Jack Martins

Early life and education

Martins is a first-generation American, born to parents who emigrated from northern Portugal in the 1960s. He was raised in Mineola, graduated from Chaminade High School, received a bachelor's degree in political science from American University in 1988, and a Juris Doctor from St. John's University School of Law in 1991.

Mayor of Mineola

Martins was elected Mayor of the Village of Mineola, New York in 2003. As Mayor, Martins instituted a debt management plan to stabilize the village's finances, facilitated downtown revitalization and economic growth and passed eight consecutive balanced, fiscally-responsible budgets. Martins led the development of the Village's first ever comprehensive master plan which received a Smart Growth Award from Vision Long Island. Martins also enacted policies to increase transparency by allowing Village board meetings to be televised and enabling village documents to be viewed by the public on the Village's website. During his tenure, Martins was named one of Long Island Business News' "Top 40 Under 40."

New York State Senator

Martins won election to the New York State Senate in 2010 as the representative for the Seventh Senate District. As a Senator, Martins supported numerous tax relief measures; he voted for the law creating New York State's property tax cap, voted to cut income taxes for middle class homeowners, voted to repeal the MTA payroll tax for small businesses and schools, and continues to support repealing the tax in its entirety.

He has authored laws reducing busing costs for school districts; creating a truss notification system to improve safety for volunteer firefighters; establishing a new state fund to help homeless veterans; enhancing law enforcement’s ability to investigate opioid prescription fraud; and expanding education provided to children about the dangers of heroin and other illegal drugs.

Martins has repeatedly led Long Island's 31 state legislators in the number of bills sponsored which were ultimately passed by both houses of the State Legislature.

Martins has also been highly critical of the New York State Education Department's implementation of Common Core and called for the resignation of the State's Commissioner of Education for cancelling public forums on the issue with parents and teachers.

In February 2016, Martins and Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel called for new state funding to support a comprehensive groundwater study for Long Island to help protect its drinking water. An expanded version of their proposal was adopted by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Martins has been vocal about urging officials to take action in response to incidents of anti-Semitism against students and faculty on CUNY campuses and has sponsored legislation that would prevent New York from entering into a state contract or investment with those seeking to economically harm Israel or other American allies through boycotts.

Martins currently serves as Chairman of the Senate's Labor Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate's Task Force on Workforce Development, where he was instrumental in developing legislative, budgetary and policy recommendations to connect people with in-demand jobs. He previously chaired the Senate's Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee and the Senate's Local Government Committee. In addition to Chairing the Labor Committee, Martins is currently a member of the following Senate Committees: Finance, Health, Insurance, Transportation, Energy & Telecommunications, Banks, Civil Service & Pensions, Corporations, Authorities & Commissions, and Social Services.

Martins was appointed to serve on the New York State Financial Restructuring Board for local governments, which was tasked with delivering targeted restructuring strategies and long-term solutions to help New York's municipalities under fiscal distress, as well as the New York State Mandate Relief Council, which was created to help reduce costs for local governments and school districts by eliminating or reforming regulations.

Martins is a recipient of the Association for a Better Long Island's 2016 Distinguished Leadership Award and was named one of the 50 Most Influential Long Islanders by the Long Island Press in 2011.

2016 U.S. congressional campaign

Martins ran in the 2016 election to represent New York's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, and received the endorsement of the Republican, Conservative and Independence Parties. Martins was among the first in the country to be named one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns for 2016 Martins was defeated by Democrat Thomas Suozzi in the general election. Suozzi won 53% of the vote to Martins' 47%.

2017 Nassau County Executive Campaign

On April 26, 2017, Jack Martins announced that he would be seeking the position of Nassau County Executive. Martins received the GOP Nomination for County Executive and was uncontested in the primary. Martins is seeking the office that has been held by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano since January 1, 2010. The Republican nominee will be running against the Democratic nominee - a position that both County Legislator Laura Curran and County Comptroller George Maragos both vyed for in the Democratic Nomination. Laura Curran won the Democratic primary on September 12th, 2017. The winner will be decided on a November 7th, 2017 election.

Personal life

Martins is a member of the County Seat Kiwanis Club and the Long Island Portuguese Lions Club. He is a recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award, the Lions Club's highest honor. He was honored as the 2012 Portuguese Man of the Year during Nassau County's first ever public event recognizing the Portuguese Community on Long Island. He and his wife, Paula, have four daughters.

Election results