Smithtown's canceled debate a debatable issue
Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, left, and State Sen. Mario Mattera, center, both Republicans, and Smithtown Town Democratic Committee chair Phyllis Hart. Credit: James Escher, Danielle Silverman
Daily Point
Canceled debate leads to accusations in Smithtown
Democrats are calling foul after a Smithtown candidates debate was canceled for lack of Republican participation, but at least two GOP candidates said they would debate anywhere, anytime.
Phyllis Hart, chair of the Smithtown Town Democratic Committee, said in a statement that she received an email from the League of Women Voters of Smithtown stating that Republican candidates "declined to participate" in the debate scheduled for Monday at Kings Park High School.
Those Republicans are incumbents State Sen. Mario Mattera and Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, as well as Dan Losquadro, the superintendent of Brookhaven Town's highway department who is running for county comptroller, and Kimberly Carros, who's vying for Smithtown receiver of taxes.
The Democrats in those races are Harjot Singh for SD2, Lynn Trupiano-O'Keefe for AD8, Jon Estreich for comptroller and Brianna Baker-Stines for Smithtown receiver of taxes.
"We deserve elected officials who show up and speak to their constituencies, not cowards that fear the debate stage," Hart said in the statement. "Debates are not supposed to be comfortable, but they are essential."
Fitzpatrick, however, cast the brouhaha as innocuous, telling The Point that he had already committed to going to a golf outing at his grandchildren's school. Fitzpatrick said the League of Women Voters events have historically been sparsely attended and the few who do show are armed with gotcha questions.
"It's a small crowd and they're almost all partisan," Fitzpatrick told The Point. "You can count on one hand people on one side and people on the other side."
Mattera pushed back even stronger, telling The Point it doesn't matter where a debate is held, he will attend, including if the LWV reschedules. He said he has two more debates planned this week and was the only Republican to attend the NAACP Huntington Branch's meet the candidates event last week at the South Huntington Public Library.
"I have no problem meeting anywhere," Mattera said. "I never shy away from anyone. Maybe if it was a trend, but really? I'll show up right now."
Smithtown is traditionally not a place Republicans need to expend resources to lock in votes. In Mattera's district, which includes Smithtown, there are 84,799 registered Republicans compared with 76,360 registered Democrats and 76,044 registered voters not affiliated with either major party. Mattera won reelection in 2024 with 58.3% of the vote.
Fitzpatrick's Assembly district, which also includes Smithtown, is even redder, with 42,565 registered Republicans, 27,565 registered Democrats and 31,461 unaffiliated voters. Fitzpatrick won reelection in 2024 with 66% of the vote.
Even though Election Day is just two weeks away, Fitzpatrick said he would participate if the LWV debate was rescheduled. "Pick another date and I will see if I can make it," he said, adding that he is attending an upcoming debate hosted by a local newspaper and was planning on attending a civic debate which was canceled.
Estreich told The Point he has been to "many" meet the candidates nights, including about six in Brookhaven Town, and has seen Losquadro at just one, a September event sponsored by the Middle Island and Gordon Heights civic associations at the Longwood Public Library.
He said the LWV events are "the gold standard." Losquadro didn't return a call Tuesday.
— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com
Pencil Point
Who nose?
Credit: Cagle.com/schwadron/Harley Schwadron
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Final Point
Gilgo judge stays on the bench
State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei, who most recently presided over the case of the Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, will stay on the bench for another two years.
The Administrative Board of the Courts, a five-member body consisting of the state's chief judge and the presiding judges of the four appellate divisions, voted earlier this fall to approve him and three other judges for continued service, The Point has learned.
Mazzei, 72, is past the mandatory retirement age of 70 but in New York, justices can stay on the bench for two-year intervals if they are certified by the state up to age 76. It's usually a quiet and routine process that checks the judges' physical and mental abilities, work ethic and knowledge of the law to determine if they can continue to sit. As part of the administrative review, the board asks for public input, which is usually confidential.
However, as part of a progressive push to rid the bench of jurists whom the left feels hand down excessive prison sentences, the Center for Community Alternatives sought to disqualify Mazzei and the others from further service. In a shock to the confidential process, the group posted on their website their highly critical letter to the administrative board. Among its complaints about Mazzei, a former prosecutor who is often assigned some of the toughest cases, the group deemed seven sentences to criminal defendants were excessive and said they were reduced on appeal. It also contended that he made other legal errors.
The same group was behind the successful effort stopping Gov. Kathy Hochul's nomination of Hector LaSalle, the presiding judge of the Appellate Division, Second Department, to be the state's chief judge. Like Mazzei, LaSalle worked in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
— Rita Ciolli rita.ciolli@newsday.com
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