Huntington's lessons in party intrigue

The election for Huntington Town supervisor, won two weeks ago by incumbent Republican Ed Smyth, has raised intriguing, if not troublesome, questions over who came to be on the ballot in that race and how.

Specifically, how Maria Delgado, a registered member of the Working Families Party previously unknown in local politics, became that party’s nominee. Delgado, 83, got enough votes that she — and consequently the party — may have served as a successful spoiler to keep Democratic challenger Cooper Macco from prevailing in what had widely been anticipated as a close contest. Results were: Smyth 49%, Macco 48% and Delgado 3%.

The strange and furtive responses to questions from journalists trying to unravel how this went down immediately hoisted huge red flags. Delgado made the unlikely claim she didn’t even know she was on the ballot — even though she voted in two elections where her name was on the ballot, even defeating Macco in his bid for a WFP cross-endorsement in a June primary.

Local WFP members who carried her petitions refused to say how this little manipulation worked. The minor party’s state leaders, with headquarters in downtown Brooklyn, stated their preference for Macco in the spring and gave him authorization to run in their primary.

But given Suffolk County’s unique record of opaque backroom transactions among major and minor party leaders, it isn’t shocking that a Republican would benefit from a deliberate split between the Working Families and Democratic candidate.

State Attorney General Letitia James will have a look at what her fellow Democrats consider a “dirty trick” by their detractors. There is nothing — right now — that shows their impression of “dirty” means illegal, unless such evidence turns up. Either way James’ office needs to investigate and reveal the details of exactly how this election scenario developed.

Among the curious questions: Why didn’t Macco’s Democratic Party allies challenge Delgado’s nominating petitions — which reportedly had flaws — when they had the chance? Should they have campaigned aggressively in the WFP primary? What role did Democrats play if only by their passivity?

Delgado’s appearance on this third-party line reeks of deception. One of the traditional defenses for cross-endorsement by empowered third parties is that it gives major party candidates an ideological label of their choice.

It’s easy to tell the public that they should research their choices before voting. But political parties and candidates should be compelled to disseminate biographical information. In this instance that would have been a public warning about candidate Delgado’s political authenticity.

Our election system relies on the faith that one major party will monitor the other for its members. That doesn’t seem to be the case in Suffolk. And with bipartisan polarization, people want wider choices. Third parties cannot offer alternatives when their lines become an exchangeable commodity easily subject to outside manipulation.