Background: McDonough, 81, is running for his 10th term on the Republican, Conservative, Independent and Reform party lines. He was first elected in a special election in 2002. He is on multiple committees: education, health, consumer affairs, veterans affairs and transportation, where he is the ranking member. He serves as chairman of the Assembly Task Force on Public Safety, which works with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University and then studied theater at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He served in both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Air Force. He ran his own business in credit collections for more than three decades and also founded a theater company in Merrick. He is a past president of the Merrick Chamber of Commerce and also of the Nassau County Council of Chambers of Commerce. He lives in Merrick and has three children.

Issues: Lowering property taxes is a key priority for McDonough, who said that high taxes are driving people out of Long Island and must be addressed. He'd like to see more transparency in government spending and more detailed items in the state budget, so that residents can better understand where their tax dollars are going. Education is another issue that McDonough is focusing on and he was the originator of a bill that would require all schools, not just private schools, to report allegations of child abuse. The bill is now awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature. McDonough opposes using state and federally mandated test performance as a metric to evaluate teacher performance. "We had a terrible problem with the Common Core … we still have to do more for the annual evaluation plan for teachers," McDonough said. He said that he hopes to continue representing the people of his district and cutting through the "red tape" of bureaucracy to "help them in any way that I can."  

Background: Reid, 56, is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women's Equality party lines. Since 2017, he has worked as state Sen. John Brooks' Chief of Staff. Reid received his associates degree in technical theater from Nassau Community College and also studied at SUNY Brockport . He has been a volunteer firefighter since he was 14 years old. He was a paramedic in the New York City hospital system for more than two decades. He is still a paramedic who teaches at Northwell Health and a volunteer firefighter with the Merrick Fire Department. In 1986, he was named firefighter of the year after rescuing four people from a Freeport car fire. He is the immediate past president of the Merrick Kiwanis Club and is a past president of the Nassau Fireman's Association. A resident of Merrick, he is married with three children.

Issues: Reid said that if elected, he is hoping to use his "hands-on experience" to help fight the opioid epidemic and drug addiction. He said that his experience working in health care would provide a "real-world perspective" to discussions up in the state Assembly. "I'd like to give the local community a leg-up on legislation they'd like to see passed in Albany," Reid said. He'd like to see changes to the New York state insurance code to require health insurance policies to cover several months of rehab services. Reid said he also supports legislation to ensure that hospitals and nursing homes are staffed adequately. He would like to pass higher standards for water quality and said that he strongly supports creating an ocean outflow pipe for the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant. He supports red flag gun laws which would ban people determined by a court to have the potential to harm themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a gun.