State Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford) will not seek re-election in New York State’s 8th Senate District, which he represented for six years, due to redistricting, he announced on Tuesday.
Only a sliver of the previous 8th district is included in the redrawn map after a court-appointed special master from Steuben County released the new map Friday. It was quickly approved by Judge Patrick McAllister.
“The new district map provided for the district where I live and my family has resided since before the founding of the United States was clearly created by someone with no understanding of Long Island,” Brooks said in a statement.
District 8 previously encompassed mainly South Shore Nassau County and a small part of western South Shore Suffolk County – from Baldwin to Copiague. According to an interactive map of the new and old districts, just 26.72% of the previous Senate District 8 will be part of the new one, which now extends further into Suffolk and loses most of its Nassau communities.
Brooks’ main gripe with the “misguided” new maps is that it splits up smaller coastal communities, such as Seaford, that have similar interests and concerns.
“Although I will not seek re-election, I hope that the good work we have done will continue, and I will do all I can to support that work in whatever comes next,” he said.
Brooks’ retirement was met with disappointment from Nassau County Democratic Committee Chair Jay Jacobs.
“[Brooks] is one of the members of the Senate who dives deep into policies and issues and genuinely cares about his community,” Jacobs said. “I will miss working with him and Long Island will miss his expertise, commitment, passion and advocacy.”
So far state senators in neighboring districts, including State Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Levittown), who represents Senate District 6, will still run in their newly redrawn districts. It is unclear who the new Democratic candidate will be for Senate District 8.
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