Thank you for joining me here at the halfway point. That's right--we are halfway through the campaign and halfway to taking another seat in the legislature. 

I got into this race because I didn’t see our county legislature putting enough of a priority on the people who live here  – whether that means safety on the streets or in our homes, from gun violence to opioid addiction; or whether it means a game plan to improve the quality of life in Nassau, so we can retain our residents and attract new ones. Over the past couple of years, we've finally seen clear progress in these areas thanks to several of the people in this room. But especially in LD6, where most of the people I talk to can’t even name our incumbent county representative, we need a clear, effective voice at the county level. We need to support the important changes already underway thanks to County Executive Curran. To do that, we need to change our county legislator. 

Luckily, as a veteran of Moms Demand Action, I know a thing or two about effecting change. When we started, we didn’t know what we were doing - we were just a bunch of everyday moms who knew that our country could do better. We called ourselves “accidental activists”; we joked about building the airplane as we were flying it. And somehow we’ve grown to become the largest gun violence prevention group in the country. In New York, we sprouted groups in city centers, suburban towns and rural communities. This army of everyday moms didn’t only educate our neighbors - we lobbied our politicians to pass stronger, more effective gun laws. And when our politicians didn’t listen, we organized our neighbors and voted those politicians out. This year, New York passed 9 new gun laws that will surely make our communities safer. 

When I am out talking to constituents, the question I get asked the most is– wait, are you Laura Curran or Laura Gillen? The question I get asked second most is – you aren’t a politician, you’re an ordinary person, how do you expect to get things done? Well, Moms Demand Action was started by ordinary people and is run by ordinary people.  Ordinary people working together, doing what’s right, create extraordinary results.

So what are we seeing halfway through? My opponent is already taking notice of what we can do. After years of not being around, he's suddenly begun sending us a lot of mail and holding town halls. After years of inaction, creating no legislation, just being a reliable vote for the Republican majority, he's suddenly introduced a bill to study elder abuse. After years of doing nothing while our tax assessment situation grew more untenable under Ed Mangano, suddenly he’s there looking out for citizens' rights. And in fact, these are important things, things that he should've done years ago. An elected official should be engaged and effective all the time, not just during campaign season. 

We're doing great things for the people! Just by running, I've gotten new legislation introduced and delivered a more responsive representative!  Imagine how much more will get done when I'm actually in office.

So here we are: Halfway there, he's paying attention because he's worried. The entire entrenched Republican Nassau machine is worried. We see signs of desperation. Flyers like this have started to appear on our doorsteps, filled with misinformation and scary graphics. When they have to resort to scare tactics, it means they know they don't have solid ideas to run on.  

But here’s the hard part: Because they’re worried, the Republicans aren’t just relaxing, assuming they'll win the legislature like they usually do. They see the hard work that so many of the people in this room have been doing - work that elected Laura Gillen and Laura Curran in 2017, and Judy Griffin and every single state senator in Nassau County in 2018. 

They know as well as we do that the Republican machine in Nassau has been losing.  They're desperate to stop that trend. They’re walking door to door, something they rarely did in the past. They're more prepared now, and they're going to be more organized, more focused, and more well-funded in order to defend their last remaining majorities. 

So we fully expect that the second half of this campaign will be harder than the first. We need to double down. We need twice the doors knocked, twice the public appearances, twice the marketing impressions. We've made great progress and now we need to double it. You all understand that the hardest days and weeks are yet to come. So as we begin this second half, here's what I need from all of you: I need more.

I need more money. I need to pay for mailers that will counteract the nastiness being spread by Republican literature. I need more volunteers. I've been knocking on doors every day, and I need all of you to knock on doors too, as often as you can. I need interns. I need phone bankers. I need social media help to spread the word. I need people to host house parties and fundraisers and meet & greets. I need people who will commit to being on my team, who will help me spread this message of ordinary people shaping the future of our extraordinary community.

Lou Holtz - the famous football coach - said it well, "How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser." Well, I'm a winner. There are 70 days left. Let's get to work!