Suspense, frenzy, drama in LI elections

With the partisan makeup of both county governments hanging in the balance, Long Island's elections Tuesday offer a hotbed of suspense and frenzy when compared with the rest of the region.

In New York City, the ballots will be especially sparse -- with low-key judicial slots the only contests in many neighborhoods. (One exception: a hard-fought Staten Island district attorney's race.) In 2007, at the same point in the election cycle, citywide turnout was estimated at a scary-low 7 percent to 8 percent. It is a fact of political life that judicial races are often overlooked and underrated.

That puts much of the drama right here.

Two years ago, Westchester and Nassau counties saw remarkably similar upsets as GOP underdogs unseated Democratic county executives.

This time, those landscapes differ sharply. Only the legislative seats are open in both places. Democrats are trying to retain a majority on Westchester's Board of Legislators, where their advantage is now 12-5; in Nassau, by contrast, the Republicans hold the edge, 11-8. This will be the Nassau GOP's first test at the polls since it recouped a majority in 2009 -- perhaps making for a higher-stakes battle than Westchester's.

Suffolk's county executive faceoff, between Democrat Steve Bellone and Republican Angie Carpenter, offers the region's most suspenseful story line -- due largely to the absence of an incumbent in the fray, with Democrat-turned-Republican Steve Levy leaving Dec. 31.

The Suffolk legislature is also up for grabs. There, Democrats have a 12-member majority coalition in the 18-seat house.

In Erie County, Republican County Executive Chris Collins seeks to stave off a challenge from Democrat Mark Poloncarz, whose campaign was backed by appearances from fellow Democrats Gov. Andrew M. Cuomoand U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. There, the legislature has 11 seats newly drawn after a court battle over redistricting. Other locales of interest: Yonkers and Broome County.

VISITING VOICE:As head of the "We the People" foundation, upstater Robert Schulzhas addressed many a tea party-style group -- going back long before they even had that name. But when he visited downstate last week, Schulz stopped not only in Plainview for a talk, but at Occupy Wall Street -- where he got protesters to hear his view of how enforcing the Constitution offers a true route to change.