Ford defeats Tangney

After a neck-to-neck race for Nassau County’s Fourth Legislative District, Republican incumbent Denise Ford took 54 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Darlene Tangney to secure another two-year term on the county legislature.

According to unofficial results from the Nassau County Board of Elections, Ford collected 53.59 percent of the total votes to defeat Tangney, 6,901 to 5,971.

On election night, Long Beach Democratic Committee Chairman Mike Zapson noted Tangney’s healthy lead over Ford in Long Beach — 3,444 to Ford’s 3,367 — shortly after 10 p.m.

“There’s no doubt that Darlene was the hardest and most tireless campaigner that I’ve worked with in a long, long time,” he said. “When running against somebody who hasn’t had an opponent in six years, who no one has said a bad word about and who has been given a free ride, and for Darlene to beat her as convincingly as she did in Long Beach, it really shows you what a great job she did …”

Tangney thanked her husband, family, and supporters at a packed Democratic headquarters in Long Beach.

“I would be forever grateful for what I’ve learned from you guys as a team,” she said. “There were so many people who told me from the very beginning that I could not succeed with Denise Ford, an eight-year incumbent, and I proved them wrong because no matter who I met on street, they told me they didn’t know who she was.”

She added, “When I’ve had an incumbent answer to me, a nobody, for all of those times when I debated her and she could not come up with an answer — she knew that she didn’t do what she was supposed to do as a legislator, representing all of you — that speaks volumes.”

At Republican headquarters in Long Beach, Ford was declared the winner of her district. A rouse of applause and cheers filled the headquarters as she took to the microphone to address the crowd of supporters, and said that the win was a bittersweet victory.

“As happy as I am, I’m rather sad,” she said. “I enjoyed working with [the Republicans] in city government,” she said, referencing the newly elected Democratic City Council candidates. Ford said that she looked forward to her new term, and vowed to work for the betterment of the community.

“We’ll regroup … you know they’re going to mess up,” she said of the newly elected democrats. “It was a quirky year. I did not see this coming. Thank you all for your hard work. I will do my best to keep the Republican spirit alive.”