Ousted Long Island Democrat slams her own party

NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. - Former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat, criticized her own party in a Fox News interview over the weekend.

Curran attributed her election loss to the so-called red wave that swept many Dems out of office on Long Island. She has been highly critical of her party and its progressive policies, even going as far as comparing the Biden administration to "elder abuse."

"[Biden] has a hard time putting a sentence together," she said in an interview. "I think everyone gets nervous listening to him talk, that he's going to mess up."

Political consultant Michael Dawidziak called the ousted county exec's move a rallying cry and said she paid the price for the Democrats who drifted too far to the left on a Washington and Albany level.

"They're clearly heading into the midterm elections in crisis mode and there's no leadership at the top to make the party more successful," Dawidziak said. 

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But Jay Jacobs disagrees. The Democratic chair of New York state and Nassau County said he believes the party is going to come back strong. While he wasn't surprised by Curran's tone, he called what she said inappropriate.

"I don't think the voters really voted against Laura Curran particularly in this election," he said. "I think they stayed home."

Jacobs is also hoping to convince Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi into staying where he is instead of challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary. Jacobs said Suozzi's campaign would ultimately give Republicans a chance to take a swing seat they've been vying for.

While there are more Democrats than Republicans across Long Island, experts say it is a meaningless statistic if they don't turn out to vote.