Democratic Congressional Candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley Confident of ‘Blue Wave’ in November
Farmingdale, N.Y. – High hopes pulsated through a thin crowd of Long Island locals as Liuba Grechen Shirley entered the Molloy College auditorium on Friday night. Shirley’s short heeled shoes and solid white dress reflected under fluorescent lights onto worn-out grey tiles, when she walked across the room.
Her right hand took turns waving to the audience and pulling thin blonde strands of hair behind her pale red ears that framed her face. People attending the LGBTQ candidate forum celebrated the moment by swinging pride flags, rainbow ribbons and bright iPhone screens.
Shirley, the Democratic congressional candidate for New York’s 2nd District, which spans from Nassau to Fire Island, waited for the cheers amongst the 56 people attending to die down.
Eventually, nothing but the sounds of rustling paper napkins, muffled coughs and sipping of dark roast coffee from styrofoam cups echoed the large room. Closing the space between her widened smile and the microphone, Shirley narrated her journey into politics as if she were reading a children’s book.
“Many of you have probably heard my story, but I’m going to tell it anyway,” Shirley said before she began to describe her opponent in the election, Rep. Peter T. King, and her disapproval of him.
The 37-year-old Long Island native’s jovial demeanor quickly deteriorated as she talked about King, who has been in office for 25 years. Shirley says King’s campaign rhetoric mirrored Trump’s, which fueled her to run like many so-called “blue wave” hopefuls.
Running as a candidate for Suffolk County, one of the 18 swing districts in all of New York, Shirley believes she has the chance to win over the majority of voters. Just weeks after she began her campaign, Shirley had thousands of followers supporting her on Facebook and Twitter. She won the Democratic primary with a 57 percent vote against her opponent DuWayne Gregory.
Shirley founded the first grassroots group for 2nd District Democrats and launched the #IAmParent campaign for parental leave – a movement that advocates for paid leave for mothers and fathers.
In May, Shirley successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission to use campaign funds to pay for her children’s babysitters while she runs for Congress. Women from other states have filed the same legislation and sent thank you cards to Shirley for inspiring them to juggle both politics and motherhood.
Shirley’s disapproval of King is the backbone of her campaign. Throughout the night, Shirley acted like a concerned mother hen – kind, yet defensive, ruffling her feathers against King.
“Peter King has been in office since I was 12. This is a man who has pretended to be bipartisan for a really long time. A man who openly told everyone on Saturday he doesn’t support marriage equality. He doesn’t support black lives matter. We deserve better,” Shirley said.
Since King entered Congress in 1992, he has advocated for New York’s interests in Washington and promoted his willingness to work with Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which Shirley dismisses as “bipartisan boasting.”
King voted against Trump’s Tax Cut & Jobs Act of 2017, a law that deducted state and local taxes, but took a direct hit at high-tax states like New York. During the 2016 presidential election, he refused to endorse Trump and called him morally unfit to run.
Shirley says these words contradicted King’s actions in 2018 when he tweeted his support for the Muslim ban, missile strikes in Syria and the border wall.
“Peter King actually came to a forum this Saturday after not doing a debate, town hall meeting, or forum in eight years. I once asked him why he avoids debating and he said because it would only diminish democracy,” Shirley said.
The crowd laughed. “I know. That was my reaction too.”
The two candidates debated for the first time together at the Brightwaters town hall on Saturday in Suffolk County.
LGBT Network and Equality Long Island, the non-profit organizations that arranged the candidate forum on Friday, said they invited King. His campaign office, which holds the records of his event calendar, says King was never invited. The office declined to comment on King’s statement at the debate.
Candidates from three out of the four districts on Long Island were present at the forum. Shirley joined Democrat candidate Peter Gershon, running against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R) of the 1st District, and Republican candidate Ameer Benno, running against Rep. Kathleen Rice (D) of the 4th District.
Claire Foyste, a mother to one-year-old Andrew and wife to Abbey Viado, wore a shirt that had the word “love” written six times in each color of the rainbow. As she placed a bib over her shoulder and rocked her baby back and forth, she says Shirley is every she wants for the future of democracy on a local and federal level.
“She just oozes the liberal juice we need right now,” said Foyste.
