Republicans sweep Supreme Court race

Candidates endorsed by Republicans won all 10 State Supreme Court seats in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial returns.

Supreme Court candidates run in Nassau and Suffolk, and voters were asked to choose 10 from a list of 21. Democratic election commissioners in both counties said Thursday that Republicans took all 10 seats.

The Supreme Court winners are Republicans Joseph Santorelli, Jerome Murphy, Anthony Parga, Thomas Adams, Margaret Reilly, Paul Baisley and Roy Mahon, and Conservatives John Collins, Joseph Pastoressa and R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. The biggest vote-getter among Democrats, James Doyle, had 13,497 fewer votes than Mahon, who got the fewest votes among the Republicans and Conservatives, according to final tallies.

No candidate has requested a recount, but more than 18,000 absentee ballots have been submitted. Absentee ballots have to be postmarked by Monday and are due at the boards of election no later than Tuesday. Voters in Nassau and Suffolk requested more than 31,000 absentee ballots, and none will be counted until after the Tuesday deadline.

Absentees can include military personnel, vacationers and the ill and physically disabled.

In Nassau, the only Democrat to win a judicial contest was District Court incumbent Sharon Gianelli. In Suffolk, three Republicans who had Democratic endorsements -- John Czygier Jr. for Surrogate's Court and John Iliou and G. Ann Spelman for District Court -- won judicial races.