East End On Election Day: Trump and Zeldin Take Home Votes; CPF Extension Passes in a Landslide

November 8, 2016November 16, 2016 Beth Young 0 Comments

Donald Trump won the bumper sticker and lawn sign war on the East End this fall, while a lonely North Fork Hillary sign in New Suffolk was behind bars to protect it from would-be vandals.

Despite losing the State of New York tonight, Donald Trump took home the majority of votes for President in Suffolk County, while incumbent East End Congressman Lee Zeldin handily won re-election and a ballot proposition to extend the Community Preservation Fund by 20 years passed in a landslide.

Congressman Lee Zeldin at a New York League of Conservation Voters forum in Riverhead this fall.

Donald Trump has won 52.1 percent of the vote in Suffolk County, while Hillary Clinton has won just 43.9 percent. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has taken 1.2 percent of the vote, while Gary Johnson has 2.02 percent of the vote (on both the Independence and Libertarian party lines).

Voter turnout also topped the presidential election of 2012, with 629,963 votes for President counted throughout Suffolk County today.

In the 2012 general election, 593,354 votes were cast in Suffolk County, out of 902,188 eligible voters. That year, President Barack Obama took home 51.25 percent of the vote, while challenger Mitt Romney took home 47.55 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who were also on the ballot that year, took home .67 percent and .43 percent, respectively.

Incumbent Republican Congressman Zeldin took home 58.93 percent of the vote, while his Democratic opponent, former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, won 41.03 percent.

Anna Throne-Holst cast her ballot at the Community Bible Church in Noyac Tuesday morning | courtesy photo

Ms. Throne-Holst, who if elected would have been the first woman to represent New York’s First Congressional District in Congress, mulled over the historic nature of her campaign as she cast her ballot Tuesday morning at the Community Bible Church in Noyac.

“I never ran for this office to break glass ceilings, I ran to do right by the First District’s hardworking families,” she said in a statement. “But the fact of the matter is women are consensus builders. Women get the job done.”

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer easily won a fourth term, though he faired better in the state overall than in Suffolk County. Mr. Schumer won 71 percent of the vote statewide, but won just 59.9 percent of the vote over his Republican opponent Wendy Long in Suffolk County. Mr. Schumer is expected to be the Democratic leader in the Senate next year.

In separate referenda in all five East End towns, the Community Preservation Fund extension proposal won in a 78.2 to 21.8 percent vote in Southold Town, in a 75.2 to 24.8 percent vote in Riverhead Town, in a 80.1 to 19.9 percent vote in Southampton Town, in a 78.2 to 21.8 percent vote in East Hampton Town and in a 69.5 to 30.5 percent vote on Shelter Island.

The proposition will extend the lifetime of the CPF by 20 years, from 2030 to 2050, and will allow each of the five East End town governments to use 20 percent of the money generated by a 2 percent real estate transfer tax for water quality projects.

State Assemblyman Fred Thiele spent much of the election season stumping for the CPF extension. Mr. Thiele drafted the original CPF law.

The CPF fund, enacted in 1998, was extended to 2010 by public referenda in 2002 and was extended again to 2030 by referenda in 2006, and to date has raised more than $1 billion for land preservation on the East End.

State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, who has held that office since 1995, was victorious on the Democratic party line against Republican Heather Collins of East Quogue. Mr. Thiele won in a 61.5 to 38.4 percent vote.

Ms. Collins also ran against Mr. Thiele in 2014, when she took 32.4 percent of the vote, while Mr. Thiele won 60.5 percent.

On the North Fork, Republican State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo bested Manorville Democrat Michael Conroy, a labor leader and construction worker who has been active with the Brookhaven Town and Suffolk County Democratic parties. The vote was 67.6 percent for Mr. Palumbo and 32.3 percent for Mr. Conroy.

Republican State Senator Kenneth LaValle, who has been in office since 1976, was victorious by a 67.2 to 32.3 percent vote in his race against Democrat Greg Fischer, a business consultant from Riverhead who has waged many local campaigns and ran for state senate in 2008 and 2010.

In other local races, Southampton Town Justice Andrea Schiavoni was re-elected with 66 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Ernie Wruck, who won 34 percent.

State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo at a press conference this spring.

In Riverhead Town, a ballot proposition to extend the town supervisor term from two to four years was rejected by voters in a 64.9 to 35.1 percent vote.

Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith, running unopposed on five party lines, won 8,564 votes. There were 18 write-in votes.

Shelter Island Democratic Town Councilwoman Mary H. Dudley lost her race against Republican challenger Amber F. Branch-Williams. Ms. Dudley took just 518 votes, while Ms. Brach-Williams took 835. Ms. Dudley had been appointed to her seat at the start of this year.

Shelter Island Town Justice Helen J. Rosenblum, who was running unopposed on three party lines, won 1,182 votes. There were six write-in votes.