Long Island's voters actually got to pick judges
Rep. Nick Lalota's Facebook post showing him, fourth from left, with GOP-Conservative judicial candidates, from left, James McDonaugh, Mary Kate Mullen, Karen Wilutis, John Iliou and Kelly Reape. Credit: Facebook
By Mark Nolanmark.nolan@newsday.comI voted for judges this year. I blame Jon Estreich.
As the Democratic Party candidate for Suffolk County comptroller, Estreich upended party bosses' plans by taking a principled stand that led to — gasp! — a competitive election for state Supreme Court justices on Long Island.
For over a decade those elections were shells of democracy — an equal number of open seats as cross-endorsed candidates meant the races were uncontested. Eight seats, eight candidates. Party leaders picked who wears the robes, not voters.
Even worse, voters were duped into thinking they were participating in democracy by voting when the winners were known the moment they were chosen at judicial conventions every August. Political insiders knew earlier.
It's like a football game with one team on the field.
But this year, the Island's voters had choices for these judgeships, with 14 candidates competing for eight seats. That matters.
Back in August, Estreich refused the Conservative Party line for a judgeship, a ploy to get him off the ballot for comptroller, some kind of backroom deal out of a smoke-filled room in a film-noir political thriller. He was never going to be a "real" judicial candidate, just a pawn.
A major in the Army Reserve and former Suffolk County prosecutor, Estreich knows something about ethics. In August, he told me he never asked to be a judicial candidate and didn't know he was being considered. He found out when a notice was taped to his front door telling him he was one.
The irony is, if Estreich had caved, he would have been a judicial nominee. If he had just gone along to get along and participated in the bankrupt dealmaking that sidelines democracy in judicial elections, voters never would have known that the books were cooked.
He wouldn't have won but winning wasn't the point.
Estreich took a stand and lost the comptroller's race by 1.25%. Despite the Supreme Court race being competitive, there were still 10 uncontested local judicial elections across Long Island county and district courts this year. That means 21 candidates ran unopposed for 21 seats on 10 local benches.
The Supreme Court justices cross-endorsement deal unraveled when Estreich refused the Conservative line for a judgeship. Political leaders in Suffolk then raced to get nominees without cross-endorsements named at the judicial district conventions. An intraparty feud among Suffolk Democrats that exploded into full view ensued, with reverberations still being felt. The Suffolk clerk's election plays a role in this. Anthony Portesy was the Democratic candidate for county clerk until he became a Conservative Party nominee for state Supreme Court justice. Portesy, who until recently was the Brookhaven Town Democratic Party chair, was removed from the clerk's race and added as a Conservative Party candidate for justice. He got less than 1% of the vote.
Democrats didn't name a replacement candidate for clerk, all but assuring incumbent Clerk Vincent Puleo, a Conservative with Republican backing, would be reelected. It was another uncontested election. This one caused a furor. Write-in campaigns ensued, and on Election Day, more than 43,000 Suffolk voters bucked insider deals and chose a write-in option.
The write-in campaigns failed miserably — if success is measured by winning. But the message was thunderclap-loud — voters don't want uncontested elections.
Uncontested elections with cross-endorsed candidates degrade democracy. I usually leave judge elections blank. I don't participate in autocratic sham elections. I don't need recognition or an "I Voted" sticker.
I voted for judges because this year my vote counted.
Columnist Mark Nolan's opinions are his own.
