Mike Rakebrandt

MIKE RAKEBRANDT

REPUBLICAN

BACKGROUND: Rakebrandt, 48, is a Brooklyn native who lives in Holbrook. After serving in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, he joined the NYPD in 2007, becoming a member of the detective bureau in 2013. He retired from the department in July. He has never held elective office.

ISSUES: Rakebrandt has sought to make the certification of the 2020 presidential election an issue, criticizing incumbent Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) for not backing former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Rakebrandt says he supports elimination of all mail-in voting and backs requirements for submit identification at polling sites. He supports Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and opposed President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan. He opposes abortion rights, wants to build a wall along the U.S. southern border and opposes “all health mandates.” He says he favors giving parents school choice and a policy of “money follows the child,” which would entail public funds going more easily to private schools. He says schools should be required to teach “basic American civics.”