Candidate: 'I didn't know' about ballot line switch

Daily Point

Jon Estreich was unaware he was a candidate for judge. So, how did he get on the ballot?

Can a person be put on the ballot for an election without being told?

That unlikely scenario seems to be how Jon Estreich, already the Democratic candidate for Suffolk County comptroller, temporarily stumbled onto the ballot as the Conservative Party nominee for New York State Supreme Court, 10th Judicial District.

The episode, part of the internecine struggle within the Democratic Party, is ripping back the curtain on the often-cozy politics of Democratic, Republican and Conservative party leaders in Suffolk County.

Estreich told The Point he first found out he was a judge candidate when he got an email, then a text and finally a notice from the Suffolk Conservative Party taped to the front door of his house saying he had been nominated. Estreich said he formally declined the Conservative Party line and received confirmation that he was off the ballot from the state Board of Elections on Friday.

"I had no idea about this Conservative Party line until I was told I needed to reject it or lose both lines," Estreich said. "There is no evidence I asked for this ballot. There is no email, no phone call."

The letter taped to his door, which Estreich read to The Point, states: "As you know, your name was submitted to the committee for consideration and nomination ..." for the county Conservative Party line for state Supreme Court justice.

Estreich retorted: "I didn't know."

Estreich claims he was an unwitting chess piece in a deal to clear the field of competition in the county comptroller's race in return for GOP cross-endorsements of Democratic judges. Those cross-endorsements went haywire last week when Estreich, a major in the Army Reserve and former Suffolk County prosecutor in the district attorney's office, refused to stand down.

Similarly, the Democratic candidate for Suffolk clerk, Anthony Portesy, was named a candidate for state Supreme Court justice on the Conservative line. But Portesy accepted that line to withdraw from the clerk's race, leaving incumbent Suffolk County Clerk Vincent Puleo, a Conservative who also runs on the Republican line, with no rivals. Sources previously said that Democrats aren't naming a replacement candidate for county clerk.

To withdraw from an election, a candidate must die, be convicted of certain crimes, move out of state or accept a judgeship nomination. The state's judicial nomination convention period from Aug. 6-12 provided that window. Monday, Aug. 17, though, is the last day for a judge nominee to decline and Friday is the last day to fill a vacancy if a judge candidate declines.

Estreich said by staying in the comptroller's race, his candidacy will upend business as usual in Suffolk government. "From Day 1, I'll find the pay-to-play. I am a threat to these guys because I'm an independent auditor."

Suffolk County Republican chair Jesse Garcia, however, countered that Estreich is just another tax-and-spend Democrat. "The only thing Mr. Estreich and his DSA comrades are is an existential threat to the continued existence of the Democrat Party while at the same time raising taxes on middle class families and taxpayers," Garcia said in a text to The Point.

When asked if he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Estreich replied: "Definitely not. I'm a soldier and former Suffolk County prosecutor with a wife who was born in Israel. I'm not DSA." The Point reported last week that cross-endorsements for judge candidates were being reworked because of Estreich's recalcitrance. 

The comptroller's race is significant because it's a countywide position that oversees the inner workings of the county's finances, including the $4.3 billion annual budget. Republicans named Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro for that race. Losquadro has $1 million in campaign money and deep connections.

Estreich, who initially was the Democratic candidate for the State Senate's 2nd District, said he agreed to run for comptroller despite not having money or name recognition. He said he always intended to run to win, not fill a slot on the ballot.

"I would never have accepted a paper race," he said.

Texts to Suffolk County Democratic Party leader Rich Schaffer and Conservative Party chair Mike Torres were not returned.

Estreich said his situation is similar to the Huntington Town supervisor's election last year, when the Working Families Party candidate said she didn't know she was a candidate.

"I was dismayed to learn I was a candidate for an office I never sought, but not surprised," Estreich said. "It seems similar to what happened in the Huntington supervisor's race last year."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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A class act

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Final Point

How Trump blended his House war with 'official' LI visit

The figurative fig leaf meant to make President Donald Trump's political rally in Nassau County on Friday appear "official" was the venue — the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence in Uniondale out of which the county police operate.

Trump did talk about crime dropping nationwide enough for him to take credit, despite basing it on an FBI report from last year, when he was still trying to consolidate power over federal agencies. The downturn, driven by the numbers in urban areas mainly run by Democrats, actually began before Trump was sworn in. "They like to take all the credit, but everyone knows we've done an amazing job," Trump said hazily during his speech.

The most obvious visual boost for the president was the throng of police in dress uniforms and white gloves surrounding him to his rear and applauding and cheering on cue. Blakeman's county spokesman Chris Boyle texted The Point that they were off duty.

By Trump's own account, he was there for political purposes with his hand-picked candidate for governor, host and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, being given some "love," in the president's prior words. But beyond propping up Blakeman, who trails against Gov. Kathy Hochul in polls, is the goal of keeping GOP control of the House of Representatives.

Among a selection of Republicans, Trump could state his real priority. "We have all our congresspeople here. ... If you said, 'Would you rather have Bruce Blakeman win, or all of your congresspeople?' I don't know, Bruce, I think I'm gonna have to give you up. I might have to take the congresspeople," Trump said. Nassau's two main congressional seats are held by Democrats — Tom Suozzi in CD3 and Laura Gillen in CD4. Nassau GOP chairman Joe Cairo is running Mike LiPetri and Jeanine Driscoll against them respectively.

In his "official" visit, Trump also shouted out Long Island incumbent Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino as well as ex-Rep. Peter King and former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato. From the rostrum, Trump also greeted Mack, a former MTA Board member and big political donor.

It all had echoes of June when Vice President JD Vance showed up in Nassau County allegedly to talk about crime and fraud but turned the visit into an occasion to bash Suozzi and Hochul.

On Monday, the good-government group Public Citizen filed a complaint with officials charging that Attorney General Todd Blanche violated the federal Hatch Act when he addressed the rally. Blanche caused a stir by failing to guarantee he would act independently of the White House in the role, a concession to Trump's political weaponization of the Justice Department.

On Friday, Trump would have been chauffeured past gas stations posting prices close $1 per gallon on the average above one year ago, according to AAA's website. As part of his deflection for Iran's tightening control of the Strait of Hormuz, he delivered the outlandish vow that the United States will soon declare the strait to be U.S. territory.

While Nassau police were "off duty" to cheer Trump, Republican Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine was on duty in Hauppauge Friday. A spokesman for Romaine said his boss' government schedule was packed, including long-scheduled meetings on community issues that Romaine found best to not postpone. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico also did not make the trip westward. But Suffolk GOP chairman Jesse Garcia, as a leading player in the state's red stronghold, did attend.

Not all the Blakeman supporters on hand were dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. Howard Fensterman, formerly counsel to the Brooklyn Democrats, is finance chair for Blakeman's campaign. Recently, the GOP-controlled Nassau County Legislature approved $730,000 in public contracts to the law firm Fensterman co-founded to represent the county in two lawsuits.

As you'd expect, Democrats blasted the deliberate blur of governmental and political functions created from the highest levels of their rival party. Assemb. Michaelle Solages, the chamber's deputy majority leader, called the gathering "a campaign rally on taxpayer dollars" that avoided core economic issues. Addison Dick, spokesman for the state party, told The Point in a statement that Blakeman had "stuck Long Islanders with the bill after Trump flew into Nassau to 'give some love' to Blakeman and push their shared toxic MAGA agenda."

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

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