Anthony Piccirillo for Suffolk Legislative District 8
Anthony Piccirillo, Republican incumbent candidate for Suffolk Legislature District 8 Credit: James Escher
Two years ago, Republican Anthony A. Piccirillo, 38, won this seat in a recount over William Lindsay III, after losing a recount to him in 2017.
But in 2019, with the Democrat Lindsay part of a cynical deal accepting the diametrically opposed Conservative line before Piccirillo beat him in that party's primary, and Piccirillo on the spot for having pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for collecting money in an illegal poker hall in 2011, Newsday did not endorse.
This year, Democrat Peter A. Russo is not campaigning, and Piccirillo has had a term to prove he can respond to constituent needs and do the work of a legislator. Piccirillo, of Holtsville, has challenged Democrats who officially control the county, his own Republican caucus leaders and other powerful players, including police unions. There's been no hint that the legal misstep a decade ago was part of a pattern.
Newsday endorses Piccirillo.
Suffolk Legislative District 8 covers East Islip, part of western Brookhaven, Holbrook, Oakdale, Sayville
ENDORSEMENTS ARE DETERMINED solely by the Newsday editorial board, a team of opinion journalists focused on issues of public policy and governance. Newsday’s news division has no role in this process.
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