Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls are picking up the pace of their appearances on Long Island, where they’re trying to shore up voters ahead of the New York primaries next week.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has three events in Nassau and Suffolk counties scheduled for Monday, GOP front-runner Donald Trump will speak at a fundraiser later this week on LI, and Heidi Cruz, the wife of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), is slated to host three public events on the Island also on Monday.
Clinton is set to headline the Suffolk County Democratic Committee Spring Dinner at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook on Monday night after another campaign event the same day at Timber Lake, a Glen Cove-based camp rub by Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs. She’s also scheduled to have a “Conversation on Gun Violence Prevention” with U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) at Landmark Theater in Port Washington.
Trump, who held a rally that drew an estimated 12,000 people at Grumman Studios in Bethpage last week, is slated to appear at a Suffolk County Republican Committee fundraiser at The Emporium, a concert venue in Patchogue, which can hold about 1,000 people, on Thursday evening.
Although Cruz hasn’t scheduled any events on LI himself, his wife is listed in his campaign’s official schedule as making public meet-and-greet appearances at his Long Island campaign offices in Mineola and Melville as well as at Connect Church in Bellmore on Monday afternoon.
The third-place Republican candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was the first presidential candidate this cycle to tour the Island when he delivered a speech to supporters last week at The Paramount, a concert venue in Huntington.
The only one of the five remaining candidates who has neither made an appearance nor scheduled an event in Nassau and Suffolk yet is Clinton’s Democratic primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has appeared at a Coney Island rally in Brooklyn.
Sanders and Clinton are scheduled to hold a televised debate in New York City on Thursday. Primary voters cast their ballots on Tuesday, April 19.
