Ahmad, 60, of Salisbury, is running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence, Reform and Tax Revolt Party lines. She has served as Hempstead Town clerk since she was appointed to the position in September 2013; she won a full term that November. Ahmad has an associate degree in environmental sciences from Canterbury College in England. She was born in Uganda and was raised in the United Kingdom, before moving to Long Island in 1985. She also speaks Swahili, Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi. After a career in banking, she started working for Hempstead Town in 1998, beginning as a part-time employee in the clerk’s office and rising to the full-time position of supervisor of the office’s administrative section. Ahmad is a former middle school PTA vice president in the East Meadow School District. She is married and has three adult children.

Ahmad said she has extended the town clerk’s office hours on Thursdays to better serve residents who work during the day. She said she also staggers staff shifts so they don’t work overtime for the additional hours. She said her office has increased the town’s transparency by putting documents online. “It’s easier for people to sit at home and download whatever forms they can,” she said. Ahmad said she is working to streamline payment of town fees online so residents won’t need to go to Town Hall to pay for parking permits, dog licenses and other items. She said she has reduced the budget for the clerk’s office and cross-trained her staff on various duties.

Cabana, 50, of Garden City, is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality party lines. Cabana practices immigration law in New York City and has an office in West Hempstead. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Barnard College and a law degree from Hofstra University. In 2015, she ran unsuccessfully for the Nassau County Legislature’s 14th District. She is secretary for the Nassau Women’s Democratic Caucus and vice president of Indivisible for Democracy in Garden City. Cabana is also a member of the Garden City Parent-Teacher Association and the Garden City Special Education Parent-Teacher Association. She was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Garden City. She is married, with two children.

Cabana said she wants to bring further transparency to the Hempstead Town clerk’s office. She said she wants documents to be translated into additional languages and hopes, if elected, to expand the town’s translation services program. She said she would make sure that town documents posted online would be easily searchable and “as open to the public as possible” and make it a “much more open and accessible system.” Cabana, who is fluent in Spanish, also said she’s interested in doing more community outreach and customer service programs through the clerk’s office. “There’s a lot of people that need help and sometimes they don’t know where to go to find the information,” she said. “People need to know where to get vital services.” She said she would also start a mentoring program for children in low-income neighborhoods.