DeStefano, Slaughter Square Off in Third District

Voters in the Third Assembly District will choose between four-term Republican incumbent Joseph DeStefano and Democratic challenger Josh Slaughter, two candidates with deep Suffolk County roots but different approaches to Albany.

DeStefano, running on the Republican and Conservative lines, was first elected in 2018 after a career centered on emergency services and public safety. A Patchogue-Medford High School graduate, he served 27 years as a Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office public safety communications supervisor and spent decades with the Medford Fire Department and Medford Volunteer Ambulance. He retired as a Medford Fire District commissioner after 30 years at the end of 2025.

The incumbent is campaigning on affordability, public safety and local control. He favors cutting taxes and state spending, rolling back costly energy mandates, supporting law enforcement and strengthening penalties for repeat violent offenders. DeStefano also supports natural gas as part of the state’s energy mix and argues that more decisions involving schools and public safety should remain with local communities.

Slaughter, running on the Democratic and Working Families lines, is a lifelong Suffolk County resident who has lived in Shirley for 17 years. A Patchogue-Medford graduate, he was chief of staff to former Suffolk Legislator Kate Browning and is Long Island political director for the Laborers Local 66.

Slaughter recently took heat for offering members of his union $50 for four hours of work on his campaign, payments that fall below minimum wage. He highlights a union program that provides training to high school students and offers them union membership upon graduation. He notes his work with Browning on preliminary work for the Forge River Watershed Sewer Project.

The Third District encompasses the Brookhaven communities of Bellport, Brookhaven, North Patchogue, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Medford, Middle Island, Ridge, Shirley and Yaphank.