Republicans win almost all LI judgeship elections

In a year when Democrats won three top statewide offices, Long Island Republicans captured nearly all judgeships that were up for grabs in Wednesday's elections, including the coveted Nassau County Surrogate's Court spot.

Edward W. McCarty III, a State Supreme Court justice and a Republican, beat his Democratic rival, John B. Riordan, by a narrow margin. Unofficial results showed that McCarty won by a little more than a percentage point.

Surrogate is a specialized court that oversees the distribution of assets of the deceased.

"Nassau Republicans had a great night," said Anthony Santino, a spokesman for Nassau County Republican chairman Joseph Mondello. "Winning the Surrogate Court is a very critical position. That is something we're very happy about."

Only one Democrat, Helen Voutsinas, 36, of Merrick, won a seat in a contested race. Voutsinas, a law clerk, took one of two open spots on Nassau's 2nd District Court. The other spot went to Republican David W. McAndrews, 58, of Westbury.

Conservative Bernard C. Cheng won a seat on the Suffolk Family Court bench. The other open seat went to Republican Caren L. Loguercio.

In Nassau, Santino said party members worked hard to get Republican voters to turn out for Tuesday's election, which he said led to their success. "It was a solid grass-root effort by the Republican organization, from the leaders on down," Santino said.

Jay Jacobs, Nassau Democratic chairman, did not return a call seeking a comment.

In the tight State Supreme Court races, all four Republicans who were backed by the Conservative Party beat out the four Democratic rivals. The winners were W. Gerard Asher, Andrew A. Crecca, Norman Janowitz and Daniel R. Palmieri.

Other winners were:

Nassau Family Court: Merik R. Aaron

Nassau District Court, 4th District: Margaret C. Reilly

Suffolk County Court: Stephen L. Braslow and James C. Hudson, both of whom were cross endorsed, and Stephen Behar.

Suffolk District Court, 2nd District: Toni A. Bean and Joseph A. Santorelli; 3rd District: Martin I. Efman and John Andrew Kay; 5th District: Philip Goglas.