Montesano, Meng to face off in 15th A.D.

Republican Michael Montesano and Democrat Matthew Meng have filed for candidacy in the race to fill the vacancy in the state’s 15th Assembly District.

A special election for the seat will be held on Feb. 9.

Rob Walker, a Republican from Hicksville, left the Assembly to become the deputy county executive under Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. Walker was first elected to the Assembly in 2005.

The winner of the Feb. 9 special election would serve the final year of Walker’s two-year term.

The 15th Assembly District includes portions of East Meadow, Salisbury and Hicksville, among other areas on the North Shore and in central Nassau County.

Montesano, 55, of Glen Head, lost in November to Democratic Minority Leader Diane Yatauro in his bid for a seat on the Nassau County Legislature. Montesano, who runs a private law firm in Glen Cove, is a former school board member for the North Shore School District and most recently was the acting village justice in the village of Roslyn Harbor.

Meng, 57, is civic leader and environmentalist from East Norwich. He is active in several organizations and owns an automobile repair shop in Huntington. Meng unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Town of Oyster Bay council this November, and lost to Republican state Senator Carl Marcellino in 2008.

Read the Herald for more on these candidates and for full coverage of the 15th Assembly District special election.