Here’s my take on those who gained and those that lost in this year’s game of Nassau politics.
WINNERS
Madeline Singas: Nassau’s acting-District Attorney earned a four-year term promoting her credentials as a non-political career prosecutor committed to rooting out corruption wherever it is and whoever is responsible.
Tired of countywide GOP scandals, Republicans and Conservatives deserted their party’s unqualified candidate, Kate Murray, in droves to vote for the competent and experienced Singas.
John Venditto: The long-time Oyster Bay town supervisor won re-election by only 99 votes. His unknown and under-financed Democratic opponent John Mangelli surged in this Republican stronghold after the indictment of big-time politically connected vendor Harendra Singh, who had questionable contracts and financial arrangements that were blessed by Venditto and the township’s legislative body.
With Federal investigators searching every nook and cranny in Oyster Bay, one can only wonder if he will serve out his 10th term of office.
Judi Bosworth: Unlike her predecessor, Jon Kaiman, who barely skated by in his last two campaigns for North Hempstead supervisor, Bosworth won in a landslide receiving 68 percent of the vote. She proved that voters reward honest hard work, civil demeanor and dedication to public service.
Anthony Santino: He pulled off an impressive victory in the race for Hempstead Town Supervisor. Santino, Nassau County GOP spokesman for many years, managed to garner 60 percent of the vote, as incumbent Town Supervisor Kate Murray went down in flames in the DA’s race. It will be interesting to learn if his first allegiance is to the taxpayers or to Boss Joe Mondello.
Bruce Blakeman: After losing races for state Comptroller, U.S. Senator, Congress and county Legislature, Nassau’s leading political narcissist finally won a race. The downwardly-mobile Blakeman was elected to the Hempstead Town Council. Boy oh boy, what an accomplishment for the 60-year-old Blakeman.
LOSERS
Ed Mangano: The county executive’s administration is in shambles. He has an ever-growing structural operating deficit he is incapable of fixing. Court transcripts indicate Mangano said he would invoke Fifth Amendment rights if called to testify in the Skelos trial. There are allegations he accepted expensive free vacations and tens of thousands of dollars of free meals from indicted vendor and restaurateur Harendra Singh.
Rob Walker: Nassau’s first deputy county executive testified against his political crony, Sen. Dean Skelos. Although Walker received federal immunity for taking the stand in the Skelos trial, he admitted he received no protection from ongoing federal investigations involving county contracts for campaign donors and business pushed to a personal friend. Will Walker soon cut a deal and throw Mangano under a NICE bus?
Kate Murray: The popular Hempstead Town Supervisor permitted herself to be talked into running for Nassau DA despite the fact she had no prosecutorial experience.
Appalled by her lack of credentials, the voters overwhelmingly rejected her. She even lost Hempstead receiving only 45 percent of the vote. Will her next job be acting county executive if Mangano resigns his post?
Jon Kaiman: The NIFA Chairman’s self-proclaimed cost-neutral wage deal with the public employees union has been a disaster. It has driven the county deeper into the red to the tune of $70 million annually.
Political wags are asking what Kaiman actually does to earn the $150,000 he’s paid annually as Gov. Cuomo’s Long Island’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery Czar.
Given references to NIFA’s role in approving the controversial AbTech contract and former North Hempstead Councilman Tom Dwyer’s role with Adam Skelos, there are questions if one of NIFA’s board members has been interviewed or deposed by the feds.
Marlin’s latest book is “Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy”.
