Three-way scrum for Riverhead GOP chair

A three-way race is underway for Riverhead Republican chairman. Party committee members will convene Wednesday to elect a replacement for Nancy Reyer (in photo), who resigned last month.

Vying for chair are: John Galla, WRIV radio talk show host and veteran GOP campaign operative; Frank Seabrook, a tea party activist and blog publisher from Wading River, and Mario Carrera, a Suffolk public works employee and a party committee member from Jamesport.

The party’s 41 committee members will meet at the Elks Lodge to pick the new leader who will serve the remainder of Reyer’s term which is up September.

Seabrook said, “I’m running a campaign of unity and of being a fresh face. I’m looking to inject [the party with] a vitamin B-12 shot.”

Carrera, who oversees county public works construction projects as a clerk of the works, said that he would “bring reality to the table” as someone who was laid off when Grumman cut back Long Island operations. “I understand what families go through,” he said.

Galla worked as a media consultant in the late Perry Duryea’s 1978 gubernatorial campaign and has done radio work for many East End and Brookhaven political contenders. “It’s a difficult choice and we’re leaving it to the committee,” said the Wading River resident. “But in the end we’ll all be there together.”