Suffolk Conservatives, GOP partied separately on Election Night

In a sign of their ongoing rift with the GOP, Suffolk Conservatives broke from the usual practice of celebrating election night with Republicans and took in returns at a separate party in Holtsville.

More than 125 celebrated as nine Conservatives on the ballot won, led by Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter, who prevailed in a three-way race running solely on the minor-party line.

Edward Walsh, the Suffolk Conservative chairman who is at war with Suffolk GOP chairman John Jay LaValle, said the GOP needs his party to even be competitive. “We had a great night. Our message resonated through all the mudslinging and nonsense. Our party reaches the people,” said Walsh, who is fighting federal charges that he was paid in his job as a Correction lieutenant during hours he didn’t work.

He also lambasted the GOP chairman: “John LaValle’s leadership is terrible. He talks a good game, but where are the foot soldiers, the mailings and the hard work?” LaValle said he had “100 times more bodies on the street than Conservatives,” whose members make up only 2.5 percent of the electorate. “People vote on their line because they want to see a more conservative national Republican party,” said LaValle, “but the more they know about Ed Walsh the less likely they are to vote Conservative. People are disgusted by him.”