In Suffolk exec race, vying for face time

So many street fairs and Sunday services, so little time.

That could be the credo of Suffolk's county executive race, where -- three weeks until Election Day -- the candidates battle not only each other, but the hours in a day in an effort to boost visibility.

Republican nominee Angie Carpenter, though a former county legislator and current treasurer, holds a more obscure elected office. Democratic nominee Steve Bellone, though a strong fundraiser, has never run outside Babylon, where he serves as town supervisor.

With those hurdles in mind, Carpenter and Bellone crisscrossed the county Sunday from near sunrise to after sunset, struggling to make all the appearances on their overflowing calendars.

By the time Carpenter got to a midday Bohemia fundraiser, she'd already been at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Jones Beach, a Briarcliffe College anniversary lunch in Melville, a museum heritage brunch in Kings Park, an Islip street fair and a Weight Watchers ribbon-cutting in Deer Park.

"It's been like this seven days a week," Carpenter said after addressing the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees barbecue in Bohemia. "I knew from day one that we were going to be outspent, so we need to be out there."

Bellone, with close to $1 million, has nearly three times the cash on hand as Carpenter. But when he appeared at a ball honoring a beloved Deer Park Sons of Italy leader, he said he took nothing for granted.

"She's running a hard race," he said of Carpenter. "But people are hearing our message."

For his part, Bellone began his day with a Babylon American Legion breakfast, then attended church services in Coram and Gordon Heights. When he arrived at the Constantino Brumidi Lodge in Deer Park, other dignitaries had long left.

The reason for his tardiness? As he moved around the dance floor, Bellone showed an iPhone photo of his two daughters, ages 2 and 3, posing with pumpkins picked hours earlier, nearly as large as them. "I took an hour in between for that," he told a supporter, shortly after 5 p.m.

His day, however, wasn't over. A meet the candidates event was scheduled in Bay Shore, and Carpenter awaited.