Southampton Democrats: Conservatives spoiled Working Families Party lines here, too

Electoral tactics used to play a spoiler role in the Huntington Town supervisor's race were also employed in Southampton contests this year, local Democratic officials say. 

In an October letter, leaders of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee and Suffolk's Working Families Party warned of possible subterfuge. In urging voters to pick Democrat Tom Neely for town council, the officials said two individuals running on the Working Families Party line were "paper candidates," there to pull votes away from the Democrat and spoil Neely's chances. 

One of the council candidates, according to state business records, has a connection to an elected official. Ieshia Galicia is CEO of a cannabis farm in upstate Medusa on property owned by Charles McArdle, the town's highway superintendent and a registered Conservative.

The gambit fell short: Neely won. 

But the hijinks are part of a larger playbook, Democrats say, one that played a more consequential role in the Town of Huntington and has ruined Southampton Democrats' chances in the past. 

When Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth, a Republican, was reelected by 602 votes earlier in November over Democratic challenger Cooper Macco, Democratic officials cried foul. They pointed to Maria Delgado, an 83-year-old candidate on the Working Families Party line, who received nearly 3% of the vote despite not running a public campaign. She told Newsday she had "no idea" she was on the ballot in an interview after the election, though records later showed she voted in-person. The state Attorney General's Office has said it is reviewing complaints in the race. Republicans have said they had no involvement in Delgado's candidacy.

The accusations have prompted a closer look into the strategy behind the Working Families Party primaries that continue to crop up, and why the line has become so vulnerable in recent years.

In Southampton, Republican-endorsed officials played a key role in the challenge. The Working Families Party candidates' petitions were notarized by Cyndi McNamara, a Republican councilwoman, and McArdle, according to records from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Both were reelected on Nov. 4.

The practice is legal; party officials aren't the only ones allowed to carry nominating petitions. State law also allows notaries public — licensed officials who can serve as impartial witnesses to signatures — for certification. Their notarization means they witnessed the signatures.

“They’re subverting [and] they’re manipulating the democratic process,” Neely said in an interview.

McArdle told Newsday he carried the Working Families candidates’ petitions door-to-door at the request of Peter Collins, the candidate for clerk, and to “support the working families of Southampton.”

When asked to comment on accusations of ballot hijacking, McArdle said: “If you consider party-raiding two or three people [switching] a party so we can carry petitions, then I guess we're guilty of party raiding.” 

McNamara declined to comment.

'Assistance from their representatives'

This year, the state Working Families Party cross-endorsed two Democratic candidates in Southampton: Neely for town council and Mark Bernardo for town clerk. But three Working Families members — Collins, Andrew Smith and Galicia — challenged and defeated Neely and Bernardo in low-turnout primaries. 

"This was just trying to create chaos for the voters," said Gordon Herr, chairman of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee.

Jesse Garcia, chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Committee, said Working Families Party members in Southampton were “disenchanted and wanted to fight back” against the state party, which is based in Brooklyn.

"[They] sought assistance from their representatives to give the voters a proper choice, and that’s what transpired,” Garcia said, addressing that McArdle and McNamara notarized the petitions.

None of the Working Families candidates mounted a public campaign in the general election and did not participate in interview requests for Newsday's voters guide.

In the general election, Neely was elected to the town board along with McNamara. Republican Rick Martel, an incumbent, was defeated. Galicia and Smith each ended up winning a little more than 4% of the total votes.

Sundy Schermeyer, the Republican and Conservative candidate, handily beat Bernardo and Collins.

The October letter accused Galicia and Smith of being "conservatives" registered for the sole purpose of “party raiding” and to serve as “spoilers” in the election.

The letter, signed by Herr and Danny Calabro, the co-chair of the Suffolk County Working Families Party, was sent to 6,000 voters in the town, including Democrats, members of the minor party and unaffiliated voters, Herr said.

Clerk's challenge 

Schermeyer has won every one of her elections for town clerk, uncontested, since 2009.

The Democrats have cross-endorsed Schermeyer in previous cycles but chose to run a candidate against her this year.

Herr said the Democrats' challenge prompted opposition leaders to run Collins, Galicia and Smith as spoilers. "Obviously, it was opportunistic," Herr said.

Collins, 73, a retired Southampton Town employee, dismissed the characterization of his candidacy. In an interview with Newsday outside his home last week, he said his reason for running for town clerk was to send a message to the state's Working Families Party. 

“They don't live out here. They don't know what our problems are,” he said of the state Working Families Party.

Collins has been registered with the Working Families Party since 2007, and before that, was a Republican, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

Collins received 333 votes, not enough to make a difference in the race. Schermeyer led Bernardo by 1,366 votes.

Collins said he voted for Schermeyer.

Asked for comment about McArdle and McNamara circulating petitions for the minor-party nominees, Collins said: “Somebody's got to do it.”

“Obviously, none of them had anything to gain. I don't think that [they] did,” he said. “Call it what you want. It's a game. It's played by both sides of the fence.”

Ties to McArdle

Galicia, 30, was a registered Conservative from October 2017 until March 2022, when she switched to the Working Families Party, Suffolk County voter registration records show.

New York Department of State records show that Galicia is the CEO of Highview Farms Inc., a cannabis business that McArdle established in 2021. McArdle confirmed the two are partners in the business but declined to comment further.

Galicia did not return a request for an interview made through a family member at her Hampton Bays residence.

Smith, 23, registered to vote, and for the Working Families Party, in 2021. He could not be reached for comment.

2021 primary

A similar strategy was employed in 2021, when Neely faced McArdle for town highway superintendent.

Neely said the Working Families Party endorsed him, but he was challenged for the line in a primary by another candidate, Marc Braeger. McArdle — who wasn’t on the primary ballot — ended up winning that primary with 27 write-in votes. State election law was changed in 2023 to nullify any write-in votes cast for non-party members in a primary. 

In that race, McArdle received 232 votes on the Working Families Party line — votes that might have gone to Neely. McArdle won the election by 24 votes.

Neely said he would like to make sure that "this kind of charade ... [is] not allowed to continue.”

“I think they're manipulating the system, and it's not fair to the voters,” Neely said.

McArdle has a different view: “If [a candidate has] enough support in that party, why should they be boxed out?”

How it works

The Working Families Party was established out of New York in 1998. The state party describes itself as having a progressive political agenda, with legislative priorities including strengthening the rights of renters and affordable health care and child care.

The line might capture independent voters who are “dissatisfied with both the Democrat and Republican” parties, Herr said.

Voters who don’t follow politics closely might unknowingly select “ghost” Working Families Party candidates, Neely said, losing the opportunity to vote for “a real candidate” who shares their views.

Neely said that before the general election, he received an “apology” from a Working Families Party voter, who said he had cast a mail-in ballot for Galicia and Smith before the state and local officials' letter was mailed. 

“I can say it affected at least one person's vote,” Neely said.