GOP made significant inroads on LI in election

Democrats outnumber Republicans on Long Island, but the GOP made significant inroads in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Tuesday compared with the 2010 gubernatorial election, according to county election data.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo lost Suffolk County to Republican opponent Rob Astorino by a percentage point, after previously winning the county by 19 points.

Cuomo beat Astorino by 9 points in Nassau -- compared with his 25-point win over Republican Carl Paladino in the county in 2010.

Midterm elections historically draw fewer voters than presidential elections, and this year's gubernatorial race saw far lower voter turnout than usual. In Nassau, 32 percent of voters turned out, down 11 points from 2010. Suffolk had a 34 percent turnout rate, a 10-point dip from 2010.

Political experts and county party leaders said Cuomo's reduced margins on Long Island were due to factors including greater motivation among Republicans to vote in competitive congressional races, and apathy among Democrats who believed Cuomo's lead in the polls would ensure his victory without their votes.

"Democrats didn't feel passionately about Cuomo -- they didn't especially feel that their vote was going to make a difference in the outcome," said Lawrence Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

Republicans "were caught up in the excitement of this great red wave that washed across the country, and came out in better numbers," Levy said.

Cuomo captured large swaths of western Nassau, including the communities of Valley Stream, Elmont, Hempstead, Uniondale and Roosevelt.

Astorino won small pockets in Nassau, including Oyster Bay. He showed more widespread support on Suffolk's East End, where he carried districts stretching from Rocky Point on the North Shore to Center Moriches on the South Shore.

There are 371,490 registered Democrats in Nassau and 328,503 Republicans, according to the latest state election figures. In Suffolk, there are 320,032 Democrats and 312,447 Republicans.While Cuomo carried all of Suffolk's 10 towns in 2010, Astorino managed to take five this time: Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, Riverhead and Smithtown.

Astorino's largest margin of victory over Cuomo was in Smithtown, where he received 17,021 votes compared with Cuomo's 12,283. In 2010, Cuomo took 19,433 votes to Paladino's 17,464 in the town.

Suffolk Democratic Committee chairman Richard Schaffer said low voter turnout in the county contributed to Cuomo's loss in Suffolk.

"Some of our Democrats stayed home -- they thought it was a foregone conclusion based on polls," Schaffer said of the governor's 's race.

Suffolk GOP chairman John Jay LaValle said Astorino and Republicans were able to boost turnout through aggressive campaigning. "Our volunteers were pounding the pavement," LaValle said.

In 2010, Cuomo carried the three Nassau towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay. On Tuesday, Cuomo lost Oyster Bay to Astorino by 3,800 votes, but held Hempstead and North Hempstead.

In 2010, Cuomo won Oyster Bay with 49,932 votes compared with Paladino's 37,453.

In Hempstead, Cuomo received 40,000 fewer votes than in his first gubernatorial run, collecting 91,242 votes this year, while Astorino received 74,044 votes. In 2010, Cuomo received 41,822 votes in North Hempstead, which dropped off by 30 percent this election to 28,552 votes. Astorino received 19,963 votes in North Hempstead.

Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said low turnout among Democrats may have led to Cuomo's lower numbers in the county.

"I am surprised that with the governor's record . . . particularly on issues like the property tax cap, the SAFE act, things that would resonate in Nassau particularly, that the governor's numbers weren't stronger," Jacobs said. "All that said, he did win."

Nassau GOP chairman Joseph Mondello said Astorino managed to close the gap in Nassau because he "was a very active candidate, he was out and about."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.