DECEMBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 13
RED WAVE
LI’S POLITICAL SEA CHANGE
BY TIMOTHY BOLGER
Republicans reclaimed elected positions
across Nassau and Suffolk
counties on Election Day, but while
some Democrats saw the heavy losses
as reason for soul searching, others set
their sights on higher offi ce.
As Nassau County Executive Laura
Curran and Suff olk County District
Attorney Timothy Sini— both fi rst-term
Democrats — prepare to vacate offi ce
at the end of the month to Republicans
Bruce Blakeman and Ray Tierney, respectively,
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen
Cove) in November threw his hat into
the New York State 2022 Democratic
gubernatorial primary race. And
that’s only some of the executive-level
races — even more changes further
down ballot happened this cycle and
are possibilities for next year if the socalled
red wave of surging GOP voter
turnout continues into the congressional
midterm elections.
“I think that people are concerned
about Covid in the economy, they’re
concerned about property taxes,
they’re concerned about income taxes,
they’re concerned about crime,” Suozzi
said while announcing his bid for the
Democratic line against Gov. Kathy Hochul,
New York State Attorney General
Letitia James, and New York City Public
Advocate Jumaane Williams. The winner
of the primary will presumably face
another LI congressman: U.S. Rep. Lee
Zeldin (R-Shirley), the GOP frontrunner
in a race in disarray aft er ex-Gov.
Andrew Cuomo resigned this summer
amid allegations that he sexually harassed
11 women.
The GOP also fl ipped this cycle open
seats in the Nassau district attorney and
comptroller races, as Republican voters
surged across New York State and the
nation a year aft er Democrats won the
White House and Congress.
NASSAU RACES
Besides Curran being ousted, Republicans
also flipped two open executive
level seats in Nassau that were
previously held by Democrats but the
incumbent did not seek re-election.
Republican Anne Donnelly, a longtime
county prosecutor, won the race for
Nassau County District Attorney over
New York State Sen. Todd Kaminsky
Republican Bruce Blakeman celebrates unseating Democratic Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on election
night. (Photo by Bruce Adler)
(D-Long Beach). Donnelly, who had
worked in the Nassau County District
Attorney’s office for 32 years before
retiring in September, would be the
first Republican to hold the Nassau
District Attorney seat in 16 years,
when Dennis Dillon left office. Acting
District Attorney Joyce A. Smith has
held the post since former Nassau
District Attorney Madeline Singas
was appointed to the state Court of
Appeals earlier this year.
“I am excited to get to work and make
a diff erence,” Donnelly said on election
night. Kaminsky plans to run for
re-election as senator next year.
And Republican former state Senator
Elaine Philips also won the Nassau comptroller’s
contest against Democrat Ryan
Cronin for the seat held by Jack Schnirman,
who declined to run for re-election.
Further down the ticket, first-time
candidate Republican Mazi Melesa
Pilip unseated four-term Nassau Legislator
Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck),
bringing the GOP’s legislative majority
to 12-7, one seat shy of a supermajority.
And Jennifer S. DeSena, a Democrat who
ran on the Republican line for the Town
of North Hempstead supervisor, gave
the GOP its fi rst win in three decades
for that town’s top post aft er incumbent
Democrat Judi Bosworth declined to
run again.
SUFFOLK RACES
Sini’s upset was even more surprising
than Curran’s, given district attorneys’
tendency to hold offi ce longer than most
elected offi cials.
“I will fi ght every day to keep the citizens
of Suff olk County safe,” Tierney
told cheering supporters. “I will be fair
and I will reach out to the community
to develop relations so we can all have
faith in our district attorney’s offi ce.”
Tierney and Sini sparred on the campaign
trail over hot-button issues such
as how best to prosecute the MS-13 street
gang, the ongoing opioid epidemic, and
the impact of the state’s bail reform.
Adding to the drubbing was the fact that
Republicans also fl ipped control of the
Suff olk Legislature from Democratic
hands for the fi rst time in 16 years. Most
startling, Presiding Offi cer Rob Calarco
(D-Patchogue) lost re-election to Republican
challenger Dominick Thorne.
Suff olk Legislator Susan Berland (D-Dix
Hills) was unseated by Republican Manuel
Esteban Sr. and the GOP’s Stephanie
Bontempi beat Democratic Huntington
Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson in
the race to replace outgoing Legislator
Dr. William Spencer (D-Centerport),
who declined to seek re-election aft er
being arrested for allegedly trading
pills for sex.
Republicans also fl ipped the Shelter
Island Town board from Democratic
hands, but on the North Fork, Democrats
tied the six-member Southold
Town Board by picking up two vacant
GOP seats there, something that hasn’t
happened in decades.
“Southold has been becoming increasingly
Democratic in the past few years,
but we also engaged the electorate,” says
Kathryn Casey Quigley, who chairs the
Southold Town Democratic Committee.
IN THE NEWS
“I think that people
are concerned about
Covid in the economy,
they’re concerned
about property taxes,
they’re concerned
about income taxes,
they’re concerned
about crime,”
says Tom Suozzi.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
