Handshakes beat big spenders in East End town races

Big political spending has come to the small towns of the East End, though heavy out-of-town contributions failed to sway voters this Election Day.

Outside interests -- from charter helicopter companies to an energy billionaire to a police union -- were among the biggest donors in East End town races, spending nearly half a million dollars trying to unseat incumbents in East Hampton and Riverhead, a Newsday analysis of campaign finance records found.

"The East End is a major center of fundraising activity, but we usually associate it with state and national candidates," said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies. "So why, when somebody cares about their property, would they not invest in trying to elect the officials who think more like they do?"

Even so, sitting officials in both towns batted away well-financed challengers on Nov. 3. Levy said the lesson is that, in small-town politics, handshakes and shoe leather can trump big money.

"In a small election, where it's easier to go directly to the voters with relatively little money, campaign cash is likely to be less decisive," he said.

People and groups connected to the helicopter industry spent $389,000 trying to unseat East Hampton Supervisor Larry Cantwell and his Democratic running mates, Sylvia Overby and Peter Van Scoyoc, records show -- part of a dispute over anti-noise air-traffic restrictions the town board passed in April.

That's more than the money raised this year by town Democratic and Republican parties combined. Democrats, though outspent, swept the town board race.

More than $280,000 flowed into the East Hampton Leadership Council, a group linked to the helicopter industry that financed ads supporting the town Republican slate. The East Hampton GOP received $107,300 -- two-thirds of its funding -- from people and corporations linked to helicopter operators, many from Manhattan and New Jersey, the analysis of campaign spending showed.

A spokesman for the East Hampton Leadership Council said that in an "extremely short amount of time" the group "drove a significant conversation around many critical issues facing our community." He said the organization looks forward to "continuing to play an active role" in the town.

The Quiet Skies Political Action Committee, an anti-noise group, by contrast, raised $6,000 for Democrats. Actor Alec Baldwin, a Manhattan resident with a home in Amagansett, was among the biggest Democratic donors in the race, giving $5,000.

Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter, relegated to the Conservative line after losing a GOP primary in September, won a fourth term despite spending by the Suffolk PBA's super PAC and Manhattan billionaire John Catsimatidis. Walter faced Republican Councilwoman Jodi Giglio and Democrat Anthony Coates.

Catsimatidis made the largest contribution by an individual to the Riverhead GOP this year: $15,000. The energy, real estate and supermarket magnate tried and failed this spring to convince town officials to allow him to expand an oil terminal he owns on the Riverhead Long Island Sound coast.

The Long Island Law Enforcement Foundation, a super PAC funded almost entirely by the Suffolk PBA, spent $54,772 trying to unseat Walter. That's more than the super PAC spent in any other contest, including the Suffolk County executive race. It was the only town race the group was involved in.

Riverhead has its own police department, which is outside Suffolk's jurisdiction. Walter has alleged the Suffolk PBA wants to merge the Suffolk and Riverhead police forces. Suffolk PBA president Noel DiGerolamo, who has denied the claim, could not be reached for comment.