4 years before Maria Delgado, Huntington insurgents with GOP ties tried a similar election tactic

A political tactic designed to siphon votes from major party candidates that may have tipped the outcome of last year's Huntington town supervisor’s race was employed four years earlier by candidates with ties to the town's Republican committee and current supervisor.

In early 2021, Democratic town candidates were endorsed by the liberal state Working Families Party and expected to appear on both parties' ballot lines in the general election. But a surprise emerged, with three candidates securing enough petitions to trigger a primary for the minor-party line. The insurgents failed; the Democratic-backed slate won.

But four years later, another group of challengers qualified for a Working Families Party primary. This time they were successful, defeating Democrats who were endorsed by the minor party.

The outcome likely boosted Ed Smyth, the incumbent Republican supervisor, who was reelected in November by more than 400 votes.

The close margin, and subsequent revelations about the primary winners, has generated intense political fallout. Much of the scrutiny has focused on who is — and who backed — Maria Delgado, the 83-year-old Huntington Station woman who defeated Democrat Cooper Macco in a WFP primary for supervisor. In the general election, she received more than 1,200 votes — nearly triple the number of votes by which Smyth defeated Macco.

Delgado, who did not run a public campaign, told Newsday that she had “no idea” she was on the ballot in an interview days after the election. Records later showed that she voted during last year's primary and general elections, deepening the mystery around her candidacy.

Democrats have accused Republicans and Conservatives of propping up "ghost candidates," such as Delgado and her slate, to spoil races. Suffolk Republicans, and Smyth, have denied any involvement behind Delgado’s candidacy.  

  But Newsday found that four years earlier, three people with ties to the Huntington Republican Committee or Smyth ran unsuccessfully in 2021's primary for the minor-party line: Marissa Anderson, the supervisor candidate, as well as Michael Oddo and Robert Smitelli, who ran for town council. That November, Smyth, running on the Republican and Conservative lines, was elected to his first term as town supervisor in November.

"It’s when the Republicans were making their push,” Suffolk County Democratic Chair Richard Schaffer said in an interview. “There aren’t any such things as a coincidence.”

Oddo is the father of Christine Oddo, a former aide to Smyth when he was a Huntington town councilman, she confirmed to Newsday. Christine Oddo was also the Huntington Town director of Suffolk County’s Young Republicans Club, according to the group’s Facebook page. Smitelli is the husband of attorney Janet Smitelli, a longtime committeewoman for the Huntington Town GOP. She has run, unsuccessfully, on the Republican line for State Assembly, Suffolk County Legislature and Huntington Town receiver of taxes. She is listed online as vice president of Suffolk County's Ronald Reagan Republican Club. 

Anderson, the supervisor candidate, worked at Smyth’s private law practice at the time of the primary, Christine Oddo and Janet Smitelli confirmed to Newsday.

The practice of "ballot-raiding," in which candidates attempt to hijack minor-party lines to block major-party nominees from gaining additional ballot lines in the general election, has drawn increasing scrutiny. New York allows fusion voting, in which a candidate can appear and collect votes on multiple parties' ballot lines. The tactic is employed frequently across the state, ranging from local races in Huntington and Southampton to an upstate congressional election, Newsday has reported.

But the practice is still legal, experts have said.

"There’s the spirit of competition, and that’s probably being violated here," said Craig Burnett, a professor and chair of the political science department at Florida Atlantic University. "But it’s not the letter of the law that’s being violated."

Jesse Garcia, the Suffolk County Republican Chair, said in a statement: “The Suffolk County Republican Party has a long and proven history of winning elections at the ballot box. It is widely regarded as one of the strongest political organizations in New York State and has no need to involve itself in the internal affairs of other political parties."

Smyth declined to comment. Huntington GOP Chairman Thomas McNally did not respond to requests for comment.

In a 2021 article in the Northport Observer, which outlined political connections ahead of the scheduled primary, Smyth said he knew "nothing about it."

