Solomon quits Assembly race

Long Beach attorney Robert Solomon announced this week that he was no longer seeking State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg’s seat, narrowing the field of Democratic candidates for the Sept. 9 Democratic primary to City Councilman Anthony Eramo and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Kaminsky.

Weisenberg, 80, announced last month that he would not seek another term after representing the 20th District for 25 years, and would vacate his Assembly seat in December.

Solomon, 56, of Lido Beach, was the Long Beach Democratic Committee’s choice to replace Weisenberg. He cited personal reasons for dropping out, even though, he said, his campaign had gathered more than enough signatures for him to qualify for the primary ballot and had numerous commitments of financial support.

“It’s a personal reason, and I have a little health issue which will be resolved, and I’ll be fine,” Solomon said. “But I wanted to concentrate on that and not be in the race. I really didn’t want to divide the party, and I think it’s going to be a tough enough race in November. I didn’t want to start taking money from everybody if I wasn’t going to be up to it. We really did have an outpouring of support, and I was going to have a lot of petitions signed and money committed until this thing happened.”

Meanwhile, Lawrence school board Trustee Asher Mansdorf, who had mulled an Assembly run but officially entered the race only last week, has also reportedly pulled out and is supporting Kaminsky. Mansdorf did not return a call seeking comment.

Solomon’s announcement came just days before Kaminsky formally launched his campaign on Monday at the Park Sports Bar & Grill, where more than 200 supporters turned out and raised more than $20,000, according to Evan Thies, a spokesman for the campaign.

Kaminsky, who grew up in Long Beach, announced that he would run on April 29, a day after Weisenberg said he would not seek re-election.

In order to appear on the primary ballot, a candidate must gather 500 signatures of registered Democrats. To date, Thies said, Kaminsky — who was endorsed by both the Nassau County Democratic Committee and Weisenberg — has raised more than $150,000 and has gathered more than 3,000 signatures.