Republicans Like Amos Goodman for County Legislator

Amos Goodman, a financial consultant who lives in Springs, has announced his intention to run for Suffolk County's Second Legislative District on the Republican ticket, and appears to have strong support from the Suffolk County Republican leadership as well as the East Hampton G.O.P. With the announcement, Mr. Goodman becomes Long Island's first gay Republican candidate for county legislator.

Mr. Goodman will campaign to succeed Legislator Jay Schneiderman of Montauk, who, because of term limits, cannot run again. The Democratic Party has not yet announced a candidate for the race. The Second District includes all of East Hampton, Southampton, and Shelter Island, and a portion of Brookhaven.

"People are not quite aware of how much money is being taken from sales tax, from other kinds of taxes, and in my view not spent well," Mr. Goodman, who is 31, said on Monday. "The East End towns are already subsidizing a lot of Suffolk County in terms of paying a lot more in than we're getting back. My concern is, with some of the priorities and lack of leadership at the county level, that's only going to get worse and will make the climate for businesses out here worse. That will drive more people away. . . . People who have lived here their entire lives can't afford to stay here in retirement. That's a real shame. That's the death of a community. There' s a role the county can play in that, and I want to be a part of that."

In 2013, Mr. Goodman established a political action committee called Forward Long Island. He was previously a senior associate of the Cohen Group, a consulting firm founded by William Cohen, a former United States senator and representative who served as secretary of defense under President Bill Clinton. From 2007 to 2008, he was a fellow at the Project on National Security Reform, a nonpartisan organization formed to update the U.S. national security system to better address post-Cold War global security conditions.

He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and earned a master's degree in national security studies at Georgetown University. Locally, he is a member of the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee and the Maidstone Gun Club, among other organizations.

Mr. Goodman's announcement included statements of support from Tom Knobel and William Wright, the Republican Party chairmen of East Hampton and Southampton, respectively. He will also seek cross-party endorsements on the Conservative and Independence Party lines, and is prepared to spend upward of $200,000 in the campaign, according to his statement.

The East Hampton Town Republican Committee is scheduled to screen candidates on Wednesday at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett. "This is not yet the designated candidate," Mr. Knobel said of Mr. Goodman on Monday. "That won't be until late May. However, obviously we're high on him -- he's a very, very intelligent, very capable fellow. If somebody of his caliber comes along to screen in addition, that would just make it even better."

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Correction: The article that first appeared online incorrectly reported that Mr. Goodman is Long Island's first gay Republican candidate. He is not.