How Suffolk County Democratic leader Rich Schaffer leveraged the patronage system, whipped votes, to win another term

Huntington Democrat Don McKay knows the county’s patronage system firsthand. He lost his job as a Suffolk County deputy parks commissioner when a Republican won the county executive seat in 2024. Then he landed a spot on the Suffolk County Board of Elections, where Democratic and Republican leaders split 132 positions. He is also a committeeman, giving him a vote on the party's leadership. 

So when longtime Suffolk County Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer faced the leadership battle of his political life last month, McKay had no doubt who he’d support.

"He’s gotten a lot of people jobs," McKay said, adding some of Schaffer’s detractors "conveniently forget" how Schaffer "helped them out when they needed it."

Experts say Schaffer and his supporters leveraged the county's political patronage system — in combination with the power of incumbency and a reliable base of committee members and elected officials built over the last 26 years — to fend off the most serious challenge of his career. He defeated Southold Democratic Chairwoman Kathryn Casey Quigley on Sept. 22 with 57% of the vote.

Parlaying patronage

Mike Dawidziak, a Suffolk-based political strategist who has worked on mostly Republican campaigns and who's known Schaffer for years, said the patronage system — in which allies are largely rewarded with government jobs — played to his benefit.

As Babylon Town supervisor, Schaffer can wield influence over town jobs. As county chair, he can help fill positions at countywide agencies such as the Suffolk County Board of Elections, the Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation and Suffolk County Water Authority, whose chairman and board members are approved by the county legislature.

Committee members, party leaders and local political observers Newsday spoke to said the patronage system helped give Schaffer an edge.

"People don't necessarily like seeing sausage made, but that's what makes the political system go round," Dawidziak said, adding that civil service protections implemented over the last half-century help insulate many government employees from political blowback.

Paul Sabatino, a municipal lawyer, former counsel to the Suffolk County Legislature and critic of the patronage system, said the practice has become so widely accepted the motivations in Long Island's political system have "become inverted."

"It’s so out in the open now," Sabatino said. 

Casey Quigley campaigned against the patronage system, arguing those loyalists in committee positions were unwilling to take on the day-to-day work that helps get Democrats elected, as well as ending cross endorsements that she said benefited Republicans and Conservatives.

On the night of the Sept. 22 vote, Casey Quigley said she didn’t believe Schaffer inspired a movement comparable to her side. Even though he brought more members into the committee, it won't necessarily strengthen the Democratic Party because they might not work to win elections in the future, she said.

"It wasn’t a movement," she said. "It was a group of people who came and showed up and did what they had to do. So that’s problematic. That shows that the patronage system is not necessarily strengthening the Democratic Party."

On that same night, Schaffer did not explicitly credit patronage as key to his victory, but was quick to defend it.

Asked if criticism of the patronage system made him reassess the value of it, he said, "It's always easy to say patronage is horrible, but when it comes down to it, that's what makes the party work."

He did not respond to additional requests for comment on how he won.

In defense of the patronage system, experts say it has been embedded in politics from the country's founding and ensures people are committed to the jobs and working on behalf of an elected official or government. For example, McKay called the political appointees at the board of elections "dedicated" and "hard working."

Whipping votes

As Casey Quigley attempted to persuade residents to join the county committee to increase her vote count and boost the rank-and-file members that make up the base of the party, Schaffer also worked the phones for votes.

Casey Quigley attacked Schaffer's tactics.

She pointed to Ken Colón, a committee member who ran unsuccessfully for Islip Town supervisor in 2023 and who provided Newsday with a copy of text messages showing Schaffer asked him to get his father to come to the convention to vote. He replied that his father had to work doing security.

Schaffer responded, "Can we pay him to miss work?"

In a separate exchange, Schaffer asked another member to get two committee members to come, according to a copy of the text exchange Colón showed. When the member said he would try and that they work nights, Schaffer wrote: "Can we cover their costs for the night?"

As an example of the patronage system, Casey Quigley supporters pointed to a video purporting to show the Democratic commissioner of the board of elections, John Alberts, telling a handful of employees it was "imperative" they attend the party’s organizational meeting to vote for Schaffer "so you still have a job," according to a recording obtained by Newsday. 

In response to questions last week about offering payments or reimbursement to members for attending the meeting, and any threats against patronage employees, Bryan Sokolowski, political director for Suffolk Democrats, called allegations "false and misleading" and said Schaffer "has been the model for political ethics for well over 30 years."

Union connections

Gordon Herr, the outgoing chair of the Southampton Town committee who backed Schaffer, specifically pointed to Schaffer’s relationship with union leaders as a tipping point.

"He’s got connections throughout the county and we feel Kathryn does not," said Herr, who has worked at the board of elections since 2010.

In Riverhead, Casey Quigley won about 85% of the vote. Laura Jens-Smith, the committee chair who supported Casey Quigley, said it's only natural for people in patronage jobs to feel some influence in their decision.

"I think people get comfortable with somebody that’s been in a position for a very long time and that does create some loyalty," she said.

In Smithtown, Schaffer won 55% of the vote.

Phyllis Hart, chair of the Smithtown Democrats and a Schaffer supporter, said many of the committee members who recognize how Schaffer has helped them came out Tuesday "and rewarded him."

Powering that vote was the county's weighted system of voting, where some ballots count, or are "weighted," more. 

Sabatino said it appeared the weighted vote created a wider margin than if each vote was counted equally. He noted that using the complex weighted vote system to an advantage "takes a database and skill and knowledge. That's hard for somebody to master in a day or two."

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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