24 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 24 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 24 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 201TUTU111
Primary primer
THIS MONTH
A scandal-plagued election cycle brings historic turnover
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano after beating back a challenge from Tom Suozzi in 2013. Mangano, currently facing federal corruption
charges, is not running for a third term. (Christopher Twarowski/Long Island Press)
By TIM BOLGER
For signs of how the ongoing
federal corruption dragnet has
affected Long Island politics, look
no further than the four executive
level county positions with no
incumbents running for re-election
this fall.
It’s the first time in recent memory
– possibly ever – there will be
turnover in so many top jobs in
Nassau and Suffolk counties during
the same election. While three of
the four open county-wide posts –
Nassau County executive, Suffolk
district attorney and Suffolk Sheriff
– were directly touched by investigations,
many local legislative
races have also seen ethics reform
become a campaign issue as a
result. Voters will narrow their field
of aspiring replacements in many
of these and other races during the
Sept. 12 primaries.
“It’s a historical anomaly, perhaps,”
said Peter Cohalan, the former Suffolk
executive and current county
historian. “I don’t think that it’s
happened before.”
Arguably, the most-watched primary
pits Nassau Comptroller George
Maragos against the Democratic
nominee in the Nassau executive’s
race, Nassau Legis. Laura Curran
(D-Baldwin). Their general election
opponents are former-New York
State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury)
and Green Party candidate
Cassandra Lems. The GOP nominated
Martins over incumbent Republican
Nassau County Executive Ed
Mangano, who pleaded not guilty to
an alleged kickback scheme last year.
Authorities allege he awarded contracts
to a friend, who in turn gave
a no-show job to Mangano’s wife.
The couple deny any wrongdoing.
Even though he hasn’t publicly
stated that he’s not seeking a third
term, Ed won’t “keep it going,” to
quote his 2013 re-election campaign
motto, past Dec. 31. This will
be the first time since ‘01, when
Republican Tom Gulotta nearly
bankrupt the county and his deputy
was arrested for taking bribes,
that a sitting Nassau exec hasn’t
run for re-election.
“We have a lot of … people who
are really hustling, working hard
and there’s a sense that the government
doesn’t live up to them,”
said Curran, a two-term lawmaker,
ex-journalist and former school
board member who would be the
first female Nassau exec if she wins
in November. “I believe that we
deserve a government that lives up
to us. That we hire people not for
purely political reasons but because
they have the merit, because they
have the credentials to do the job.”
Maragos, a Greek immigrant who
switched his party affiliation from
Republican to Democrat last year,
said he’s confident that he can pull
off a surprise win as the self-funded
underdog because he already has
one upset under his belt – unseating
his Democratic predecessor
eight years ago. (He wasn’t as lucky
when he unsuccessfully challenged
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
less than a year after becoming
comptroller.)
“As comptroller, I’ve seen a lot of
issues that the county has that are
not being addressed,” said Maragos.
“The people that can least afford
to pay the high property taxes
are subsidizing the rich, in effect.