Countdown to Suffolk Dems' leadership clash

Daily Point

Schaffer-KCQ vote set for Sept. 22, but format raises eyebrows

It likely won't have the mystique of a Venetian masquerade ball because no one will be cloaked in secrecy, but there's sure to be drama.

Suffolk County Democrats will vote for their next leader at the party's annual convention on Sept. 22 starting at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Long Island/Huntington in Melville. County chair Rich Schaffer, also the Babylon Town supervisor, is being challenged by Kathryn Casey Quigley, the chair of the Southold Town Dems.

The election will be an in-person roll-call vote, so every committee member will have to state publicly whether they support Schaffer or want a change in leadership. That's significant for committee members with patronage jobs.

One county party leader said anonymous voting would favor Casey Quigley since her supporters, including some who are on the ballot this fall, may fear running afoul of party leadership by publicly voting against Schaffer. "An open roll-call vote in the same room with the party leadership whose support we rely on runs the risk of turning into a loyalty test," East Hampton Town Democratic Party chair Anna Skrenta told The Point.

"Committee members should be able to vote their conscience without fear of losing that critical support. That's the whole point of a secret ballot, and it's disappointing this election won't have one."

A party source, however, said the vote format will be clean and in the best interest of all Democrats.

"This will be as straightforward and transparent a process as anything on this earth," one party source told The Point. "The goal is for the Democratic Party to be in a stronger place."

Casey Quigley previously has told The Point she is challenging Schaffer to end cross-endorsements at the expense of backing Democratic candidates. Schaffer's supporters say he has provided strong Democratic showing in elections during his 26-year tenure as party leader.

Casey Quigley-backed candidates for county committee positions won nearly 90% of their races in the June primary. But with 1,070 election districts in Suffolk, each with up to two committee members when full, Casey Quigley's 73 wins in June are a small fraction of the votes she needs to usurp Schaffer.

Her efforts, though, mark the most spirited challenge yet to Schaffer's leadership. She previously told The Point her intention is to strengthen the party, while Schaffer supporters say the challenge is an unnecessary distraction from electing Democrats in November.

Each election district carries a weight based on gubernatorial voting in 2022. Election districts with large numbers of Democratic voters will have more pull in the election for party chair. If the committee members split who they support, the gubes are split. Committee members' names will be called, and they will reply out loud whether they support Schaffer or Casey Quigley.

Casey Quigley's leadership challenge has been ruffling political feathers even outside Democratic Party circles. Her criticism of Schaffer's cross-endorsing Republicans and Conservatives was followed by the Democratic candidate for county comptroller resisting a move by his own party to get him off the ballot by accepting the Conservative line for a judgeship.

The cross-endorsement process, which for years grew in the dark like a mushroom, went awry last month, and now the November ballot for state Supreme Court justice for the first time in years will offer actual contested races instead of a slew of unopposed and cross-endorsed candidates.

Because of the travel distance from the East End, committee members from Shelter Island and Fishers Island are allowed to vote by proxy, as are those from Fire Island. For everyone else, they'll have to make the trek to Melville.

"Us East Enders, it will take us two hours each way," Skrenta said. "It's going to be a very long night, but it's important."

A long night that's sure to be raucous — and very public.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

A regular issue

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Final Point

New business registrations up on Long Island, nationwide

The United States has seen a rise in new businesses and entrepreneurial activity since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic with a recent report showing a 44% increase in the last two decades.

Long Island is no exception to that, although the activity has started to level off.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, released in June, shows 46,091 businesses were started on Long Island in 2025, up from 32,050 in 2005. Of those, 24,390 new businesses were registered in Nassau County, the most registered in any county in the state outside of New York City. Suffolk County recorded 21,701 new businesses.

When COVID-19 lockdowns led to widespread layoffs and business closures, 2021 saw record new business registrations across the nation as employees sought other sources of income or found more time on their hands to build a company on the side. Long Island hit a peak with 48,867 new filings by the end of 2021, up from 36,020 in 2019. Since then, the number of businesses starting up each year has dropped but remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Nationwide, counties in Texas and Florida showed larger growth spurts in annual business formation than New York City and Long Island in 2025, the census data shows. Listed in decreasing order of new establishment registrations, Nassau County ranked 41st while Suffolk was 46th.

Business closings on Long Island have also climbed, although slightly. In 2023, the latest data available, roughly 6,949 businesses shut in Nassau and Suffolk, according to the Census Bureau. This was marginally higher than the 5,708 closures recorded in 2019. Meanwhile, a state Department of Labor database that tracks business closures and layoffs for establishments with 50 or more employees observed 23 closures on Long Island last year, affecting more than 1,300 workers.

Businesses have had to cope with recent fluctuations in the economy caused by inflation, tariffs and immigration enforcement. A 2025 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that small businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut struggled to "generate revenues and employment and were deeply pessimistic of their prospects in 2026."

— Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

Subscribe to The Point here and browse past editions of The Point here.