Tight races in some Nassau legislative districts, Suffolk comptroller

Republicans in the Nassau County Legislature sought to fend off strong Democratic challenges in several districts Tuesday while the Suffolk County comptroller race remained too close to call late Tuesday.

Initial results shortly before 11 p.m. showed Democrats making ground in several county legislature races compared to a year ago but it was unclear if any seats would flip. Democratic incumbents held an initial lead in seven districts and in the 16th District where the incumbent did not seek reelection, according to unofficial results from the Nassau Board of Elections.

At least five other districts with Republican incumbents were showing tight races based on the initial numbers as the GOP sought to maintain its 11 to 8 majority. Incumbent Republican Patrick Mullaney (R-Long Beach) was narrowly leading in his race against Democratic challenger Michael J. Pentola in the 4th District while Democratic challenger Juleigh Chin held a slim advantage over incumbent Republican Scott P. Strauss (R-Mineola) in the 9th District.

Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), the legislature's minority leader, said at Democratic headquarters in New Hyde Park that she was “cautiously” optimistic for the party after early results show promising returns both nationally and locally.

“I thought [Bruce] Blakeman would come in stronger in Nassau County,” she said, shortly after the Republican candidate lost his race for governor. “The numbers I’m hearing are giving me a little bit more assurance and it’s a possibility of a blue wave in Nassau."

Nassau Presiding Officer Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence), who was leading in his reelection bid, said he was optimistic about Republican performance in the county’s legislative races but hadn't seen all the numbers.

In Suffolk, the comptroller race was shaping up to be extremely tight Tuesday night. Republican Daniel Losquadro, the Brookhaven highway superintendent, held a narrow lead over Democrat Jon Estreich, an attorney, for the fiscal watchdog position. Republican John Kennedy, the current comptroller, was term-limited after 12 years.

The first batch of results had showed Estreich ahead, but GOP chairman Jesse Garcia urged supporters at the Republican party in Patchogue not to panic when they saw the early voting, noting they may skew Democratic. He said Suffolk would serve as a red wall against a blue wave.

Losquadro, 54, campaigned on reducing the county's debt load and working with the county executive to improve Suffolk's bond ratings, while Estreich, 47, said he pledged to fight corruption and scrutinize spending at both the county and town levels. The comptroller serves four years.

The only other countywide Suffolk race, aside from judicial contests, was for county clerk, where incumbent Vincent Puleo, a Republican, was the lone candidate on the ballot. The county clerk serves four years.

Two challengers mounted write-in campaigns to challenge Puleo. Abigail Field, a Democrat, and Christian Padgett, a Libertarian, both said they were campaigning to give voters a choice after the Suffolk Democratic Committee did not get a candidate on the ballot. Initial results showed Puleo with a sizeable advantage over all the combined write-in candidates. 

The clerk and comptroller positions both became the subjects of a firestorm this summer for Democrats in Suffolk. Newsday reported that both Estreich and the county clerk candidate, Anthony Portesy, faced pressure to withdraw from their races from the top of the party led by chairman Rich Schaffer. The decision to exert that pressure was part of what some committee members had said was a long-standing practice by Schaffer to make deals with the Republican and Conservative parties.

While Estreich vowed to remain in the race, Portesy, an attorney who was the chair of the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee, abandoned his campaign in August.

Puleo, 72, who served Smithtown clerk for 16 years, was first elected to the county clerk position in 2022. The typically low-key position, which handles responsibilities such as managing mortgages and deeds records, business certificates and Supreme Court minutes, was thrust into a larger spotlight when Democrats appeared to give up the race, only for a last-minute write-in campaign to emerge.

Puleo made headlines earlier this year when Newsday reported he owned a strip mall where a foot spa business had indicators of sexual services. Puleo denied any knowledge of illicit activity and said he was terminating the spa’s lease following Newsday’s reporting.

All the seats for Nassau's legislature were up again this year due to the New York State even-year election law, which shifted local elections that had been held on odd years. Nassau Democrats picked up one seat last year and all the incumbents ran again except in the 16th district where longtime Democratic legislator Arnold Drucker decided to not seek reelection in February. The district covers Jericho, Plainview, parts of Woodbury, Old Bethpage and Farmingdale.

Nassau Democrats backed Jared Behr, 41, an attorney, while Republicans countered with Olivia Pfeifer, 22, a full-time student at Strayer University. She was the youngest candidate in the field of legislators.

Republican candidate Anthony Capone, 32, who was challenging incumbent Democrat Cynthia Nuñez in the 14th District, made headlines throughout the campaign when Newsday reported he had been arrested twice for misdemeanor assault over the last 12 years. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges in both cases. Newsday also reported this summer that Capone’s campaign Facebook page had once included derogatory comments about Black people and women. The comments were written when he was in high school.

Nuñez was leading against Capone based on early results.

In Suffolk, legislators did not have to run again after voters approved a referendum last November to extend the length of terms from two to four years. The referendum was in response to the even-year election law and allowed the lawmakers to avoid running in consecutive years.

The Suffolk Legislature unanimously approved legislation called the Term Limit Preservation Act to set the referendum. Schaffer had said immediately after the election he thought the referendum will "be found unconstitutional." The committee considered litigation to challenge the result but decided against it, allowing the four-year term to take effect.

Suffolk legislators will run again in 2028 in accordance with the even-year election law.

Neither Nassau nor Suffolk has a county executive race at the top of the ticket this year. The Nassau county executive race was last year and Suffolk will be contested next year.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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