A Mineola election campaign that became a bare knuckles battle between Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss and village Trustee Lawrence Werther in its final days, concluded with a clean sweep for New Line Party candidates led by Strauss in voting results on Tuesday, as village Trustee George Durham and first-time trustee candidate Dennis Walsh both topped Werther in the balloting.
The unofficial results were 1,017 votes for Strauss, who ran unopposed, with Walsh drawing 858 votes and Durham drawing 836 votes to Werther’s 463 votes. The election results were to be certified at Wednesday night’s village board meeting.
“We followed the light. It wasn’t a train. We followed through,” Strauss said, addressing a room of enthusiastic supporters in an election-night gathering at Piccola Bussola on Tuesday night.
A smiling Strauss commended his victorious running mates and party supporters on their campaign efforts.
The voting concluded a contentious campaign that saw Strauss and Werther trading charges in the final days before the balloting.
Werther, who had run with Strauss two years ago, had been dropped from the New Line Party ticket after two years of criticizing Strauss and fellow trustees for making “backroom” deals with developers.
Strauss described Werther as a man “on an absolute ego trip” who didn’t really care about Mineola residents.
Durham called Strauss “the true leader of this group” and spoke about the challenges the trustees now face.
“Now that you elected us, we have a lot of work to do. We’re still looking for that one piece downtown, the missing piece in the puzzle,” Durham said.
He was referring to the master plan to develop downtown Mineola as a destination for dining and shopping.
“I feel great,” Strauss said when asked about his reaction to the results. “We’re in a great place and we’re going to get to an even better place. We have a lot of projects ahead of us, a lot of work ahead of us.”
Werther said he had no second thoughts about his campaign strategy and said he was uncertain about running for trustee next year, when Mineola Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira and village Trustee Paul Cusato would be up for re-election.
“The people have spoken for now and we’ll see what they say a year from now,” he said
Werther said he would still attend board meetings as an active participant.
“If anybody thinks I’m going away they’re wrong. I’m not going anywhere,” Werther said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, a lot of issues to be addressed and I’m going to make sure they’re addressed.”
Durham thanked Werther for his decade of service on the village board. He said the results were a clear endorsement for the New Line candidates, and particularly an endorsement of Strauss.
“The residents believe in us, believe in what we’re doing,” Durham said. “I think by the number of people who came out, the people support the mayor and what he’s doing.”
Walsh, a civic activist who regularly attended village board meetings, said he was “very happy” with the results and the opportunity to give up his accustomed seat in the audience.
“I’m going to begin to learn more about the village. I want to be part of the team that develops the downtown,” Walsh said.
The New Line candidates followed conventional campaign tactics, walking through the village, handing out approximately 12,500 leaflets, and posting law signs, Walsh said.
Werther also conducted a conventional walking campaign but also employed a Web strategy, posting videos on a site for his MineolaMyHome party.
The New Line Party spent approximately $6,000 on the campaign, according to party treasurer Carmine Festa. Werther said he spent approximately $2,000 on his campaign.
