Community Corner

Frank Scaturro's Starting Early with Fundraising

Because campaigns are so expensive, Scaturro is beginning now for his 2012 congressional run.

Frank Scaturro, who is running for the Congressional seat currently occupied by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-Mineola, began fundraising Wednesday night in Rockville Centre for the 2012 election, one of the earliest starts in Nassau County's history, Scaturro said.

The early start is because campaigns cost more than ever, Scaturro explained. The last time that he ran for office about a year ago, he raised $400,000 from 1,500 donors. Scaturro pointed to others who were able to raise much more from fewer people. Lots of people give modest donations to Scaturro's campaign, which he takes as a sign of everyday people really wanting to see a better government.

During his speech in Churchill's restaurant's outdoor area, Scaturro explained that he fell in love with American history when he was seven years old after his parents bought an encyclopedia set. His political side flared up while attending Chaminade High School in Mineola when he joined the New Hyde Park Republican group. While in college at Columbia University, he was involved in a whistle-blower report on Grant's tomb and helped to clean that up.

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If elected into office, Scaturro would like to cut or eliminate the capital gains tax, have a moratorium on earmarks, set up a de-appropriations committee and work on medicare and Social Security reform, to name a few things.

One of McCarthy's big issues has been gun safety. Scaturro believes in the constitutional right to bear arms and that people have the right to have something for their self defense. He understands though that the general public doesn't need machine guns that could cause a lot of damage and is sensitive to gun safety after having been robbed at gunpoint recently.

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Tom Clifford of Floral Park attended the fundraising kickoff and followed Scaturro's last campaign in part because he knew Scaturro's parents.

"He's taking that extra step to help change the government," Clifford said. "When he speaks, he has a kind of grassroots approach and he's more honest ... He will represent us well."

During Scaturro's speech, he mentioned that young people need to feel more inspired to become involved in the government and that he would like to be part of that if elected. One young person who has already been inspired by Scaturro is Bryan Barnes of Garden City.

Barnes met Scaturro when he was a first-year law student at Hofstra University two years ago. Since then, he said he considers Scaturro a "close friend" who "demonstrates to me the hope that you don't have to be an old-time politician to affect change."

Barnes feels that McCarthy takes her government position for granted and that Scaturro will "really represent the district because he really cares."

"We need leaders, not placeholders," Barnes said.


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