Suffolk GOP to nominate Losquadro for county comptroller

Daily Point

Suffolk Republicans have their 2026 slate ready

Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro will likely be the Suffolk GOP's nominee for county comptroller when it holds its convention Friday, The Point has learned.

Losquadro has served as highway superintendent since 2013, where he heads a department whose budget, at about $160 million, is about half of the town's. Sources told The Point that Losquadro's campaign account was also a factor. As of his January state campaign filing, Losquadro had $839,977 on hand.

Losquadro's brother, Steven, is a well-connected GOP lawyer based in Rocky Point.

Among other Suffolk leaders who screened for the comptroller position were the county legislature's former Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, county Legis. Steve Flotteron and Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter.

If the Suffolk GOP had chosen Carpenter, it could have changed the dynamic for the supervisor seat — which as of now will be an open seat in 2027. Assemb. Doug Smith, the Islip Town Republican chair, has expressed interest in running in 2027. But if it opened a year early, that would have made Smith's choice more complex, since he is currently running for another Assembly term this year.

Carpenter, meanwhile, told The Point she's still interested in the county comptroller job, noting that no nomination would officially be made until Friday.

"This is a position that really has my name all over it," Carpenter said, noting that she previously served as county treasurer, whose role was since combined into the comptroller position. "At a time when we have all these fiscal challenges, I feel that I'm the person who could really do this."

Carpenter, who had $610,853 in her campaign coffers as of the January filing, noted that she is serving her final term as Islip supervisor due to term limits.

"This gives me an opportunity to continue serving the residents of this county, using my knowledge and experience to do something that could help the county and help the county executive," she added.

Beyond the county comptroller position, the Suffolk GOP is also expected to nominate Assemb. Jarett Gandolfo to run for the 8th State Senate District, in the seat now occupied by Alexis Weik, who had announced she wasn't going to run again. For Gandolfo's seat, the GOP is nominating newly elected Islip Town Councilwoman DawnMarie Kuhn, who just started her town term last month.

If Kuhn wins and heads to Albany, the change could allow her to return to her position as vice chairwoman of the Islip Town Republican Committee. Kuhn had taken a leave of absence because a town ethics law prohibits Islip officials from holding political leadership positions.

The musical chairs leave several questions unanswered. Among them: Who might take Losquadro's all-important job as highway superintendent? Who might fill Kuhn's town board seat? And what's next for Carpenter and McCaffrey?

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com and Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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Final Point

Trump said Blakeman's reelection was historic. Not even close.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's reelection victory last year was impressive, certainly, but a historic landslide? Not even close.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed Blakeman as the Republican gubernatorial candidate in a prerecorded video message played at the state GOP convention in Garden City. Trump did what Trump does — make hyperbolic boasts pumping up his allies — but even by Trump's standards, this one was a whopper.

In the prerecorded video message, Trump said, "You know, Bruce has a fantastic record of winning as a Republican. He won Nassau County by a landslide, and that's something that never happened before. He is a winner."

The Point didn't have to dig too deep into the archives to find county executive elections that were real blowouts. In fact, since 1937, when the position was first created, there have been 17 times when the winner of the county executive race had a wider margin of victory than Blakeman did last year (see chart below). Political party nominating conventions aren't exactly symposiums of fact-checking. And while Blakeman's win, especially last year when Republicans across the country got shellacked, was notable, it was far short of a historic landslide of epic proportions never seen before in the history of humanity. J. Russel Sprague, the county's first executive, twice won with greater than 70% in the 1940s.

Nassau County executive elections history:

• 2025: Bruce Blakeman (R) wins 56-44%
• 2021: Bruce Blakeman (R) wins 50.4-49.6%
• 2017: Laura Curran (D) wins 51-48%
• 2013: Edward Mangano (R) wins 59-41%
• 2009: Edward Mangano (R) wins recount 48-48%
• 2005: Thomas Suozzi (D) wins 59-39%
• 2001: Thomas Suozzi (D) wins 64-33%
• 1997: Thomas Gulotta (R) wins 67-31%
• 1993: Thomas Gulotta (R) wins 51-49%
• 1989: Thomas Gulotta (R) wins 57-43%
• 1985: Francis Purcell (R) wins 61-39%
• 1981: Francis Purcell (R) wins 64-36%
• 1977: Francis Purcell (R) wins 57-43%
• 1973: Ralph Caso (R) wins 62-38%
• 1970: Ralph Caso (R) wins 54-46%
• 1967: Eugene Nickerson (D) wins 50.3-49.7%
• 1964: Eugene Nickerson (D) wins 57.5-42.5%
• 1961: Eugene Nickerson (D) wins 50.9-49.1%
• 1958: A. Holly Patterson (R) wins 54-46%
• 1955: A. Holly Patterson (R) wins 62-38%
• 1952: A. Holly Patterson (R) wins 69-31%
• 1949: J. Russel Sprague (R) wins 65-35%
• 1946: J. Russel Sprague (R) wins 74-26%
• 1943: J. Russel Sprague (R) wins 76-24%
• 1940: J. Russel Sprague (R) wins 64-36%
• 1937: J. Russel Sprague (R) wins 68-32%

NOTE: Election data compiled by Caroline Curtin, Dorothy Guadagno and Laura Mann. Statistics verified by Karthika Namboothiri.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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