have reproductive justice by ensuring that access to reproductive care is unburdened and affordable. I’ll support legislation to codify Roe v. Wade, ensuring that the right to access abortion is protected in all 50 states. I also support federal measures to provide support for women and health care providers in States that bar or limit access to abortion and women’s health care.
- Public Safety: We must keep people safe. We must ban assault weapons and pass reasonable laws that protect our citizenry. We must also work with our police, pursue responsible criminal justice measures, and hold people who hurt and hate others accountable.
New Yorkers need to feel safe in our homes, leaving our homes, going to work, school or out for fun. It matters for the economy. In Congress, I’ll ban deadly assault weapons, close loopholes that allow guns to get into the wrong hands and mandate background checks. I’ll our police and prosecutors have the resources they need to keep us safe. I’ll also fight for programs that help reduce violence, address mental illness and keep guns off the streets. In Suffolk, I co-chaired the task force that addressed police community relations with buy-ins from the community and the PBA; we’re first in New York to implement the Red Flag Law to keep guns out of the hands of mentally-ill individuals. At the State level, we must fund Police and end gun violence, educate our kids and develop good jobs and provide housing for our police, teachers, firefighters and children. As North Hempstead Town Supervisor, I developed a town-wide school recycling program that taught 40,000 future leaders how to properly dispose of recyclable waste. My “Stop Throwing Out Pollutants” program extended environmental stewardship town-wide; we also seeded Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor with oysters to help clean it up. I helped our communities recover from Superstorm Sandy and worked to harden shorelines across Long Island and Queens prevent future flooding damage. As Deputy Suffolk County Executive, I help lead the way for a green energy economy by marshaling wind and solar energy programs for Long Island.
Especially in these times and to serve as a Member of Congress, an elected officials must be Trusted, Tested and Ready; I am! I offer unrivaled experience in delivering results and advocating for individuals across New York. I earned the trust of our community through my leadership and local, town, county and state levels; serving as Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor (elected five terms), Nassau County District Court Judge, NYS Advisor for SuperStorm Sandy Recovery, and Chairman of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA). In each role, I always put the public first. When it matters the people of Long Island and Queens can count on me. As current Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County, I introduced and am presently working on expanding our 311 program for people with disabilities. My approach to governing is to include in the decision-making process those who our decisions will impact. In Suffolk, I Co-Chaired the Police Reform Task Force for which I brought together the police department, the PBA and advocates. I have developed and implemented; alongside my team, the Suffolk County Police Reform Plan, which is the most comprehensive police reform plan in New York State. We worked together to find workable solution that achieve social justice goals while fully supporting our police and giving them the tools and resources to keep us safe. This helps bring needed fairness and transparency in our criminal justice system and hold accountable those in our community who are dangerous, hateful and violent. As Supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead, I leveraged federal grant funding to expand transportation options for seniors with disabilities through the development of a mobility program called Project Independence. I also created the Town’s first 311 call center. Throughout my public service – as described above, I have fought for solutions, created programs, and supported policies that protect our environment.
These are challenging times. We must call on leaders with experience. Leaders who understand how government works, what people’s needs are, how to move society forward, and how to achieve real results that work for real people. Thus, I seek election to Congress in New York’s 3rd District as a trusted, tested and ready innovative, common-sense, problem-solver. I demonstrated an ability to get things done at every position I held as a public servant. I identify a problem. I bring all parties together and seek to develop a solution that makes sense. This nationally recognized program allowed our residents to age in place by assisting seniors with their medical transportation, home improvement projects, and personal recreational needs. For example, with Project Independence, we adapted our transportation program for seniors; we moved from buses that ran empty or underutilized taking seniors shopping to using cabs which not only saved public funds but served thousands more seniors; we then expanded the program to take seniors to their medical appointments. This also enabled seniors to continue to live independently and at the same time we gave business to the local for hire vehicle industry. All through a cost-effective program that identified a real need in the community in the Town of North Hempstead. The same rationale followed my introduction of 311 to the Town and more recently Suffolk County. This easy-to-use phone number streamlines access to government services and it was instrumental to providing resources to the county’s 1.5 million residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. I had restored Nassau County’s fiscal health as Chairman of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority; this included negotiating new contracts with Nassau County workers who had been workers without new labor agreements for some time. As Supervisor, I also won federal dollars that improved infrastructure and housing and I enriched our environment by restoring Long Island Sound wetlands.
My first position in elective office – as a District Court Judge in Nassau, I was one of only two democrats among more than 20 Republicans. I served four years. I learned we – the Judges – ran the Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) in Nassau. We set and adjudicated the fines and penalties. Setting fines are an Executive function and Judges should not be operating the PVB. I went to the chief judge; he saw nothing wrong; I sued the Nassau Judges in Supreme Court in Suffolk County and won. Now State Comptroller-then State Assembly Member Tom DiNapoli and then State Senator Mike Balboni sponsored the legislation to remove the PVB from the control of the Judges. And an important arm of Nassau government no longer lost money.
I choose the Bruce Springsteen tune, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” from his “Wrecking Ball” album. My approach to governing – proven successful – based on the results – involves bring all together and crafting a solution that addresses the problem(s) we identify together. No one excluded. All invited. It worked when we brought the PBA, police and advocates together to achieve social justice goals while fully supporting our police and giving them the tools and resources to keep us safe – all as part of a comprehensive Police Reform Plan. This is what a public servant Trusted, Tested and Ready does. It worked when we fashioned Project Independence in the Town of North Hempstead so our seniors can live in their homes but secure simple transportation to medical appointments, shopping and recreation. It worked when we turned around Nassau County from a fiscal abyss and allowed its government to function and retain its experienced workforce. It worked when we helped our communities recover from Superstorm Sandy and hardened shorelines across Long Island and Queens prevent future flooding damage. We communicate, we reach out – repeatedly, we “enlarge” the room or tent and make sure everyone comfortable inside. I believe in rejecting extremism and reclaiming our shared identity as New Yorkers, united in a common cause in pursuit of a fair, just, and rational world, quoting the song lyrics, “where sunlight streams....in a land of hope and dreams.” (Listen to “Land of Hope and Dreams” on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/KHpJhS99Q60.)
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2016
The following issues were listed on Kaiman's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
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| —Jon Kaiman's campaign website, https://www.jonkaimanforcongress.com/theissues/ | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House New York District 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Newsday, "Jon Kaiman to run for Rep. Steve Israel’s seat," January 24, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Politico, "New York House Races Results," June 28, 2016
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 28, 2022
- ↑ News Day, "Anna Kaplan, a North Hempstead Democrat, announces candidacy for Congress," January 11, 2016
- ↑ Newsday, "Jon Kaiman to run for Rep. Steve Israel’s seat," January 24, 2016
- ↑ Queens Chronicle, "Long Islanders vie for Rep. Israel’s seat," January 14, 2016
- ↑ Gurfein for America, "Home," accessed November 23, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Rep. Steve Israel, member of Democratic leadership, retiring," January 5, 2016
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Filings received for the 2016 Primary Election," accessed May 15, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Judge orders special GOP primary in 3rd Congressional District," August 17, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
