How Suffolk Dems' party fight played out in primaries

Daily Point

Primary results show possible party shift in Suffolk

The uprising against Suffolk County Democratic Party chair Rich Schaffer and his decades-long grip on power isn't subsiding. Tuesday's primary results did not provide relief.

County Democratic Party committee candidates supported by Southold Town Democratic Party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley, who is running against Schaffer for county chair, won 73 seats in 81 contested election districts. In Huntington's ED160, two candidates are tied for the second seat, and absentee ballots have yet to be counted. Casey Quigley didn't publicly endorse candidates in East Hampton or Southampton town committee races.

Last month, Schaffer preemptively declared victory after court challenges to ballots for committee positions were ruled mostly in his favor. Schaffer said those rulings meant regardless of the outcome of the June 23 committee position primaries, "... our lead can only increase from here."

But after Tuesday's results showed Casey Quigley won the vast majority of committee seats up for grabs, she told The Point the race for county chair is far from settled.

"If you were running for office, who would you want on your team, people who lost that race or people who won it?" Casey Quigley asked. In a statement to The Point, Schaffer mostly avoided the intraparty feud. After congratulating state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and CD1 Democratic candidate Chris Gallant for their primary wins, Schaffer said, "I'm thrilled with the many primary victories for county committee and I look forward to earning the committee's support once again."

Casey Quigley-backed candidates won six seats in Babylon Town, Schaffer's backyard, where he also is the town supervisor. Casey Quigley attributed the wins to hard work by her supporters but denied the committee position wins had anything to do with Democratic Socialists of America victories in New York City.

"This fight in Suffolk is not an ideological one," she said. "It's an infrastructure fight ... very process-oriented. ... You can be moderate and bold."

In East Hampton Town, establishment Democrats largely beat back challenges from East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, who lost his primary to incumbent Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

Larsen backed candidates in all 19 of the town's election districts, but they only won eight of 38 seats. One candidate, Francis Bock, was endorsed by both Larsen and Democratic Party chair Anna Skrenta. Larsen's wife, Lisa, beat Burke-Gonzalez's husband, Joe, for a seat in ED5.

Skrenta, who survived a challenge to her own committee position Tuesday night, told The Point she is ready to work with Lisa Larsen.

"She was elected by the voters, she's a Democratic committee member, so ... it's official," Skrenta said. "I fully respect the will of the voters."

Skrenta said the party faced a similar challenge in 2018, and a handful won seats on the town party committee. Skrenta said back then, only a few of the challengers stayed involved past the primary. "It's going to be interesting to see how some of the folks from Larsen's team, how much they want to get involved," she said. "The ball's in their court based on past experience. Our experience then was that not everybody who won stayed involved."

As for Casey Quigley's challenge to Schaffer, Skrenta said she will invite them both to speak to the committee and then "let every committee member make that decision for themselves and they'll vote their heart."

Casey Quigley was upbeat about her chance of winning the party leadership post, and about the future of the county party as well.

"This, of course, is why Rich said primaries don't matter," she said. "He knew we were going to rout him. ... This is an exciting new opportunity, a gift to the party regardless of whether I win, but if he squanders it ..."

In his statement, Schaffer set his sights on November's races. "Now it's time to continue our focus on the bigger mission at hand: electing Democrats this November."

Will the new county committee members backed by Casey Quigley be welcomed into the fold by Schaffer the same way Skrenta said she will welcome Larsen's winning candidates, including Larsen's wife? Democrats will need them to, for success in the general election. 

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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Final Point

Mack present at MTA meeting without showing up

As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board convened this week, a familiar face was missing from the board table.

David Mack, who has served as Nassau County's MTA Board representative since 2019, in addition to his previous stint between 1993 and 2009, was not at the meeting after he withdrew his name from consideration for reappointment by the State Senate earlier this month.

Yet, his presence remained — especially as multiple board members, and MTA Chair Janno Lieber, acknowledged his service — during both the committee meetings on Monday and the full board meeting Wednesday.

Yet even during those brief remarks, it was clear that Mack will be remembered not only for his lengthy service, but for his controversial positions and interactions with other board members.

"David Mack, who served on this board for a very long time and who all of us got to know in part because he would sit next to us and chatter during the board meeting, has left the board," Lieber said at the close of the full board meeting Wednesday. "He and I had some disagreements, but he was always a cheerful and positive member and somebody who serves the MTA that long deserves to be acknowledged. A tip of the hat to David Mack."

Among other controversies, Lieber might have been recalling a dispute that occurred four years ago, when Mack burst into Lieber's office, demanding an MTA police placard for his car. A witness to the dispute called Mack "unhinged." In the board meeting that followed, Mack challenged Lieber on multiple issues, later telling The Point that Lieber "did an injustice to Long Island because he personally does not like me."

Lieber's comments followed similar remarks during Monday's committee meetings — both at the bridge and tunnel committee, which Mack previously chaired, and at the railroad committee, where Mack was a member.

"I think it's only appropriate that we recognize and thank him for his years of dedicated service to the MTA and to the region," Suffolk County MTA representative Marc Herbst said during the railroad committee meeting. "He certainly had a different perspective, different views at times, [but] he had the courage to speak his mind and do what he felt was right."

Among Mack's more controversial takes: He was the sole MTA Board member to oppose the institution of congestion pricing in Manhattan's central business district, at times seeming to stand up for drivers more than he did for Long Island Rail Road and subway riders.

Sammy Chu, a Long Island resident who is one of Gov. Kathy Hochul's representatives on the board, chaired the bridges and tunnels meeting Monday in Mack's absence and brought up Mack there, too.

"Before we begin our agenda today, I want to first acknowledge the long body of service of the former chair of this committee, Mr. David Mack," Chu said, noting that Mack had "given decades of service to the agency."

During the Wednesday board meeting, fellow board member James O'Donnell said he first met Mack 30 years ago, pointing to Mack's philanthropic work and the "wealth of information he shared with all of us."

"We're certainly going to miss him," O'Donnell said. "I hope he gets back on this board."

Like O'Donnell, Chu noted the possibility that this might not be the end of Mack's role at the MTA. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman could renominate him, and he could serve again in the future if Hochul and the State Senate approve his reappointment.

"We're not sure who's going to fill his appointment," Chu said. "It may be him himself."

In the meantime, Nassau is without a board member. That meant no one representing the county participated in board activity this week, including critical budgetary conversations and Wednesday's vote to approve contracts with the five LIRR unions that went on strike last month. It's unclear when Nassau's board seat might be filled, since the Senate isn't expected to be back in session until January.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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