Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano scored a decisive re-election victory over former County Executive Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in Tuesday’s elections, earning the Bethpage Republican another four years in the county’s top elected post.
Suozzi’s comeback bid faltered in a 59 percent to 41 percent Mangano victory, four years after Mangano eked out a narrow win to unseat Suozzi in the 2009 elections.
“It feels great. I’m honored to continue in a job that I love. I thank all our residents for allowing me to do that. I can’t explain to you what a great feeling that is, especially with this overwhelming victory,” Mangano said in an interview. “This is just a great, wonderful night that is going to lead to another four years of doing something I love.”
The campaign saw Mangano stick to a no-new-taxes platform, crediting a freeze on the county’s property tax levy with boosting economic growth and reducing financial burdens on homeowners.
Suozzi defended the 23 percent tax increase he instituted early in his first term as necessary to fix the county’s bottomed-out finances, and accused Mangano of backdoor tax increases by raising fees and failing to fix the county’s assessment system.
Mangano outperformed a Newsday/News 12/Siena College poll that found him with an 11-point advantage in the week before election day. Suozzi had said that strong turnout would be key for his campaign to succeed, but lost by double digits despite a nearly 25,000 jump in county executive race voters compared to 2009.
“Unfortunately, the vision that we had for the future of Nassau County and the need to change Nassau County for the future was not compelling enough to win the race,” said Suozzi in his concession address at the Democrats’ results watch party at the Chateau Briand in Westbury.
Suozzi said he would continue his career in public service, though he said he did not yet know what his next move would be.
Republicans also won re-election in the county comptroller and county clerk races, with Comptroller George Maragos (R-Great Neck) holding off former Comptroller Howard Weitzman 53 percent to 47 percent in another 2009 rematch and county clerk Maureen O’Connell betting Democratic challenger Laura Gillen 57 percent to 43 percent.
“I’m ecstatic. It’s a great victory,” Maragos said. “I think we had a tremendous message for the residents of Nassau County and the best is yet to come.”
Weitzman congratulated Maragos on his victory and thanked supporters and members of the Democratic party for helping him earn the nomination and run a close race.
“When I look back over the last 12 years, I won two races, I lost two races,” Weitzman said. “The way I count, that means I had a .500 batting average and that gets me in the hall of fame.”
Despite losses at the top of their ticket, the night did offer a few bright spots for county Democrats.
Despite a contentious redistricting process that cast some Democratic lawmakers out of their seats, Democrats prevented Republicans from achieving a supermajority in the county Legislature, which ended the night with an 11-8 Republican majority.
The sole GOP pickup undercut Republican hopes for a supermajority that would allow the Mangano administration to seek bonding authority without relying on Democratic support – a common bone of partisan contention during Mangano’s first term.
Democratic District Attorney Kathleen Rice also won re-election by a 59 to 41 percent margin, defeating law clerk Howard Sturim (R.
The North Shore’s legislative districts ended in a split between Republicans and Democrats.
In the 10th district, Town of North Hempstead Intermunicipal Coordination Director Ellen Birnbaum (D) won with 64 percent of the vote against Republican candidate Jane Centrella, who was been a no-show on the campaign trail. The newly redrawn district includes Great Neck, Herricks, Manhasset, North Hills and parts of North New Hyde Park.
Incumbent Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), who previously represented the 18th district, defeated John DiMascio (R-Glen Cove) 54 percent to 45 percent for the new 11th district in a race dominated by opposing ideologies on the county’s spending practices. The new 11th district represents parts of the Incorporated Village of Roslyn, the Village of Roslyn Harbor and a sliver of the Village of Flower Hill, in addition to parts of Glen Cove and Sea Cliff, Sands Point, Manorhaven and Baxter Estates.
In the new 18th district, Donald MacKenzie (R-Oyster Bay), a commissioner of the Village of Oyster Bay Water District. defeated the current chief of staff for the Legislature’s Democractic caucus, Dave Gugerty (D-Bayville), by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin.
The 18th district now covers area as far south as the Village of East Hills and as far north as Bayville, representing the Town of Oyster Bay area north of Jericho Turnpike and extending to the Nassau-Suffolk border. Included in the district are the villages of Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Muttontown, Matinecock, Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay Cove, Lattingtown, Mill Neck, Laurel Hollow, Cove Neck and Centre Island.
The 16th district, which includes parts of the Village of Roslyn and Roslyn Heights in addition to Old Westbury, and all or part of Jericho, Syosset, Hicksville, Woodbury and Plainview, saw veteran Legislator Judi Jacobs (D-Woodbury) beat Republican challenger Louis Imbroto (Plainview) 63 percent to 37 percent.
And incumbent Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) defeated challenger Dolores Sedacca to hold on to the 9th district, which now includes the Village of New Hyde Park, part of Floral Park, part of Garden City Park, all of Mineola, Williston Park and East Williston, most of Albertson, part of Roslyn Estates and most of Manhasset.
Several judgeships were also up for grabs Tuesday.
Republicans Patricia Harrington and David Sullivan won county court seats over Democrats David Ayres and David Levine, and a Democratic slate of Erica Prager, David Goodsell and Scott Siller claimed three 3rd district court judgeships against Republicans Frank Doddato, Elizabeth Berney and Lesli Hiller.
