Election Results: Democrats Take Top Spots in Southold, East Hampton & Southampton, Republicans Sweep in Riverhead, Split Ticket on Shelter Island

Pictured Above: Southold Town Trustee Nick Krupski (left) and his father, Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski (second from left), awaited election results at Greenport Harbor Brewery in Peconic on Tuesday night. Al Krupski, in his bid for Southold Town Supervisor, was the top vote-getter of the evening in elections throughout the East End.

Democratic Southold Town Supervisor Candidate and Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski has won election by the widest margin of the evening — 71.9 percent — against Republican candidate Don Grim.

Republicans swept the Town Supervisor and Town Council seats in Riverhead in a race that has been closely watched by residents concerned about massive warehouse development in Calverton.

In Southampton Town, Democratic Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore won the Supervisor seat over Republican Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara. Democrat Kathee Burke-Gonzalez won the East Hampton Supervisor race against Gretta Leon.

Election night parties throughout the East End dragged on deep into the night as the Suffolk County Board of Elections tallies didn’t begin to trickle in until after 10:30 p.m., with many races not called until the wee hours of the morning. We will continue to update this post into Wednesday.

Southold Town

In Southold, Mr. Krupski’s running mate Anne Smith was the top vote-getter, with 26.4 percent of the vote in the four-way race for two seats on the Town Board. Incumbent Republican Councilwoman Jill Doherty was a close second with 25.9 percent, followed by Democrat Gwynn Schroeder with 24.9 percent and Republican Stephen Kiely with 22.75 percent.

Mr. Krupski said as he was waiting for the results to be released that he has recently been speaking to groups across the political spectrum and they all have the same message: “Don’t ruin the East End. It’s really encouraging. ‘Cause people know, you have a place out here that’s really nice, and you can see how quickly it can be ruined. People see the value in what we have here. They understand that. They’re here for a reason.”

He said he planned to get to work right after the election meeting with departments throughout town government to hear their priorities.

“I ran this campaign like it was the first time I was running, and worked very hard,” said Ms. Doherty as votes were almost totally tallied in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. “I am happy that the people in this town have the confidence and trust in me to continue to be their voice.”

Ms. Schroeder said just after midnight that the Democrats were still waiting on the results of the absentee ballots — there were 267 absentee ballots outstanding as of Election Day.

When asked what his first thought is when he hears the phrase Save What’s Left, Mr. Krupski didn’t hesitate to say “Gwynn,” meaning Ms. Schroeder, who has spent years advocating for the environment as the Executive Director of the North Fork Environmental Council, which has long used the Save What’s Left slogan as a rallying cry.

“This community has a deep well of courage. We need to keep the aquifer refreshed, but more importantly, what I’ve learned, is that we need to keep our community nourished,” said Ms. Smith, the retired Superintendent of the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District. “There is a true wealth of courage here, and that comes from making ourselves vulnerable. This has been the most vulnerable you can be, when you put yourself out there in this way. You feel humanity in a different way, when you knock on a door and are invited in and we start having a conversation. I can feel how people feel differently than I used to. Then we can get to the hard work.”

Incumbent Democratic Southold Town Justice Dan Ross appears to have been re-elected with 52.8 percent of the vote in a contentious campaign against former Republican Town Justice Brian Hughes, who took 47.2 percent of the vote. Four years ago, Mr. Ross defeated Mr. Hughes by just 27 votes, but the preliminary margin separating the two candidates this year was 458 votes.

Riverhead Town

Republican Riverhead Town Supervisor candidate Tim Hubbard, a sitting town councilman, won 59.45 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Angela De Vito, who took 40.45 percent, in a race galvanized by the prospect of a cargo jetport being built at the Enterprise Park at Calverton, and large warehouses proposed throughout the hamlet. Ms. De Vito and her running mates had been vocal in their opposition to the development throughout their campaign, and after much public pressure the sitting Town Board voted to cancel the EPCAL deal just two weeks before Election Day. Mr. Hubbard has proposed a moratorium on warehouse development that could come to a vote imminently.

Republicans also swept the Town Council races, with Denise Merrifield and Joann Waski taking home 39.94 and 29.24 percent of the vote, respectively, to win two seats on the Town Board. Democratic candidates Rene Suprina took 20.8 percent, and Andrew Leven took 20 percent.

Shelter Island Town

Preliminary election results show Republican Amber Brach-Williams winning the Shelter Island Town Supervisor Race with 49.9 percent of the vote (773 votes) against Democratic candidate Gordon Gooding, who received 47.1 percent (729 votes). There were also 47 write-in votes, and nearly 180 absentee ballots that have not yet been added to the tally could change the the results of this race. We’ll have more details as they become available.

Democratic Town Board candidates Albert Dickson and Benjamin Dyett were elected to the Town Board, with 25.5 and 27.7 percent of the vote, respectively. Their Republican challengers, Tom Cronin and Art Williams, received 24 and 16.3 percent of the vote, respectively. There were 188 write-in votes in the race — former board member Paul Shepherd ran a write-in campaign but those votes do not indicate who the write-in votes were for as of Election Night.

Southampton Town

In Southampton, Maria Moore won the Supervisor seat with 56.9 percent of the vote Her challenger, Ms. McNamara, took 43.1 percent. Democrats also had a strong showing in the Town Council race, with Bill Pell and Michael Iasilli taking 29.2 and 25.2 percent of the vote, respectively. Their Republican challengers, William Parash and Richard Martel, took 21.3 and 24.4 percent of the vote, respectively.

East Hampton Town

Democrat Kathee Burke-Gonzalez took home 67.6 percent of the vote in the East Hampton Supervisor race against Republican Gretta Leon, who received 32.3 percent. Democrats also had a strong lead in the race for two seats on the Town Council, with David Lys and Tom Flight taking 34.7 and 32.3 percent of the vote, respectively. Their Republican challengers, Scott Smith and Michael Wootton, took home 16.6 and 16.3 percent of the vote, respectively.