Bishop leads Altschuler in 1st Congressional race

For the fifth-straight day, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) gained on Republican Randy Altschuler of St. James in the counting of absentee ballots in the 1st Congressional District, the two campaigns said Monday.

Spokesmen for Bishop and Altschuler couldn't agree on the exact margin - Bishop's said he leads by 206 votes, Altschuler's placed the margin at 202 - but the four-term incumbent has for the first time a significant lead in the race with absentee ballot counting set to finish Tuesday.

"The more votes we count, the more Tim picks up," Bishop spokesman Jon Schneider said. "I feel real good about where we are right now."

The Suffolk Board of Elections won't release absentee vote numbers until the counting is completed in Yaphank, but less than 2,000 ballots remain. Bishop's camp placed the number at 1,912 in 125 election districts. Altschuler's said there are 1,790 in 89 districts.

All of the remaining absentee ballots come from Brookhaven Town, where Bishop narrowly defeated Altschuler on Election Day. Once the absentee counting is complete, elections officials and attorneys will determine the fate of the more than 1,700 ballots the two campaigns have challenged.

Altschuler's campaign has challenged about 330 more ballots than has Bishop's, though the campaigns disagree on the numbers.

"Of course we would like to be in a better position," Altschuler spokesman Rob Ryan said. "But absentee ballot counts are like a roller coaster and tomorrow we have a good chance of going back up."

On Election Day it appeared Bishop held a 3,461-vote lead and appeared to have defeated Altschuler. But three days later elections officials checked the county's voting machines and found Altschuler had a 383-vote lead. The difference was blamed on miscommunications between poll workers phoning in results and officials taking the calls at elections headquarters.

Meanwhile, in Mineola, a special referee appointed to help expedite a resolution to 879 contested ballots in the race between state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Mineola Mayor Jack Martins, a Republican, adjourned his hearing until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Referee Jeffrey Grob, appointed Friday by Nassau Supreme Court Justice Ira Warshawsky, who has oversight of the election results, is not expected to complete his hearing Tuesday. Martins, who was leading by 403 votes in the morning is still leading by that number, as no votes were added to either side Monday.

"There still is a lot of research to be done and arguments to made before him by both sides," said Democratic Elections Commissioner William Biamonte.

John Ryan, counsel to Acting Republican Elections Commissioner Carol Busketta, differed. "The referee should be done tomorrow [Tuesday]," he said. "We took out the tenuous objections, and we're now down to the real meat."

About 170 of the remaining uncounted challenged ballots must be acted upon by Warshawsky, election officials said.
County Attorney John Ciampoli said the 170 ballots result from a GOP mailing out of Albany that told people they could vote by mail.

The lawyers have agreed to disagree on 80 ballots, and another 70 still must be reviewed by both sides. Whatever they can't agree on will go before Grob. His decision and rationale will be put in a report to Warshawsky, the court's final arbiter.

Key players in the absentee ballot counting

THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS COMMISSIONERS

THE JOB: Election commissioners are responsible for the audits, absentee ballot examinations and - should it come to it - recounting ballots by hand.

William Biamonte, 51, of Oceanside, has served in the post since 2006 and previously was chief of staff to the Nassau Legislature's Democratic majority.

Carol Demauro Busketta, 55, of Garden City, is a longtime Nassau GOP elections official who became acting commissioner upon the September retirement of Commissioner John DeGrace.

Anita Katz, 57, of Deer Park, was named Suffolk's Democratic commissioner in 2003. She was chief of staff for Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer when he was Babylon supervisor.

Wayne Rogers, 63, of Port Jefferson, Republican, was chief labor adviser to former Islip Supervisor Peter McGowan and senior deputy labor commissioner for County Executive Robert Gaffney before his confirmation by the Legislature in October.

THE PARTY ATTORNEYS

DEMOCRATS

Thomas Garry, 41, represents both Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Biamonte. Garry quarterbacked Tom Suozzi's team during the 2009 Nassau County executive race recount and was named by Suozzi in December to the Long Island Regional Planning Board.

Steven Schlesinger, 59, of Laurel Hollow, represents state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) and Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Shoreham). He is the counsel for the Nassau Democratic Party. He has also represented Donald Trump and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.

REPUBLICANS

Vincent Messina, 48, of Holbrook, represents Randy Altschuler and is a former Islip Town attorney and a longtime election lawyer for Suffolk Republicans.

Peter Bee, 58, represents Mineola Mayor Jack Martins. He is a former Garden City mayor who has represented Nassau County Republicans, including County Executive Ed Mangano in last year's election recount.