Glen Cove: GOP inroads, Suozzi hangs on

Republicans made inroads in the heavily Democratic terrain of Glen Cove by hammering away at Mayor Ralph Suozzi's fiscal management, or alleged lack thereof.

In a race that attracted a lot of money and energy from the county GOP, the Republicans on Tuesday captured two of the seven seats on what long has been an all-Democrat City Council, while Suozzi appears headed for a fourth term by a slender margin. Another Republican council candidate was 38 votes shy of winning a third seat.

The tally of votes cast at all polling places gave Suozzi a 117-vote lead -- 2,915 to 2,798 -- over Republican Paul Meli in their second faceoff. But 275 absentee ballots -- the majority filled out by Democrats -- remain to be counted, Nassau County Democratic Elections Commissioner William Biamonte said Wednesday.

Biamonte said there will be a recount as part of a recanvassing in the 18th Legislative District race. The absentee ballots will be counted after the deadline to file them on Tuesday.

Suozzi and Meli both said they expected a close election after a spirited campaign that focused on the city's deficit spending and how to end it. The Democrats said they were reducing spending and debt as quickly as possible in a bad economy; the Republicans said there was still fat to trim.

Republicans Anthony Gallo Jr. and Reginald A. Spinello edged out incumbent Democrat Sean Dwyer and captured the seat vacated by Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, who won a spot on the county legislature. Republican Pamela D. Panzenbeck was 38 votes behind incumbent Democrat Timothy Tenke. Meli said it's been 16 years since a Republican candidate won a council seat.

"The fact that we had the top two vote-getters among the council candidates indicates that our message was clear and people were accepting it," Meli said.

Suozzi said the Republicans "miscommunicated" the fiscal situation. "The fiscal times we are in are not controlled by me," he said. "We've done a great job of controlling expenses and bringing in new revenues."

Spinello and Suozzi pledged both parties would work together for the good of city residents. "I'm not going in to cause a ruckus," Spinello said. But he added that he and Gallo would push for a line-by-line review of the budget to look for wasteful spending.