2023 Wantagh election results: Carini, Giangregorio re-elected

Voters went to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots for the Nassau County Legislature and the Hempstead Town Board.

In the race in the Legislature’s 12th District, Republican Michael Giangregorio declared victory over his Democratic opponent, Matthew Pasternak, and will represent Wantagh and Seaford.

Giangregorio, who won his first term as legislator in a special election early this year, captured roughly 70 percent of the vote — receiving 10,492 votes out of the nearly 15,000 cast, according to unofficial results provided by the Nassau County Board of Elections.

“Thank you everyone here,” Giangregorio said Tuesday. “You brought it out for me nine months ago — we did it again. I can’t wait to work with these people and make Nassau County a better place.”

In addition to affordability and quality-of-life initiatives, Giangregorio wants to pursue grants for county projects, such as combating the opioid crisis. He also wants state and federal grants for infrastructure so the county can have affordable housing and expand.

Giangregorio said he believes in listening, and working to improve the community, and that he was just getting started with his legislative career.

This was a difficult year for the Democrats, particularly in the Town of Hempstead, where Republican incumbents won landslide victories. Town Supervisor Don Clavin won re-election with 65 percent of the vote, and his fellow incumbents, Town Clerk Kate Murray and Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll, also won by overwhelming majorities, both garnering 63 percent of the vote.

Lifelong Levittown resident John Ferretti was re-elected to his fourth term as a county legislator, beating his Democratic challenger, Matthew Malin, by over 5,000 votes. Since his first win in 2017, Ferretti has introduced a number of pieces of legislation with the aim of improving safety in local neighborhoods. He said he had improved safety and kept taxes at a manageable level throughout his time in office, but there was much left for him to accomplish.

“We sent a message again tonight,” Ferretti said, “We sent a message to Albany that you’re not going to shove apartments into our suburban neighborhoods.”

Republican incumbent Christopher Carini declared victory in the race for Hempstead’s 5th Councilmanic District, which encompasses Seaford and Freeport. Carini was first elected in 2019. Republicans had originally nominated Erin King Sweeney, but she dropped out late in the race, and Carini jumped onto the ballot just six weeks before the election. Based on the unofficial results, Carini captured 61 percent of the vote.

He said he had kept his promises to keep taxes low and make improvements throughout the district.

“Thank you to everyone in this room,” Carini said on Tuesday night. “Tomorrow we start our work and continue our fight for safe and affordable neighborhoods.”

His opponent, Jasmine Peña, a first-generation American and a small business owner, received only 39 percent of the vote.

For the third time since his first term in 2017, Republican Thomas McKevitt, a former assemblyman, was re-elected to the County Legislature, defeating his Democratic challenger, Biju Chacko, by 3,900 votes. His top priority in his fourth term, he said, would be safety in the community. McKevitt also has plans for upgrading Eisenhower Park, increasing resources for the Nassau County Correctional Center, and improving infrastructure to combat the effects of climate change.

“What it came down to was, we have a positive message — protect our families, our taxpayers, communities,” McKevitt said of his win on Tuesday night.

Chacko could not be reached for comment.

Additional reporting by Jordan Vallone