Election Results: Incumbent Supervisors Prevail, Southold Dems Make Gains
Pictured Above: Incumbent East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar were victorious Tuesday night.
It was a clean sweep for incumbent town supervisors throughout the East End election night, with Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, a Republican, winning by a wide margin, along with her running mates, Ken Rothwell and Bob Kern.
Democratic East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc had a clear lead in a three-way race in East Hampton, though East Hampton results were slow to come in Election Night, with just nine of 19 districts reporting as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, which election officials cited as being due to poor cell phone service, which incidentally had been a campaign issue in the town.
Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Shelter Island Town Supervisor Gerard Siller, both Democrats running unopposed, kept their seats.
In East Hampton, Democratic Town Board candidates prevailed, while Southampton voters split the ticket for Town Board.
In Southold Tuesday night, where there was no Town Supervisor race, the polls shifted toward the Democrats, with both Democratic Town Council candidates, Greg Doroski and Brian Mealy, with a slight lead, while several Democratic Trustee candidates had an edge. Mr. Doroski was the only Town Council candidate declared a winner as of 11:30 Tuesday night. Republican Town Clerk candidate Denis Noncarrow was one of the few clear winners in Southold in a night where most races were too close to call.
In Riverhead
Ms. Aguiar, a former New York City Police Detective with a hard-nosed style, won 59 percent of the vote in Riverhead, while her opponent, Councilwoman Catherine Kent, a former teacher, took 41 percent. Ms. Kent, the sole Democrat on the Town Board, will loose her seat on the town council in the new year.
Ms. Aguiar’s running mates, Kenneth Rothwell and Robert Kern, took 31.5 and 30 percent of the vote, respectively, while Democratic candidates Evelyn Hobson-Womack and Juan Micieli-Martinez took 21 and 17.5 percent of the vote, respectively.
Republican Michael Zaleski won the Highway Superintendent race against Democrat William Renten, Jr, in a 66 percent to 33 percent vote. Incumbent Republican Town Assessor Laverne Tennenberg kept her seat, with 67.4 percent of the vote to Democratic candidate Tara Taylor’s 32.6 percent, while Republican Dana Brown was victorious over Democrat Ellen Hoil in a second town assessor race, in a 65.5 to 34.5 percent vote.
In Southold
The margins were tight in the Southold Town Board race, with Mr. Doroski, a Democrat who came close to unseating Town Supervisor Scott Russell two years ago, taking 27 percent of the vote, or 4475 votes, in the four-way race for two seats. His running mate, Brian Mealy, a former Mattituck School Board member who works at the Floyd Memorial Library had 24.8 percent, 4,110 votes.
Republican Town Board candidates were a hair’s breadth behind Mr. Mealy, with Country Time Cycles owner Gregory Williams with 3,990 votes (120 votes behind Mr. Mealy), or 24.1 percent, and Anthony Sannino, owner of Sannino Vineyard in Cutchogue, with 3,968 votes, or 24 percent, 142 votes behind Mr. Mealy.
Long-time Fishers Island Town Justice Louisa Evans, who also represents the island on the town board, won re-election to her seat, running unopposed.
Democrats also had a good showing in the three-seat Southold Town Trustee race, with Eric Sepenoski the top vote-getter, with 4,331 votes. He was followed by Democrat Liz Gillooly with 4,133 votes and Republican Kristina Gabrielsen with 4,112 votes. Republican Peter Johnstone, Jr. had 4,037 votes, Democrat Elizabeth Peeples had 4,028 votes and Republican Jason Taggart had 3,964 votes on election night. Town Trustees oversee the waterways throughout town.
Republican Town Clerk Candidate Denis Noncarrow, who currently serves as Southold Town’s Government Liaison Officer, took 54.7 percent of the vote, while Candace Hall, an insurance broker, took 45.3 percent.
Democratic Highway Superintendent candidate Daniel Goodwin took 51.2 percent of the vote, or 4,237 votes, while Republican candidate Donald Grim took 48.3 percent of the vote, or 4,045 votes.
Republican Town Justice Eileen Powers and Town Assessor candidates Kevin Webster and Charles Sanders won, running unopposed.
In Southampton
While Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, a Democrat, was victorious with no challenger, Republicans had a some gains Tuesday night in Southampton.
