Anker, 53, of Mount Sinai, is running on the Democratic, Independence, Working Families and Women’s Equality party lines. She won a special election for the legislative seat in 2011 and has been on the board since. A former school board member, she is now chair of the legislature’s Education and Information Technology committee, and sits on the Veterans and Seniors committee and the Environment, Planning, and Agricultural committee. Anker received her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Saint Leo’s University, and is pursuing a master’s degree at the New York Institute of Technology. She has three daughters.

The top issues, Ankler said, are the county’s finances and the continuing opioid epidemic. She said the county can increase sales tax revenue by encouraging local business growth. She is working to have the county purchase a long-shuttered former Kmart site in Middle Island to convert it into ballfields, which would be surrounded by new shopping. In Rocky Point, she continues to push for “rails-to-trails,” to turn former right of way into walking paths and help revitalize the downtown. “I believe we can grow the economy by supporting local businesses and revitalization that will help the economy, and improve quality of life,” she said. She said she has written dozens of letters to the New York State Department of Transportation to get them to improve safety on Route 25 and 25A in her district. She also sponsored legislation this year to create a permanent task force on opiates and heroin. It will look at recommendations from a 2010 task force that have never been implemented, and come up with new ones.

Pollakusky, 41, is running on the Republican, Conservative and Reform party lines. He was campaign manager two years ago for Republican Steven Tricario when Tricario lost the election for the 6th District seat by just 16 votes. Born and raised in Nassau, he moved from Long Beach to Rocky Point after superstorm Sandy. He got a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. After graduation, he worked in human resources for a number of companies and was assistant admissions director at Columbia Business School. In 2002, he started his own marketing and communication firm, Media Barrel, and later a travel firm, Travel Barrel. Locally, he founded and is president of the North Shore Community Association and is a board member of the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency.

Pollakusky said the county is in the worst fiscal condition ever, with more than $2.1 billion in debt. If elected, he would work to have the county “live within its means, cut wasteful spending and expand the tax base by growing the economy.” He said the county “must renegotiate union contracts, stop funding unneeded projects . . . make Suffolk a friendlier place for business.” He also called Democrats’ efforts to battle the opioid epidemic and gang violence “woefully inadequate.” He said he would suspend the red-light camera program, which he criticized for increasing accidents at some locations. As a member of the town IDA board, he said he has helped bring in 11 projects with $500 million in new investment and a potential for 2,000 jobs. He said fighting against fee and tax increases would help bring and retain young professionals on Long Island.