Long Island voters head to the polls Tuesday
A worker at the Suffolk County Board of Elections in Yaphank performs maintenance on electronic voting machines on Feb. 25, 2016. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday as Long Islanders cast ballots for 56 elected positions, including president, Congress and dozens of state and local offices.
At the top of the ticket, voters will pick the 45th president.
Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state, takes on Republican real estate developer Donald Trump. Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein also are on the ballot.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) seeks a fourth term in his race against Republican attorney Wendy Long. Schumer could become Senate majority leader if he wins and Democrats win the Senate.
Five Long Island House seats are up for grabs. They include the 3rd District in Nassau County, Suffolk and Queens, where former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from Glen Cove, faces Republican state Sen. Jack Martins of Old Westbury to replace retiring Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington).
In the 1st District on Suffolk County’s East End, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) is seeking a second term against former Democratic Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst.
Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) goes for a second term in the 4th District against Republican David Gurfein, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), a 12-term incumbent, faces the Suffolk Legislature’s Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) in the 2nd District. In the 5th District, which includes Queens and a small portion of Western Nassau, Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks faces Republican Michael O’Reilly and Green Party candidate Frank Francois.
In the State Senate, all nine Long Island seats are up with Democrats making a major push to win as many as five competitive races to potentially win control of the chamber.
Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) is seeking a full term in the 9th District, taking on GOP attorney Christopher McGrath of Hewlett in a rematch of their April special election. Kaminsky defeated McGrath after former Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) was convicted of federal corruption charges. Skelos is appealing.
In the 7th District seat being vacated by Martins, GOP Flower Hill Mayor Elaine Phillip faces Democrat Adam Haber, an East Hills businessman.
Democrats also are mounting campaigns against three GOP senate incumbents.
Democrat James Gaughran of Northport, the Suffolk County Water Authority chairman, takes on Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) in the 5th District. Democrat Ryan Cronin, an attorney from Garden City, is challenging 12-term Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) in the 6th District.
In the 8th District, John Brooks of Seaford, an enrolled Republican running as a Democrat, faces first-term Sen. Michael Venditto (R-Massapequa). Democrats made a push for the seat after Venditto’s father, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto, was arrested on corruption charges. John Venditto has pleaded not guilty.
All 22 Long Island Assembly seats also are up for election.
In the 20th Assembly District seat vacated when Kaminsky was elected to the Senate, Long Beach City Councilman Anthony Eramo, a Democrat, faces Republican Melissa Miller, an Atlantic Beach mother, and Green Party candidate Joseph Naham.
In the 16th District, Democrat Anthony D’Urso, a former North Hempstead Town councilman, faces Republican Matt Varvaro, an aide to former Gov. George Pataki’s presidential campaign. Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Port Washington) is not running for re-election.
In a special election to fill the seat of Nassau Legis. Judith Jacobs, who died in September, Democrat Arnold Drucker, a trustee at Nassau Community College, faces Republican Louis Imbroto, an attorney at Nassau University Medical Center.
In Hempstead, there is a race for an unexpired term in the 4th Council District, and on Shelter Island for an unexpired council term.
In judicial elections, six candidates are running for two slots on State Supreme Court. Supreme Court candidates run in both counties.
There also are races for Family Court and District Court in Nassau, and for County Court, Family Court and District Court in Suffolk. Races for town justice will take place in Riverhead, Shelter Island and Southampton.
In Smithtown, there is a race for the unexpired term of town superintendent of highways.
Residents of East Hampton, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold towns will vote on one local proposition, while voters in Riverhead will vote on two propositions.
Nassau and Suffolk residents with questions about their polling location can check here: voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx.
They also can call the Suffolk Board of Elections at 631-852-4500, or the Nassau board at 516-571-2411 or 516-571-8683.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
'I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself' Justin Timberlake appeared in a Sag Harbor court Friday to plead guilty to a lesser charge in his drunken driving case.
'I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself' Justin Timberlake appeared in a Sag Harbor court Friday to plead guilty to a lesser charge in his drunken driving case.
