Dominick S. Thorne for Suffolk Legislative District 7
Dominick Thorne, Republican candidate for Suffolk County Legislature District 7. Credit: James Escher
Find out the candidates Newsday's editorial board selected on your ballot: newsday.com/endorsements2023
The 7th District covers southwestern Brookhaven Town including Gordon Heights and parts of Medford and Coram.
It was quite a surprise two years ago when Dominick S. Thorne knocked off the legislature's presiding officer, Robert Calarco. Now the Patchogue Republican is the focus of Democratic attention, drawing an opponent with considerable experience: fellow Patchogue resident Ryan P. McGarry, chief of staff for the Suffolk Association of Municipal Employees union who also spent 10 years in the county executive offices of Steve Bellone and Steve Levy. Both candidates know the workings of government and both have a history of volunteerism as Patchogue firefighters.
Thorne, 56, is so familiar with his district one gets the feeling he knows when a crack appears in a sidewalk. Asked about accomplishments in his first term, he points to stop signs in Blue Point, restoring $184,000 in funding for the Boys & Girls Club in Bellport, a deal with the private sector to put a new roof on the VFW hall in Medford, and a joint effort with Bellone's administration to solve a flooding issue with Canaan Lake.
Thorne also worked with community leaders in Gordon Heights on improving safety at a bus stop plagued by prostitution and drug use, which they did by pulling out the shelter at the bus stop and improving communication with police. Now he says he wants to bring relief to the 2.2-square-mile community plagued with 23 unlawful boardinghouses, with plans underway to purchase a 9-acre plot for an affordable housing development with stores on the ground floor.
McGarry, 41, said his focus would be on infrastructure — transportation, energy and especially clean water, expressing frustration at the stalled referendum to fund sewers and new septic systems. He wants to hire more police officers to address quality-of-life crimes and supports an affordable housing plan to identify redundant county space, consolidate offices, and offer "generous" lease terms on the vacant buildings to developers willing to meet a quota of affordable housing units.
McGarry clearly is qualified for the job, but Thorne has earned another term. "I'm just getting going," he says. Now he needs to come through on his promise to focus on underserved Gordon Heights.
Newsday endorses Thorne.
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.