Anderson and Robert Smitelli could not be reached for comment. Michael Oddo declined to comment.

Contenders' connections

Democrats running for town office had the Working Families Party’s backing in early 2021: Rebecca Sanin, for town supervisor, as well as Jennifer Hebert, for town board.

Sanin defeated Anderson for supervisor in that primary, 126-5. Hebert and Joseph Schramm won the primary for the town council, with 121 and 89 votes, respectively. Schramm was a write-in candidate but had the Democrats’ backing.

According to Suffolk County Board of Elections officials, Smitelli, Michael Oddo and Anderson registered with the Working Families Party on Feb. 14, 2020. The primary was held on June 21, 2021.

Oddo had previously been registered as a Republican, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Before switching to the Working Families Party, Smitelli was a Republican and reregistered as a Republican on June 29, 2021 — one week after the primary. Anderson remains registered with the Working Families Party.

Christine Oddo said she first worked for Huntington as Smyth’s legislative secretary when he was on the Huntington Town Board. She later worked as a confidential secretary in the town's Department of Information Technology assisting the director of communications.

In addition to confirming that Michael Oddo is her father, she confirmed that Anderson was a paralegal in Smyth’s private law office when Anderson was a candidate in the 2021 WFP primary. Janet Smitelli also confirmed Anderson’s employment at Smyth’s practice.

Oddo said in a phone interview that politically speaking, “Ed often said he played within the lines but used every inch of the playing field.” She said she was fired from the town in March 2024 but was not given a reason for her termination. A town spokeswoman, Christine Geed, said in an email that Oddo was terminated on March 21, 2024. Geed said she could not comment on a personnel issue.

Janet Smitelli confirmed Robert Smitelli is her husband, but declined to comment further.

Questions raised at town board meeting

During the June 15, 2021, town board meeting, several residents raised questions about the Working Families Party primary that was scheduled for the following week, according to a transcript of the meeting.

A Northport Observer article published earlier that month reported on the details of the primary. The story noted that the two people who collected petitions for the challenger slate — Andrew White and Walter Casey — were Huntington Town employees. Signatures they collected were dated March 21 and 22, according to the Northport Observer article, which published the petitions.

White was initially hired by the town in May 2003 as a beach attendant but resigned in 2013, Geed said in an email. He was rehired on March 15, 2021, as a full-time laborer, Geed said. Two months later, on May 11, he was promoted to automotive equipment operator. Casey was hired initially in May 1997 as a summer seasonal employee, and in May 2008, was hired as a full-time laborer, Geed said.

White could not be reached for comment.

Casey, 48, said in a phone interview Tuesday he has carried petitions for years for “everybody.”

He said he didn’t recall who asked him to carry the petitions in 2021 and said his understanding was it was just a way to get a cross-endorsement.

“There’s like a main person and they just ask you, you know, because you’re on the Working Family line, can you walk a petition for them?" he said. It's "just doing legwork for them or whatever, so that’s pretty much all that is.”

He noted that Mike Pastore was "the main guy, so whatever comes from him is what people who go out and get signatures — they just go by what he asks you to do." He added, "at the end of the day he’s the one that goes to the election board and allows that to happen.” 

Newsday reported in November that Pastore, a Huntington Manor fire commissioner and longtime town employee, carried petitions for Delgado and the rest of the slate that won the 2025 WFP primary. While Pastore is registered with the Working Families Party, he backed a slate that did not have the state party's support.

Pastore said while he oversaw nominating petitions for the WFP in the past, he did not ask Casey to carry petitions in 2021. He said he had no connections to any petitions filed that year. "I didn't even know about that one," he said in a phone interview.

During the June 2021 Huntington Town Board meeting, then-Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said residents could make comments about the primary, but warned it was not to be “an inquisition.”

Mark Cuthbertson, at the time a Democratic town board member, said during the hearing that the upcoming primary was “riddled with connections,” according to the transcript of the meeting, which was held virtually.

