Republicans, Dems race to spend in local elections

Daily Point

GOP splurges to keep seats while Dems hope for upset

As Long Island campaigns make the final turn into the straightaway, candidates are spending lavishly to get their messages out — but it's hard to discern reliable trends in the early voting numbers.

Here's where the tallies stood on Tuesday, Day 4:

Nassau: A total of 33,563 early votes were cast in Nassau as of noon Tuesday. Registered Republicans were 46.1% of the turnout while enrolled Democrats were 36% of those who cast ballots, or 15,465 to 12,077. Those not registered to any party made up 14.5%, or 4,864 voters. No third-party registrations broke 2%.

Suffolk: There were 21,391 early votes cast in Suffolk from Saturday through 3 p.m. Tuesday, with 9,015 registered Democrats voting early compared with 7,594 Republicans. Another 4,330 voters not affiliated with a party cast a ballot. Registered Democrats made up 42% of the early voters, 35.5% were Republicans and unaffiliated voters accounted for 20.2%.

Three marquee races in Nassau County stand out — county executive, district attorney and Hempstead Town supervisor. Due to cross-endorsements in the district attorney and sheriff’s contests, there are no top-of-the-ticket draws in Suffolk.

Is big spending by challengers a sign of a possible upset? Are incumbents who drop buckets of cash worried about a surprise at the polls?

One longtime political insider called the Hempstead supervisor's election between Republican John R. Ferretti Jr., who was appointed in August, and Democrat Joe Scianablo the one to watch this year. While the scrappy underdog is doggedly attacking Ferretti, a GOP insider, Democrats say the lack of real party organization in the town is their problem.

According to 11-day preelection campaign finance filings with the New York State Board of Elections, Ferretti spent about $179,000 between Sept. 28 and Oct. 19, with about $160,000 of that cash going to television ads. Scianablo spent $177,000, with about $105,000 spent on campaign mailings, literature and lawn signs, and another $30,000 on TV ads.

Political consultant Michael Dawidziak told The Point that "anybody would be very, very foolish to take this race for granted" because of Democrat Laura Gillen's upset in 2017 after a century of Republican control of Hempstead. Gillen now represents Nassau's 4th Congressional District.

"It was kind of a wake-up call ... you can lose the town," Dawidziak said. "You have a candidate spending a lot of money, which is not typical for a Democrat in the Town of Hempstead."

Dawidziak, however, said voter turnout remains the big hurdle for Democrats. "Republicans just vote more reliably in local, odd-year elections than Democrats do in Nassau," he said.

In the DA's race, incumbent Republican Anne T. Donnelly spent about $579,000 during the last filing cycle, with about $550,000 going for TV ads. Her Democratic challenger, Nicole Aloise, spent $300,000, with $188,000 used for online ads.

In the county exec's race, incumbent Republican Bruce A. Blakeman spent about $1.7 million, with about $1.4 million for TV ads. Democrat challenger Legis. Seth I. Koslow spent about $280,000, with $156,000 going to TV ads and $37,000 to buy online ads.

But don't put too much stock in the early numbers, is what the streetwise will say.

"It's meaningless and gets erased on Election Day," Dawidziak said. "These are people who vote in odd years anyway. It does not increase the vote turnout."

Unless, Dawidziak said, severe weather on Election Day keeps voters home. "If there's terrible weather on Tuesday, it's nice to have votes in the bank."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com, Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com, Rita Ciolli rita.ciollii@newsday.com

Pencil Point

What a fall

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Final Point

A Connecticut developer channels his inner Robert Moses

Connecticut housing developer Stephen Shapiro wants to build a bridge — to Long Island.

Shapiro has been making the rounds to a variety of media outlets pitching his big idea: A 14-mile span over Long Island Sound that would connect Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the Sunken Meadow Parkway. The proposed cost: a cool $50 billion. The proposed toll: an estimated $40.

Shapiro's thinking starts with the bridge's starting place: Bridgeport.

"There are over 3 million people living on Long Island. There are over 3 million people living in Connecticut," the developer told News 12. "In the state that begins with the word connect, in the city that begins with the word bridge, wouldn't it be amazing if this 14-mile span could connect all of them?"

It also may sound familiar. An idea initially proposed in the 1930s, the idea of a bridge across the Sound became a more serious possibility when Robert Moses proposed one between Oyster Bay and Rye in 1964, and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller also considered an alternative crossing between Port Jefferson and Bridgeport. In the 1970s, the proposal focused on Shoreham as a landing point. In 2008, Long Island developer Vincent Polimeni put together a group of private investors who wanted to connect a tunnel from the northern end of the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway to Rye. In 2016, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo jump-started a new feasibility study to look at a bridge — or a tunnel across the Sound.

A host of roadblocks — including cost, community opposition and environmental concerns — stopped the idea every time.

Now, the bridge is back. But don't get too excited. After all, Shapiro isn't a bridge builder; he builds housing. And he doesn't have $50 billion to spend; he has said he plans to send a formal proposal to President Donald Trump in hopes of securing federal funding.

And if you believe Trump — who just canceled funding for the Gateway Tunnel between New Jersey and New York — would fund a bridge from New York to Connecticut, The Point may have a bridge to sell you.

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

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