East Quogue Citizens Advisory Committee President Cynthia McNamara, a Republican, was the top vote-getter in the town council race, with 27.3 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Tommy John Schiavoni, the only incumbent in the race, with 25.3 percent of the vote. Ms. McNamara will fill the seat vacated by Democrat Julie Lofstad, who did not seek re-election.
Republican candidate Ann Thomas, who worked in institutional risk management on Wall Street, took 24.3 percent, followed by Democrat Robin Long, an attorney and town planning board member, took 23.2 percent.
Incumbent Town Trustees had a good night, with four incumbents running for five seats all re-elected. Democrat Bill Pell the top vote-getter, along with Republicans Edward Warner, Jr. and Scott Horowtz just behind.
William Parash, a Republican who is not on the board, was the fourth top vote-getter, while incumbent Democrat Ann Welker was also reelected.
The victors were trailed in the polls by Robert Savage, a Republican and Martha Reichert, Jr, Will Peckham and Andrew Brosnan, all Democrats, listed in order of the number of votes they received.
Incumbent Town Justice Barbara Wilson was re-elected with 31 percent of the vote, along with her running mate Patrick Gunn, with 27 percent of the vote.
Democratic candidates Adam Grossman and Shari Oster had 22.4 and 19.5 percent of the vote, respectively.
Republican Highway Superintendent Candidate Charles McArdle was victorious over Democrat Thomas Neely in a 52.7 to 47.2 percent vote.
Longtime Town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer, endorsed by both the Republicans and the Democrats, was re-elected, running unopposed.
In East Hampton
Incumbent Democratic East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc was a clear winner Tuesday night, with 46.9 percent of the vote when all districts finally finished reporting just before 1 a.m. Wednesday. Independence Party candidate Jeffrey Bragman, a current Councilman who was passed over by town Democrats to run for re-election, had 28.2 percent of the vote, while Republican Kenneth Walles had 24.9 percent.
Democrats were far-and-away the winners in the Town Council race, with Cate Rogers and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez with 28.7 and 28.5 percent of the vote, respectively in the race for two seats.
They were followed by Republicans Joseph Karpinski and George Aman with 16 and 14.7 percent, respectively and Independence Party candidate John Whelan with 12.1 percent of the vote.
A number of incumbents running unopposed keep their seats, including Town Clerk Carole Brennan, Superintendent of Highways Stephen Lynch, Town Justice Steven Tekulsky and Assessor Eugene De Pasquale.
The Town Trustee race for nine seats mostly favored incumbents, with all incumbents running, other than Rick Drew, an outspoke critic of the South Fork Wind Farm, who lost the support of Town Democrats this year and was running on the Independence and Working Families party line, all in the lead as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
In order of the number of votes they received, winners in the Trustee race were James Grimes, Francis Bock, Susan McGraw-Keber, William Taylor, David Cataletto, Benjamin Dollinger, Tim Garneau, John Aldred and Michael Martinsen.
The winners were followed, in order of number of votes received, by David Talmage, Reginald Cornelia, Manny Vilar, Alfred Schaffer, Lona Rubenstein, Willy Wolter, Deborah Ann Schwartz and Rick Drew.
On Shelter Island
Despite the fact that he was running unopposed, Democratic Town Supervisor Gerry Siller took just 70 percent of the vote. Why? Thirty-seven people voted for him, while 16 other people wrote in a candidate.
Democratic Council candidate Brett Surerus won 38.8 percent, while incumbent Republican Councilwoman Amber Brach-Williams won 32.7 percent in a three-way race for two full-term seats on the Town Board, followed by Republican Margaret Larsen with 28.6 percent. Just 98 people voted in this race.
Democratic candidate Barbara Jean Ianfolla won the third seat on the board in a special election to fill the seat of Councilman Mike Bebon, who resigned earlier this year. Ms. Ianfolla took 65.5 percent, while Republican candidate Marcus Kaasik took 34.5 percent of the vote.
Re-elected, running unopposed, were Highway Superintendent Brian Sherman and Assessor Patricia Castoldi.
Democratic Town Clerk candidate Kristina Martin-Majdisova took 60.3 percent of the vote, while Republican Dorothy Ogar took 39.7 percent.
