Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Lisa Vider, a 48-year-old Hewlett resident, business owner, health care administrator, wife and mother of three, is challenging Republican State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick for the 9th Senate District seat, emphasizing affordable health care, affordability and combating antisemitism.
Vider, a Democrat and an Orthodox Jewish woman, said that years of advocating for her community and working in health care prompted her to seek the office. She recalled meeting with an Albany lawmaker who told her that being in the minority limited what he could accomplish.
“I was frustrated,” she said. “I looked around in my community, and I realized that I’m being represented by two people in the minority, both in the Assembly and the Senate.”
Vider said she believes he believes the district needs a stronger voice in Albany who can bring state resources back to Long Island. “I just felt it was the time now to do something,” she said. “That’s why I decided to do what I’m doing and run for office.”
Affordable health care is one of Vider’s central campaign issues. Drawing on her professional experience, she said the state needs to make health care easier to understand and less expensive for families. “People shouldn’t have to choose between paying their bills and putting food on the table,” she said. “Health care is expensive. We need to make it more affordable.”
Vider said she would seek greater competition among health insurers and fewer regulations, which she believes drive up costs. “We need to open up the state lines to bring more competition, so families can have alternatives to getting health care,” she said.
She also emphasized the challenges seniors face navigating the health care system. “A senior shouldn’t have to have a degree to be able to maneuver it,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to be in health care for 30 years to comprehend” the system.
Affordability, more broadly, is another of her major priorities. Vider said that residents need relief from the costs of property taxes and other expenses, while communities need additional state funding. “We need to make things more affordable,” she said. “We need resources coming from the state.”
Vider said she wants to bring additional funding to the district for schools, roads, libraries, police and first responders. “Other areas have advocates that are bringing money to the schools, for the roads, for the police, for the first responders,” she said. “We need a voice in Albany to do that.”
Public safety is also important to Vider. “Our police and our first responders need their supplies,” she said. “They need to have support.”
Combating antisemitism and other forms of hate is Vider’s third major campaign priority. Education, she said, should begin with children, including teaching them how to recognize and report hateful content online and in schools.
“There’s so much antisemitism and so much hate across all communities,” she said. “We need to educate.”
Bringing communities together, she added, could help combat hatred and division. “At the end of the day, we all want the same things,” she said. “We want to be safe. We want to raise our children. We want to be able to afford to live in our homes.”
