DECEMBER 2017 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 25
NEWS
Shattered glass ceilings
in halls of power
Women, Dems make inroads in LI elections
BY SPENCER RUMSEY
For three Long Island Democrats
named Laura, luck was on their
side and the wind at their backs on
election night when they won their
races — and made history in the
process.
Nassau County Legis. Laura Curran
(D-Baldwin) became the first
woman and third Democrat elected
Nassau County executive when she
beat ex-New York State Sen. Jack
Martins (R-Old Westbury). Laura
Jens-Smith was the first woman
elected Riverhead town supervisor
when she ousted four-term Republican
incumbent Sean Walter.
And Laura Gillen became the first
Democrat in more than a century
to become Hempstead town supervisor
upon unseating Republican
Anthony Santino.
“When you have people who feel
they are insulated from any kind
of electoral backlash, that’s when
bad things start to happen,” Gillen
tells the Press. “We really needed to
change.”
Many pundits painted November’s
election as part of a national “blue
wave” propelled by voters’ disapproval
of President Donald Trump.
That may explain Democratic
gubernatorial wins in Virginia
and New Jersey, but on the Island,
the Lauras still have to work with
Republican majorities — although
Riverhead has its first female majority
— putting their negotiating
skills to the test.
Curran says voters were focused
more on local corruption than
Trump. The women don’t see gender
playing a significant role in the
outcome.
“I didn’t want people to vote for
me because I’m a woman,” Curran
says. “I wanted them to vote for me
— and I hope I made the case —
because I was the right person for
the job. But I have to say that when
From left to right: Nassau County Executive-elect Laura Curran, Hempstead Town Supervisor-elect Laura
Gillen and Riverhead Town Supervisor-elect Laura Jens-Smith.
I talked about breaking up the old
boys’ club, it did have a certain
resonance for me!”
The Lauras’ victories came during
an election cycle with unprecedented
turnover of top-level county
elected offices on LI, mostly due to
corruption scandals.
Curran replaced outgoing Nassau
County Executive Ed Mangano,
who didn’t seek a third term after
pleading not guilty last year to federal
charges of running a kickback
scheme.
Suffolk voters overwhelmingly supported
Suffolk Police Commissioner
Tim Sini to replace ex-Suffolk
District Attorney Tom Spota, who
resigned after pleading not guilty in
October to covering up the former
police chief’s beating of a suspect.
Sini, a Democrat, trounced Republican
defense attorney Ray Perini 62
to 36 percent.
The Suffolk sheriff’s race — a seat
being vacated by sheriff Vincent
DeMarco, who lost his Conservative
Party support after getting its
ex-leader convicted of $200,000 in
payroll theft — was too close to call
on election night. Errol Toulon Jr.,
who ran on the Democratic, Conservative
and Independence party
lines — an unusual combination
even for Suffolk’s byzantine politics
— beat Lawrence Zacarese, a Republican
who upset state Sen. Phil
Boyle (R-Bay Shore) in the primary.
Toulon made Suffolk history as the
first African-American elected to
countywide office.
Back in Nassau, Democrat Jack
Schnirman beat Republican Steve
Labriola to replace outgoing Nassau
Comptroller George Maragos, who
ran a losing Democratic primary
bid for county exec.
In the 13 towns, six of which now
have female supervisors but nine
of which are in Republican control,
the status quo mostly survived
the elections. Exceptions include
Huntington’s council flipping
from Democrat to Republican,
Republican Edward Wehrheim
replacing 40-year GOP incumbent
Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio
— a race settled in the September
primaries — and Republican Gary
Gerth unseating 10-year Democratic
Shelter Island Supervisor
James Dougherty.
Despite all the shattered glass
ceilings, local voters stopped short
of another historic first. In Huntington,
Democratic town board
member Tracey Edwards lost her
bid to become the Island’s first
African-American town supervisor
when state Assemb. Chad Lupinacci
(R-South Huntingon) defeated
her by almost 5,000 votes. He got
2,000 more ballots than any of his
running mates, suggesting he had
bipartisan voter support.
Lupinacci’s victory gives Republicans
control of Huntington Town
Hall for the first time since retiring
Supervisor Frank Petrone switched
parties in 2002 after first winning
the position as a Republican in 1993.
All told, the status quo will never
be the same again on Long Island.