This past election cycle the Nassau Democratic Party got creamed. Former Democratic Nassau County Executive Laura Curran lost to Republican Town of Hempstead Councilman Bruce Blakeman in what was supposed to be an easy race. Equally as shocking, former Democratic Town of North Hempstead Clerk Wayne Wink lost the open seat in the supervisor’s race to Manhasset civic leader and former SEC attorney Jennifer DeSeana.

Curran, liked and respected by both sides of the aisle, was expected to be the easy victor. Wink, also popular, was an ever-present fixture in his solidly left-leaning town. Several other incumbent Democratic Town Council and Nassau County legislative elected officials lost as well.

So how did this happen? Here’s one explanation. Local Dems have several splintered liberal factions, which fight among themselves. Then when the primaries are over, the losing factions stay home. On the other side of the aisle, the Nassau County Republicans have a simple, unified message and they stick to it. Blaming Curran for higher taxes from a broken assessment process was disingenuous, but it worked.

The Republicans also kept the issues local and focused on stopping crime, even though Nassau is among the lowest crime counties in America. On crime, the far-left Democrats wanted to defund the police while the moderate Dems stayed mostly silent. This brought the Republicans out to vote. This coming November, if Nassau County’s state and federal Democratic candidates do not put forth a relatable, cohesive message, the losses will continue.

Unfortunately, Nassau Dems are their own worst enemy. After Laura Curran lost, she went on Fox News and knocked progressive policies and blasted President Biden saying, “[Biden] has a hard time putting a sentence together. I think everyone gets nervous listening to him talk, that he’s going to mess up.”

All those who supported Curran, from progressive Dems to moderates, should be furious at her comments. Supporters who helped her get elected in 2017 worked on her re-election campaign in 2021 and those who donated to her should have been graciously and repeatedly thanked. Instead, she publicly knocked the whole left, which is contrary to everything Curran stood for while county executive. It’s hard to trust politicians when they spew hypocrisy. I couldn’t imagine a former Nassau Republican ever saying something like that.

Nassau County Democratic Party leader Jay Jacobs also made unforced errors that are disenfranchising those whose support he is seeking. In early March, Jacobs sent an email to Democratic donors that said in part, “I request that you hold off on making any contributions to any of the candidates until we have had an opportunity to discuss the complexities of this race. My goal is for our party to nominate a candidate who can win. Not every one of the contenders right now, in my opinion, is able to do so.”

Considering the 2021 Nassau County Democratic election results, this was an odd message. And it’s contrary to the Democratic ideal of an open and fair political process. Congresswoman Kathleen Rice summed it up best saying, “No wonder Democrats in Nassau county lose with this kind of leadership.”

Jacobs committed another unforced error with his comments on former Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen’s chances to win her bid for Congress. In a March 9 Newsday article, Jacobs said the following, “As she told me, this was a dream of hers since she was a little girl.” Jacobs said of Gillen’s interest in the 4th District race, “I’m not here to help people with their dreams…I’m here to elect Democrats.”

Gillen scored a huge upset in winning the 2017 Town of Hempstead Supervisor’s race and is a front runner for the congressional seat she seeks. Why comment negatively at all on a former elected official in such an insensitive way? Instead, Jacobs should have made his point by supporting whomever he chooses without fracturing the Dem base and knocking a former popular elected official. This kind of divisiveness may suppress Democratic turnout this November.

The strategy for the Nassau Democrats to win this November should be to fight behind closed doors, publicly come together and support the winner of any primary. And they need to keep the messaging simple and consistent. If they don’t, the local state and  federal Republican candidates will coast to an easy victory.