Village of Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald (D) said she met with Israel last week in Washington. McCarthy and McDonald were both wives of gun-violence victims — McCarthy’s husband, Dennis, was shot to death by Colin Ferguson in the LIRR massacre, and McDonald’s husband, Steven, a former NYPD officer, was shot three times while on duty in 1986 in Central Park, leaving him paralyzed. In 1993, McCarthy and McDonald helped to launch New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, a non-profit that aims to strengthen and ensure enforcement of gun safety laws statewide.

“I have the utmost respect for Carolyn and what she’s done for serving in government all these years,” McDonald said. “I respect what she did for New York and Nassau County.”

McDonald stressed that she has not so far made plans to run for Congress, but said she has much she is considering about how she could best serve the public.

In a statement, Rice spokesman Eric Phillips said Rice is taking “a hard look at the race and will decide in the near future whether or not she believes she can better serve the public in the district attorney’s office, or fighting for the district in Congress.”

In response to an audience member’s question, Denenberg said at a recent North Merrick civic meeting that he would likely run for Congress or state Senate. The Senate’s 8th District seat is vacant, after former Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) retired from office at the end of last year.

Abrahams spokesman Jeff Guillot said Abrahams is “actively consulting with friends and advisers, and he continues to explore the opportunity in earnest.”

Ian Prior, the northeastern regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Anthony Santino, a Town of Hempstead councilman and spokesman for the Nassau County Republican Committee, both declined to discuss specific potential Republican candidates, but they asserted that the party has many strong possible candidates and has an excellent chance of capturing the seat from Democratic control.

Francis Becker, a Republican Nassau County legislator from Lynbrook who ran against McCarthy and lost in 2010 and 2012, said he is “very interested in running again.”