Write-in candidates challenge Suffolk County Clerk Vincent Puleo for the sake of choice

Two candidates have launched write-in campaigns to challenge incumbent Suffolk County Clerk Vincent Puleo after Suffolk Democrats abandoned the race this summer.

Abigail Field, 56, of Cutchogue, a registered Democrat, and Christian Padgett, 61, of Port Jefferson Station, running as a Libertarian, both said their last-minute campaigns are about offering voters a choice when the incumbent has essentially been preselected to win another four-year term.

Field said  winning a countywide race as a write-in with a compressed campaign schedule would be "historic" given the long odds, but said Puleo running without any challengers "really offends me as a Suffolk County voter."

"I'm running my heart out, and hundreds of people across the county are volunteering to help me because everybody is just so upset about the situation," said Field, an attorney.

In April, the Suffolk County Democratic Committee announced Anthony Portesy, an attorney who was the chair of the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee, as the candidate for county clerk along with Jon Estreich as the county comptroller candidate. In a statement at the time, party leader Rich Schaffer said he was "incredibly proud to support" both candidates.

But by August, Portesy abandoned his campaign due to pressure from Schaffer, committee members previously told Newsday, blaming it on a long-standing practice of backroom deals between the Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties. Conservative Party  chairman Mike Torres is also chief deputy county clerk under Puleo.

Puleo, 72, of Nesconset, is seeking a second term and was elected in 2022 by securing nearly 59% of the vote. He previously served five terms as Smithtown Town  clerk. He is the only candidate on the ballot and is running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Puleo did not return multiple requests for comment about his candidacy.

The clerk's office does not set policy but rather handles records like mortgages and deeds, business certificates and county and supreme court minutes, among other duties.

Portesy, meanwhile, is on the ballot as a candidate for Supreme Court justice on the Conservative line. He’s one of 14 candidates for eight seats.

Suffolk Republican  chairman Jesse Garcia said he was "confident from day one in Vinny Puleo's success on Election Day."

He said he has not heard any criticisms of how the clerk's office is run and described any as "desperate, cheap, recycled political claims from failed candidates."

Early voting begins Saturday and Election Day is Nov. 3.

Platforms

Field said she has three priorities if elected: clear a deed backlog, update the clerk office’s website and institute pop-up clerk offices in the western portion of the county and in East Hampton. The clerk’s office is based in Riverhead.

For as long as she's been a voter in Suffolk County, Field said she's been upset about instances where voters have no choice thanks to cross endorsements.

"Suffolk County voters have a real opportunity to blow up that system of ballot rigging," Field said.

Field ran for Southold Town clerk in 2025 and lost to the Republican incumbent. She also ran in a 2014 special election for Southold Town trustee and lost.

She said losing last year’s town clerk race "isn’t really a statement about my electability" and called it an "unusual" race because the incumbent was a well-known and liked person who has been an "institution" in the small town. She said it was worth running to give voters a choice rather than cross endorse where both major parties backed the incumbent.

In an interview, Padgett said he decided to mount the write-in campaign after seeing how Portesy left the race.

"I thought somebody had to step up and give the voters a choice," he said.

He said he's never run for elected office before but has been active in the Libertarian Party since 1997. A retired letter carrier, he said his employment with the U.S. Postal Service prevented him from seeking elected office.

He said his campaign is centered on ending patronage jobs in the clerk's office and also said he'd try to speed up the process of filing deeds.

He said voters choosing him as a write-in would send a message "that we want choice in elections."

Uncontested races

An uncontested county clerk race is not unprecedented in Suffolk County.

In 2010 and 2014, incumbent county clerk Judith Pascale received a cross endorsement across the Republican, Democratic, Conservative and Independence lines. She won reelection in 2018 as a Republican and narrowly defeated a Democratic challenger.

Puleo faced scrutiny earlier this year after Newsday reported he owned a St. James strip mall where a foot spa showed signs of illicit activity. The business had no massage license and online customer reviews discussed sexual activity taking place at the business.

Puleo denied having any knowledge of illicit activity and said he was terminating the spa’s lease. "Illegal activity of any kind will not be tolerated and has no place in our communities," he said in a statement to Newsday in July.