“The optics of this stink, and I think we need to take a harder look at what has gone on here,” said Cuthbertson, who was elected in November to the judiciary as a New York State Supreme Court justice.

In the Northport Observer article, Smyth confirmed his connections to Christine Oddo, who goes by Chrissy, but said he “honestly” knew nothing about the upcoming WFP primary. He told the reporter: “But I’m going to make a lot of phone calls when I get off with you,” according to the article. The story noted that he was going to start by calling Chrissy Oddo. 

Southampton roiled, too

Christopher Malone, an associate provost at Farmingdale State College and a professor of political science, said the plan to raid the Working Families Party line likely started as early as 2020, when the challengers registered with the WFP.

“They were hatching this plot well down the road," Malone said in an interview. "When it didn’t work the first time, they tried it again and clearly it seems like it worked the second time in 2025. It’s the classic example of splitting the vote.”

In the Town of Southampton, Democrats said their lines were also hijacked in recent elections. Two of the town's elected officials — Cyndi McNamara, a Republican councilwoman, and Charles McArdle, the highway superintendent who is a registered Conservative — notarized the petitions of candidates who challenged the WFP-backed slate, Newsday reported in November.

In Huntington, Working Families Party members are trying to regroup as they accelerate plans to enroll more voters in the minor party who are sympathetic with its progressive platform. Their goal is to have enough members to withstand future challenges to the line.

In December, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation making it easier for state party organizations to remove so-called spoiler candidates from the ballot, even if they've won the primary. 

‘Encouraged' going in

Sanin said she did not recall meeting Anderson before the June 2021 primary. Her focus was on going door-to-door, meeting voters, she said.

“I was encouraged going into the race,” Sanin, now the Suffolk County legislator for the 16th District, said in an interview. "I tried to make sure people registered with the party knew who I was.”

Sanin lost the general election to Smyth in November 2021 by more than 6,000 votes.

Hebert said she was proud to have the Working Families Party's endorsement after screening with party leadership. Hebert lost in the 2021 general election, but won a town board seat last November. She took office in January.

Before the 2021 primary, a group of Republican-backed candidates in Suffolk sued to remove multiple Working Families Party candidates — including Sanin and Hebert — from the ballot. Smyth and Republican highway superintendent candidate Andre Sorrentino Jr. were among the plaintiffs. The lawsuit included candidates for Suffolk County Legislature and in the towns of Riverhead, Islip, Southold, East Hampton and Southampton. 

The lawsuit alleged that certificates for the WFP-designated slate were filed improperly with the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

The plaintiffs argued the documents were invalid because they were signed electronically, not by hand, and approved by video conference by the Working Families Party.

The defendants denied the allegations, noting the proceedings followed state laws, including emergency pandemic regulations.

State Supreme Court Associate Justice Scott DelConte dismissed the lawsuit.

“We were fortunate to come out on top in that case,” Hebert said in an interview in December, shortly before she was sworn in as a councilwoman. “Knowing that we had gone through the proper channels to screen and get the signatures and do everything on the up and up, then realize that the local Republican party was basically trying to steal the line from us — that’s a petty political move.”

John Ciampoli, a former Nassau County attorney and Republican elections lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, described the value of the tactic.

“If your opponent is not on the ballot, they do not have that additional line to draw votes,” Ciampoli said. “And if you’re off the ballot entirely, they would have to run as a write-in candidate, and that’s a very difficult thing to do.”

Burnett, of Florida Atlantic University, said the challenger slates in both 2021 and 2025 reflected a “coordinated response" to spoil Democrats' chances. “These things don’t just happen," said Burnett, who previously served as an associate dean and professor at Hofstra University.

Voters often know little about the candidates and rely on the party lines. Still, the practice employed in Huntington and Southampton towns is not illegal, he said.

"It’s allowable and it can be distasteful, and this is where politics does turn a lot of people off," Burnett said.