Long Island ‘has become a Republican bastion’ as GOP candidate wins last Democrat-held seat, other local councils flipped
A red wave has washed up over Long Island.
Not only did the last major countywide seat in Nassau and Suffolk held by a Democrat get scooped up by a GOP candidate in Tuesday’s election, but even several local town councils managed to flip red.
Republican Ed Romaine’s landslide victory over Democrat David Calone to become Suffolk County executive means the GOP now occupies all major seats in Nassau and Suffolk — including both county executive seats, the district attorney and comptroller’s offices and all four congressional seats.
But they also soaked up much smaller races, too, including winning control of Long Beach City Council — despite the Nassau County enclave, which borders Queens, being entirely run by Dems for nearly 15 years.
“Long Island has become a Republican bastion,” New York State GOP chairman, Ed Cox, told The Post Wednesday.
In Long Beach, the victorious GOPers — Brendan Finn, Mike Reinhart and Chris Fiumara — managed to secure three of the five council seats up for grabs in a region heavily populated by Big Apple retirees, cops and firefighters.
The surging migrant crisis, crime and high cost of living meant the Republican candidates were heavily favored — even in the beachside Democratic stronghold, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
“Long Beach has a history of corruption and high taxes,” Blakeman said. “Long Beach is a beautiful beach town. It has a lot going for it. But it’s too expensive. The Democratic government took the people for granted.”
Meanwhile, the North Hempstead Town Board, located in Nassau County, also turned red after being controlled by Democrats since 1989 — with Republican Edward Scott winning his party an additional seat there.
Republican Jen DeSena was also reelected as North Hempstead’s town supervisor, who also has a board vote, after securing her initial win from the Dems in 2021.
Elsewhere, GOPer Joseph Saladino overwhelmingly secured his re-election as Oyster Bay’s town supervisor, while Republican incumbent Don Clavin also declared victory to regain Hempstead town supervisor.
The local wins, coupled with Romaine’s victory to become the first GOP Suffolk County executive in two decades by capturing 57% of the 277,857 vote cast, should have Dems running scared going into 2024, several top Empire State Republicans warned.
“Our victories in 2023 sets a great stage for the House races next year. People want Republicans representing them,” Nassau County Republican Party chairman, Joe Cairo, said.
“We won Long Beach. We had overwhelming victories in Hempstead and Oyster Bay. We won the majority in North Hempstead. We won the Suffolk County executive races.”
Lee Zeldin, ex-Long Island rep and GOP candidate for governor, agreed these regions would be key battlegrounds come next year.
“Clearly the pendulum has swung in our favor with independent-minded voters,” Zeldin said.
“You had a lot of non-Republicans voting for Republicans. These are issues relevant at the federal level: concerns about rising crime, rising costs and the migrant issue,” he continued. “These issues don’t magically go away. They are likely to be big issues next fall in the 2024 elections.”
Zeldin stressed, however, that Republicans shouldn’t take anything for granted given Democrats still have a huge enrollment advantage on Long Island.
One long Democratic operative blamed Albany’s left-leaning policies on crime and taxes for voters turning on their candidates, saying the trend will likely continue without shifting more to the center.
“Once again a great night for Democrats nationally is a terrible night for Democrats in New York. When will Albany get the message that we need to course correct?” said Howard Wolfson, a former campaign aide to Hillary Clinton and one-time executive director of the New York State Democratic Party.
“Voters keep telling us that they want us to pursue a more moderate approach. We are ignoring them at our peril.”
The state’s Democratic Party chair, Jay Jacobs, didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
The fresh red tidal wave is a continuation of Republican dominance over Democrats on Long Island in recent election cycles.
Pickups of two congressional seats on Long Island helped the GOP capture control of the House of Representatives in last year’s midterm elections — thanks in large part to a strong showing by Zeldin in his gubernatorial campaign.
