Republicans Paint Suffolk Red

Living up to their promise of a “Red November,” Suffolk Republicans notched major wins in last week’s elections, taking control of the county executive’s seat for the first time in two decades and cementing their majority in the Suffolk Legislature. They swept incumbents back into nearly every town office and maintained their hold on the Brookhaven Town Board.

Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine’s nailing down the county’s top spot with his 57-43% win over challenger Dave Calone was election night’s biggest news, capping a campaign season that went decidedly negative as the Democrat looked to tear down his opponent with millions in advertising funded by out-of-state donors. Romaine fended off the attacks for a four-year term, sticking to a message of fighting crime, protecting the environment, and restoring the county to financial health after 20 years of Democrat mismanagement.

The GOP picked up a seat in the legislature, upping their majority to 12-6, by taking two positions formerly held by Democrats and losing one. In the 1st District, Katherine Stark beat out Katherine Kent for the post held by Al Krupski, who won his bid for Southold supervisor. Chad Lennon wrestled the 6th District seat from Legislator Sarah Anker’s chief of staff, Dorothy Cavalier, for the two-year seat. GOP Legislator Manuel Esteban, looking to win a second term in the 16th, lost to Rebecca Sanin. Republican hopes of turning the 5th District red with Anthony Figliola after the departure of Legislator Kara Hahn were dashed by former Assemblyman Steve Englebright, who rose up from the political ashes to take the seat he once held 30 years ago.

GOP Legislator Dominick Thorne, who stunned the political world two years ago by taking a long-held Democrat seat in the 7th, staved off a challenge by Ryan McGarry. Republican hopeful Manny Vilar was unable to capture lightning in a bottle in the heavily Democrat 2nd District for the seat held by Democrat Bridget Fleming, losing to Democrat Ann Welker. The legislature’s presiding officer, Kevin McCaffrey, was swept back in, as were GOP incumbents Trish Bergin, Stephanie Bontempi, Nick Caracappa, Steven J. Flotteron, Leslie Kennedy, James Mazzarella, Anthony Piccirillo, and Robert Trotta. The legislature’s Democrat minority leader, Jason Richberg, handily won his reelection, as did Samuel Gonzales and Tom Donnelly. All of the legislators are subject to serving six two-year terms.

Brookhaven Councilman Daniel Panico kept Supervisor Romaine’s seat in the red column by beating Lillian Clayman, while his 6th District vacancy went to Republican Karen Dunne Kesnig. GOP town council incumbents Jane Bonner, Neil Foley, Neil Manzella, and Michael Loguercio were voted back in, as were Highway Superintendent Daniel Losquadro and Receiver of Taxes Louis Marcoccia. Councilman John Kornreich, the only Democrat on the town board, held off challenger Gary Bodenberg for another four-year term. Securing 61.94% of the vote, Panico nearly got the same result as Romaine–and the same amount of ballots–when he stood for reelection as town supervisor in 2019. Dunne, the only non-incumbent elected to the town board, led all candidates by securing 68% of the vote, with Councilman Foley the second highest at 66%. All of the town’s elected officials hold four-year seats and are limited to three terms. Running townwide, Steven Weissbard defeated Democrat Cynthia Vargas for a 6th District judgeship.

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In his bid for county executive, Romaine picked up 158,452 votes to Calone’s 119,052, a little over 3,000 more than Steve Bellone received in 2019 when he defeated Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy for the county’s top seat. Romaine nailed down 29,492 Conservative votes, 10.6% of his plurality. All of the successful GOP candidates for the legislature won head-to-head against their opponents without the Conservative line, except for Stark, Thorne, and Stephanie Bontempi, who needed the support of the second party to put them over the top. Tom Donnelly, the only Democrat endorsed by the Conservatives, won head-to-head against his Republican opponent. In the six races they won, the Democrat candidates would have prevailed without the extra votes from the Working Families line, a party that was called out during the election for its pro-criminal stance and support of open borders. In Brookhaven, all of the GOP candidates skated through on the strength of the Republican line. There are approximately one million voters in Suffolk with about the same amount, 27%, turning out in the last few countywide elections.

Over in Smithtown, Republican town council incumbents Lisa Inzerillo and Thomas Lohmann won their bids for reelection, as did Receiver of Taxes Deanna Varricchio and Clerk Thomas McCarthy. All four of the state Supreme Court candidates ran unopposed, with the top candidate netting considerably fewer votes countywide than Romaine.

With Romaine’s victory, the Republicans hold all of the countywide seats in both Suffolk and Nassau, including district attorney, clerk, and comptroller. The state, however, remains firmly in Democrat hands, primarily on their strength in New York City and other urban areas. Teaming up with his Nassau counterpart, Bruce Blakeman, and forming a coalition of Suffolk’s 10 town supervisors to secure state and federal monies for infrastructure improvements and environmental initiatives was a major part of Romaine’s campaign plank.

The two referendums on the ballot passed–one giving small city schools the same debt limits as larger districts and the other removing debt limits on municipalities for sewer construction.

*Editor’s Note: All figures based on unofficial voter returns from the Suffolk Board of Elections.