Government

November Assembly election looks likely

PAUL SQUIRE FILE PHOTO | Local political leaders say its unlikely Governor Andrew Cuomo will set the special election for the North Fork Assembly seat for a date sooner than Election Day in November.

There have already been two special elections this year involving the North Fork, but apparently a third isn’t on the horizon.

Political leaders on both sides of the aisle believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo will not call for a pre-November vote to fill the Assembly seat that opened up when Republican Assemblyman Dan Losquadro won the Brookhaven highway superintendent’s office in a March special election.

In January, former Southold councilman Al Krupski beat Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter to win the county Legislature post previously held by Ed Romaine, who was elected Brookhaven supervisor in November.

The most likely date for a special Assembly election seemed to be May 21, when local school board and budget elections take place statewide, but with those votes little more than a month away, that’s no longer possible.

“No one knows what the governor is thinking,” said state Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson). “It’s really a shame. I can’t tell you how many people are calling here. As the clock ticks, what is he going to do? People are going without representation.”

Scott Martella, Mr. Cuomo’s representative in Suffolk, directed a reporter’s inquiry to the governor’s press office, which did not return a call for comment this week.

Although he favors a special election, Mr. LaValle did not support holding it at the same time as the school votes.

“That’s not really viable and I can’t remember it ever happening,” said Mr. LaValle, a senator since 1977. “You’d be mixing educational and non-educational issues.”

County Democratic leader Rich Schaffer said there’s no compelling reason to hold an election before November.

“Even if there were a special election, the person elected would not participate in this year’s legislative session, which ends June 19,” he said.

Southold GOP leader Peter McGreevy disagreed.

“Obviously, securing representation for the citizens of the 2nd Assembly District is simply not a priority for the governor,” he said. “As a result, our district and our voters go unrepresented in Albany.

The 2nd Assembly District covers all of Southold, Riverhead and a broad swath of northeastern Brookhaven.

With a special election apparently off the table, both parties continue the search for candidates to run in the fall.

The Democrats have interviewed a number of potential candidates. They include Jim Waters of Waters Crest Winery in Cutchogue; Riverhead attorney John McManmon; Jennifer Maertz of Rocky Point, a former state Senate candidate; Aquebogue businessman Ron Hariri; and Thomas Schiliro of Manorville, a county parks police sergeant.

Southold Democratic leader Art Tillman favors Mr. Waters, and while Brookhaven party chairman Anthony Parlatore described him as “a very strong candidate,” he said no one has a lock on the nomination and the party is still screening potential candidates.

The Democratic county convention will take place May 18.

The GOP is also still talking to Assembly hopefuls, said Riverhead leader John Galla. The party previously screened Raymond Negron, a Mount Sinai attorney and Purple Heart recipient; John Kreutz, deputy receiver of taxes in Brookhaven Town; Mattituck attorney Stephen Kiely; Southold Town Trustee Bob Ghosio; attorney Anthony Palumbo of New Suffolk; Bill Faulk of Manorville, a former Ed Romaine aide; and Southold Town Board member Chris Talbot.

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