Al Krupski enters Southold Town supervisor race

Suffolk County Legis. Al Krupski, a Democrat who has served in various public offices for more than three decades, has announced his bid for Southold Town supervisor.

Supervisor Scott Russell, a Republican who has been in office since 2006, said he will not seek reelection to another four-year term.

Krupski recalled his roots in the town, saying he and his wife, Mary, "raised our children here … And we have three grandchildren [and] one very close to being on the way this month. We want to make sure that this is a town that they can grow up in and it retains the character of the town that I grew up in.

Krupski, 62, of Cutchogue, will not seek reelection to his seat in the county legislature's First District, which is up in November.

Krupski is slated to be term-limited from the legislature, where he represents voters from Calverton to Orient and on Shelter Island, at the end of 2025.

Krupski was first elected to the county legislature in a 2013 special election to fill the seat vacated by Republican Ed Romaine, who was elected Brookhaven Town supervisor.

Before that, Krupski served on the Southold Town Board and on the Southold board of trustees, a separate governing body charged with overseeing some waterways.

Krupski also operates Krupski’s Pumpkin Farm in Peconic along with his wife.

Russell, 58, said he would pursue unspecified business opportunities after serving as supervisor for 18 years.

“That's a fairly unprecedented run and I think it's really time to more or less move on to other things,” said Russell, who has endorsed Krupski.

Southold Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathryn Casey Quigley said Krupski will be a formidable candidate in an election cycle she said would driven by issues such as affordable housing and environmental protection. The election is Nov. 7.

“As long as I've known him, he has been passionately committed to Southold,” Casey Quigley said. “It's really an honor that he's stepping up."

Southold Town GOP Chairman Pete McGreevy said his committee is screening candidates and has not yet selected a supervisor candidate. 

“We’ll have a slate finalized within the next week,” McGreevy told Newsday.

The Democratic town committee plans to formally nominate Krupski at its March 2 convention, Casey Quigley said.

Nominating petitions can be circulated beginning Feb. 28, and are due to the Suffolk County Board of Elections April 3-6. 

Southold, a farming community and second-home enclave with a population of about 24,000, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, has recently seen its political demographics shift.

The number of registered Democrats in the town has grown in the past five years, and they outnumber registered Republicans by a small margin, — 6,230 to 6,032 — Casey Quigley said.

In 2018, Republicans outnumbered Democrats 6,143 to 4,724, she said.

There also are 4,811 voters unaffiliated with a political party.

Keith Davies, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Democratic Party, said the party has not yet announced a candidate for Krupski’s legislature seat.

Suffolk County GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia said he and representatives of town committees in Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southold and Shelter Island are screening potential candidates.

“I feel confident going into this process that we will have a candidate that will have a great shot of returning the First Legislative District back into Republican control,” Garcia said.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.