Perry Gershon seeks rematch against Rep. Lee Zeldin

Democrat Perry Gershon, who lost a multimillion dollar race against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) last fall, will formally announce Saturday that he wants a rematch.

Gershon of East Hampton will kick off his campaign at Painter’s Restaurant in Brookhaven hamlet at 2 p.m. Gershon said he hopes to raise $500,000 by summer for his 2020 campaign.

Gershon spent $5.02 million — including more than $2 million of his own money — on his 2018 campaign, which included a bruising five-way primary last September. Zeldin, who had no primary, spent $4.45 million on the race.

Zeldin got 139,027 votes to Gershon's 127,991 last November.

Gershon, a businessman, lives in East Hampton Town while Brookhaven Town makes up the biggest part of the district.

The only other potential Democratic contender at this point is Nancy Goroff, chair of the Stony Brook University chemistry department. Goroff is working with 314 Action, a political action committee and nonprofit that specializes in developing candidates with science backgrounds.