Rich Schaffer secures Suffolk County Democratic Chair win over Southold Dem challenger Kathryn Casey Quigley

Longtime Suffolk County Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer came out victorious at Tuesday night’s biennial organizational meeting after a contentious battle with challenger Southold Town Democratic Committee Chair Kathryn Casey Quigley.

Mr. Schaffer defeated the North Fork resident with nearly 60% of the votes from committee members’ districts, with a total score of 113,010 to the 84,234 ballots cast for Ms. Quigley, according to Newsday. The Suffolk County Democratic Committee could not be reached to confirm these numbers. 

This victory continues Mr. Schaffer’s over two-decades-long tenure in the position, which he has held since 2000. He also serves as Babylon Town Supervisor. 

In an emotional video posted on her social media on Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Casey-Quigley called the loss “tough” and a “form of grief,” but felt the outcome, as well as her entire campaign, has made her stronger and more resilient. 

“What I’ve learned from being in the depths of grief is that when you’re there, you at some point just realize you have choice — you can let it take you, or you can refuse, and not give up, and I’ll just take not giving up,” Ms. Casey Quigley said. “Our country, our county, our communities, our neighbors, our friendships, our people are worth the fight, and we’re going to keep fighting.” 

Ms. Casey Quigley first announced her bid for leadership of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee at the end of last year after leading a blue wave on the North Fork in last November’s elections. 

She was first elected as the Southold Democratic Committee chair in January 2018. She briefly stepped down in 2023 for 18 months. 

She is also the co-founder of Peconic Community School and exited that role to pursue the salaried, two-year county committee chair position. The Cutchogue school has since taken on a new leader, Rachel Gomez Peterson, and Ms. Casey Quigley said she continues to work at PCS as a part-time chief financial officer. 

After taking a beat to feel the defeat, the Southold Democratic Committee chair said in her video statement she will be jumping back into supporting the Democratic candidates running in the upcoming November general election. 

This includes Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin, who is running for reelection, Democratic congressional candidate for New York’s 1st District Christopher Gallant, Democratic senatorial candidate for New York’s 1st District Christopher Murray and Assemblyman Thomas John Schiavoni, who is also running for reelection. 

Back in June during the Democratic primaries, 73 candidates she recruited for 81 contested seats won their races. Separately, she previously told The Suffolk Times the Southold Democrats are the second-best fundraising town in the county, just behind Babylon. 

“I’ll take being brave, bold and honest with you all any day of the week,” she wrote in her social media post. “It’s been a deep privilege to build with you. We have truly accomplished so much in these 10 months — imagine what more we can and will do.” 

Laura Jens-Smith, chair of Riverhead’s Democratic Committee, was one of thousands at the meeting held at the Huntington Hilton on Wednesday evening and felt the event “showed there is a lot of energy in the Suffolk Democratic Party.” 

She said now that Mr. Schaffer has been reelected, the next important step is how the Suffolk Democrats move forward and build a stronger party heading into this year’s general election. 

“Kathryn deserves a lot of credit for stepping up and helping to reinvigorate Democrats across the county,” Ms. Jens-Smith told the Suffolk Times. “Now the challenge for Rich is bringing everyone together and making sure that energy isn’t lost.” 

Social media battles have played out between the two candidates and their respective supports over the last few weeks, with allegations of potential vote-buying, bribing and coercion circulating just days before the election, as reported by City & State New York.

Mr. Schaffer received several endorsements during his campaign, including from Governor Kathy Hochul, East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, State Attorney General Letitia James, and former assemblyman Fred Thiele.