Slaughter, 34, making his first try at elected office, is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality party lines. Slaughter graduated from the University at Albany with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He has lived for the past decade in Shirley, where he has worked as a legislative aide for term-limited Legis. Kate Browning. As an aide to Browning, he chaired a county committee to develop a master plan for Yaphank, served as a committee member making recommendations on funding the rebuilding of the Mastic-Shirley area to make it more resilient in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

Slaughter says he wants to continue in Browning’s footsteps, improving the local quality of life by combating blight, substandard housing and the opioid epidemic. He said he has already worked in the office to help remedy or shut down 300 dilapidated homes. As a lawmaker, he would work to increase Suffolk’s investment in the county land bank to restore homes and put first-time home buyers into the community. He also said he will push to move forward with the $188 million sewer district for 2,000 homes and 200 local commercial properties. “I’m the best person to get it done since I’ve been working on it since its infancy,” he said.

Rudolph Sunderman, making his first run for the county legislature, has the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform party lines. Sunderman, 48, of Mastic, graduated from William Floyd High School and has been district manager of the Centereach Fire District for eight years. A volunteer firefighter for 35 years, he served five years as chief of the Mastic Fire Department, then was elected to two five-year terms as a fire district commissioner. For the past three years, he returned to the post of fire chief. He also is an instructor at the Suffolk Fire Academy. He is married and has four children.

Sunderman says the next legislator has to be more concerned about people, not politics. He said quality of life, addressing the opioid epidemic and reducing zombie homes have to be the priorities. He said the county has to have a balanced budget. As a fire commissioner, he said, he reduced district taxes by 23 percent by “rolling up our sleeves and looking at expenses.” He said a sewer district is important for the future of local waterways. Sunderman said the county has to reduce crime by putting more police on the street. “Making people feel safer in the 3rd District is what it’s all about,” he said.