Jimmy Dahroug takes his mother’s advice seriously.

So when she suggested that he run for New York State Senate earlier this fall, the 24-year-old Graduate School of Education (GSE) student actually took her up on it.

Now the presumptive Democratic candidate for his local seat, Dahroug is about to begin what he admits is an “uphill” campaign against incumbent Republican Caesar Trunzo, who has held the office for the past 32 of his 77 years.

“I’m just going to try to meet each and every one [of my constituents] that I can,” Dahroug said, referring to the approximately 300,000 residents of the 3rd Senate District in southern Suffolk County, on Long Island.

Behind his candidacy, Dahroug says, is his desire to reform school financing and improve the quality and consistency of public education in his district—without reallocating funds directly from wealthier to poorer districts.

“I can’t see myself being a parent and not voting for Jimmy,” said Ian M. Martinez, a lifelong friend who is aiding Dahroug in his campaign.

Dahroug did not originally intend to run. In the fall, he contacted the Suffolk County Democratic Committee to recommend a friend for the candidacy. When the friend proved uninterested, Dahroug’s mother persuaded him to submit his own name instead.

Although he is young, Dahroug is not the youngest to seek the 3rd District Seat. In the 2002 election, a 19-year-old ran a “shoestring campaign” as the Democratic candidate and garnered 33 percent of the vote to Trunzo’s 64 percent.

Dahroug’s campaign is still in its infancy. He says his website—which a friend is making and he thinks will be located at either jimmyforsenate.com or jimmydahroug.com—should be up in a couple of weeks.

Trunzo has “three times the age, three times the bank account and three times the political history,” said Martinez. But “Jimmy has three times the common sense and 10 times the energy.”

Dahroug said he has received an outpouring of support from family, friends and even his old teachers.

“It’s exciting,” Dahroug said of the opportunity to marshal all the friends who have volunteered for his campaign, which will begin in full when Dahroug receives his masters in administration, planning and policy from the GSE on June 10.

Dahroug’s focus on education finance comes after a New York State Court of Appeals ruling requiring the state government to provide better funding for poor school districts despite a statewide budget crisis.

“The unique part of the decision is that it doesn’t call for a standard of equity, it calls for a standard of adequacy,” said Dahroug, who opposes what he calls “Robin Hood plans” to transfer funds from wealthier to poorer districts.

“My priorities are, it’s got to be a long-term phase-in plan,” he said, adding that it should also be “transparent” and have a “simpler formula.”