Minority turnout boosted Democrat Monica Martinez, hurt Republican Pete King in Suffolk

Heavy Democratic turnout among minority voters on Election Day boosted Monica Martinez in her state Senate campaign and damaged Republican Pete King in Suffolk.

Anger  with President Donald Trump and robust local campaigns drove heavy minority turnout in Suffolk that flipped the 3rd Senate District, a seat long held by the GOP, for Martinez, according to political experts and a Newsday analysis of unofficial election results.

Those factors also depressed overall vote tallies for King, who won re-election by the smallest margin since he was first elected in 1992

Martinez, a Suffolk County legislator from Brentwood, received more than twice as many votes in Brentwood and Central Islip election districts that overlap her legislative district as Democrat Adrienne Esposito, who in the last midterm election in 2014 lost the 3rd District race to Republican Tom Croci.

Martinez's margin in those 11 election precincts increased by 2,545 votes, compared with Esposito's returns in 2014.

With absentee ballots still to be counted, Martinez leads Assemb. Dean Murray (R-Patchogue) by 2,528 votes.

“My community came out in a powerful way,” said Martinez, who formerly worked as a Brentwood teacher and middle school administrator. Her legislative district is 58 percent Hispanic, 18 percent African American and 22 percent white, according to 2013 redistricting data.

Jesse Garcia, Brookhaven Republican chairman, credited Martinez' campaign with increasing turnout in minority areas — particularly in the 6th Assembly District in Islip, held by Democrat Phil Ramos, where Martinez built a 10,000-vote lead over Murray. 

But Garcia pointed to Republican victories in other parts of Suffolk County in state races, and in the 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) beat Democrat Perry Gershon.

"There was a big blue wave come through Long Island. I’m proud my town was able to put up a big red brick wall," Garcia said.

A jump in turnout in communities with large numbers of minorities also buoyed Democrat Liuba Grechen Shirley, a first-time candidate, in her unsuccessful race against King.

Grechen Shirley, an Amityville progressive activist, beat King in the Suffolk part of the 2nd Congressional District by 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. It was King's first loss in the Suffolk portion, county election results show.

At Northeast Elementary School in North Amityville, the polling place for seven majority-minority election districts, congressional turnout nearly doubled this year to 3,967, compared with 2,026 in 2014, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections. King’s 235-vote total was about the same as four years ago.

But King, of Seaford, overwhelmed Grechen Shirley in the Nassau County portion of the district by 15,467 votes, and won re-election by 52.3 percent to 45.8 percent, unofficial results show.

King acknowledged that  a surge in minority turnout hurt him in Suffolk, attributing it largely to the unpopularity of Trump in such suburban areas. Democrats won control of the House of Representatives after picking up 37 seats nationwide, with three still to be decided.

"It's something we’re seeing nationwide, the combination of the suburbs and minority communities going against Republicans," said King. "There are a lot of factors. The overriding one is opposition to President Trump. The Democratic Party nationally, and statewide, capitalized on that."

He said Trump's tone and message hurt Republicans.

"Each Trump rally seems to make it easier," he said.

On immigration, for instance, "we need to talk about stronger border security, but regularize people who’ve been here, who haven’t committed crimes, who are following the laws, working," King said.

"We have to stand by our principles, stand by police, stand by the military," he said. "But we're not demonizing immigrants. Be pro-immigrants. Basically, immigrants make America great."

Grechen Shirley and Martinez did not focus explicitly on Trump.

But officials of both campaigns said Trump, through his rhetoric on immigration and at political rallies aimed at firing up his base, angered many residents of minority communities.

"Our message resonated with people because they were predisposed to listen, because of the outrageous things coming out of the White House, coming out of Congress," said Anna Brichacek, campaign manager for Grechen Shirley. "They were more receptive to the strong economic message that Liuba was talking about."

Luis Montes, chairman of the Islip Democratic Party, said the key to Martinez' win was having the right candidate, and having the resources to win.

“I don’t think Trump was mentioned once in the material,” he said. But, he added, “I think Trump was omnipresent. I don’t think you can take that away.” 

Sandy Thomas, a founder of Mothers Club of Wheatley Heights, said she hosts a candidate's forum before every November election that typically draws 30 people. This year, 120 people came, Thomas said.

"It was packed," said Thomas. "I think it’s a backlash to our current national administration."

By David M. Schwartz

dschwar1@newsday.comschwartznewsNY

David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.