At age 72 and the record holder for the youngest county executive in Long Island history, Patrick Halpin wants to get back into the fray.

The Point has learned from multiple sources that the longtime fixture in Suffolk politics is finalizing plans with state and national Democratic Party officials about challenging Rep. Andrew Garbarino in CD2, one of the most Republican areas on Long Island.

Halpin, while a member of the state Assembly, beat the incumbent, interim GOP Suffolk County Executive Michael LoGrande, in 1987 amid all the turmoil over the opening of the Shoreham nuclear power plant, taking office just as he turned 35. He lost a second-term bid to Republican Robert J. Gaffney in 1991, moving on to various careers in television and public affairs and serving on the board of the Suffolk County Water Authority. He has lived his entire life in the 2nd Congressional District in the Town of Babylon.

Halpin is telling prospective donors and Democratic operatives that he "can’t sit on the sidelines" any longer. A centrist, Halpin wants to make the case that a Republican Congress is failing to be a check on President Donald Trump.

Halpin, who was seen working the crowd at the "No Kings" protest in Babylon on Saturday, is expected to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in the next few weeks. Unlike Garbarino's two previous challengers, Halpin is expected to have a greater ability to fundraise.

Garbarino won his first term in 2020, replacing long-term Rep. Peter King, and was easily reelected twice since then, winning in 2024 with almost a 20% margin against Rob Lubin, an unknown in the district, which runs along the South Shore from Massapequa to Mastic Beach. Garbarino, who also has served in the Assembly, won by about the same margin in 2022, although the district lines then were different.

Suffolk GOP leader Jesse Garcia said he’s not worried about a Halpin challenge and said that no matter who the Democratic challenger is, Republicans would go deep to mine their past record for the campaign. But Garcia was already quick to recall the "high tax Halpin" moniker that late GOP Brookhaven Town Supervisor Henrietta Acampora gave him in the 1991 county executive race.

"Garbarino is well positioned on the issues, on leadership and finances to be elected," Garcia said.

A spokesman for the Garbarino campaign declined to comment.

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Many young adult Long Islanders moved in with their parents or other family members during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and have continued to do so. Living in multigenerational homes is far from uncommon in the region, so The Point took a closer look at the data to understand what this says about affordability and the state of housing on Long Island.

According to census data from 2023, an estimated 14.3% of all adults on Long Island were between 18 and 34 years of age and lived with their parents in 2023. About 155,058 Nassau residents in the age group, making up 14.5% of the county’s adult population and 58.4% of all 18 to 34-year-olds, were estimated to share living arrangements with a parent who is the head of the household. Similarly, around 167,350 Suffolk 18 to 34-year-olds, or 14.1% of all adults and 54% of Suffolk’s 18 to 34-year-olds, lived in their parents’ homes.

A shared household may include adult children living with their parents or married couples living with a parent. The data counts unmarried students living in on-campus college dorms as being residents of their parents’ households. At a time when the share of first-time homebuyers on Long Island is historically low, the share of 18 to 34-year-olds living separately as a householder or a partner of a householder was 22.6%, or 130,000 individuals.

This trend was more common on Long Island than nationally. A Pew Research Center study estimated the share of young adults living with their parents is at its highest level since the Great Depression era, irrespective of race and ethnicity or geography of residents. Around 52% of young adults in the age group nationally resided with one or both parents since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with 48% in 1940. In 2023 on Long Island, that rate was about 56%.

The study also found that Asian, Black and Hispanic young adults have been more likely than white young adults to live with their parents in the last decade, likely influenced by economic factors including barriers to homeownership, and cultural norms. Additionally, young men are more likely than young women to move back home with their parents, according to the study. Localized data for Long Island was not available.

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