A red wave in the North

Republicans win big on election night

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As of Wednesday morning, Republicans in Nassau County-wide races were inching toward a GOP sweep.

On election night, Bruce Blakeman, the Republican Town of Hempstead councilman, had surged past incumbent Democrat Laura Curran in the race for county executive. At press time, an official winner had not been declared, but Blakeman had 52 percent of the vote to Curran’s 48 percent. Close to 20,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted, however.

On Wednesday morning, Curran had not conceded the race, saying, “This is not over, and we must trust the process.”

“I think the Republican Party was on the right side of the issues,” Blakeman said. “The two biggest issues were taxes, and people were very upset with the broken reassessment system.  They were very upset they were not getting the tax relief they were entitled to.”

What was certain: Republican Anne Donnelly, a 32-year career prosecutor in the Nassau district attorney’s office, was declared the winner in the contest for D.A. Donnelly defeated State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, garnering 60 percent of the vote.

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino, a Republican, was re-elected, receiving 71 percent of the vote and defeating Democrat Amanda Field, a     Plainview Water District commissioner.

Republican Oyster Bay Town Council members Tom Hand, 61, a former commissioner of the Massapequa Water District; Lou Imbroto, 37, a litigation attorney in private practice; and Michele Johnson, 47, an attorney, were also re-elected. Hand was originally appointed to the post in March 2017, and Johnson in July 2013. When they ran for office those same years, they won by large margins.

This year, Johnson received the most votes, followed by Imbroto and Hand. Republican Town Clerk Richard LaMarca was also re-elected, garnering 68 percent of the vote.

“It’s only the beginning working with great people like Michele Johnson, Lou Imbroto, Tom Hand and Rich LaMarca,” Saladino said in his victory speech. “We are embarking on a journey where we prove we deliver on our promises, protecting taxpayers, protecting the quality of life and protecting safe communities.”

Saladino, 59, of Massapequa, was a state assemblyman for 13 years before giving up his seat to lead the Town of Oyster Bay. He was appointed supervisor in February 2017 after John Venditto, who later died, resigned because he faced federal corruption charges. Saladino won in November 2017 with 52 percent of the vote. When he ran for re-election in 2019, he won with 59 percent.

Delia DeRiggi-Whitton was re-elected in the 11th Legislative District, defeating challenger Meagan McCarty with 62 percent of the vote, and in the 18th Legislative District, Republican challenger Paolo Pironi was leading Democratic incumbent Josh Lafazan by about 250 votes.

At press time, absentee ballots had yet to be counted. All results were therefore unofficial.