Suffolk Dem leadership fight could stall party momentum

Daily Point

Casey Quigley faults Schaffer for cross-endorsing candidates with Conservatives

Citing a "vacuum of leadership," Southold Town Democratic Party chair Kathryn Casey Quigley announced she is challenging Suffolk County Democratic Party chairman Rich Schaffer for the dominant role he has held since 2000. Casey Quigley told The Point she is coming after Schaffer because of his history of cross-endorsing candidates with the Conservative Party.

"Aligning with the Conservative Party ... dilutes our brand and dilutes the understanding of what Democrats are and what we stand for," Casey Quigley said.

Casey Quigley, who has served as Southold’s Democratic Party chair since 2017, said only 36% of committee member positions are filled, which she attributes to a "lack of infrastructure and organization and strategy at the county level."

Schaffer told The Point he welcomes the fight as part of the Democratic Party's process and stands on his record. "I always love a challenge," said Schaffer, who is also the Babylon Town supervisor. "I’m going to present my record over 25 years of all the Democrats that we’ve gotten elected. If this is about a scoreboard, I would say I have a pretty good batting average."

The move comes as Democrats in Suffolk picked up a county legislative seat in November with Greg Doroski’s win in LD1, which includes Southold, that denied Republicans a supermajority. Democrats are also eyeing 2026, a midterm election nationally when the party sitting in the White House traditionally fares poorly, as a time to make gains in the House of Representatives and locally. And because of that hope for '26, some Democrats say infighting now weakens the party. "A leader should unite and inspire but not divide us," said Huntington Town Democratic Party chair Jill Kaufman, who led Dems in gaining a seat on the town board in November. "... We wouldn’t have had the success we had in Huntington without Schaffer." However, Kaufman didn’t address the Working Families Party debacle that likely cost the Dems the supervisor’s seat.

Brookhaven Town Democratic Party chairman Anthony Portesy said success in Southold, with 19 election districts, doesn’t compare with the larger towns like Brookhaven and Huntington. "East of Riverhead is liberal land," Portesy said. "You can win all the elections you want in Southold ... but working class people care about breadbasket issues."

Casey Quigley — and anyone else seeking to challenge Schaffer — will have to gather petitions for the September chairman’s election. Every election district in the county votes, and votes are conducted gubernatorial-style, so each election district party leader has the same number of votes that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul got in that election district in 2022. Suffolk Democrats don’t vote by proxy; it’s all in person. And as results are counted in real time, a motion can be made to declare a winner before every election district leader votes, if the contest looks like a landslide.

One county Democratic Party operative told The Point that ousting Schaffer would weaken the party. "Rich Schaffer has encyclopedic knowledge of Suffolk politics," the source said. "That picks up and leaves with him. All those relationships go with him. In this moment, when we are on the upswing, why now? ... This is the worst time for us to be creating a circular firing squad and going after each other."

As for the critique about her not falling in line with an important election months away, Casey Quigley said, "Falling in line is what the Republicans did, and look where they are," adding there’s "... no evidence a race of this type is going to be disruptive ... quite the opposite, it’s going to energize people and get more people involved in Democratic Party politics."

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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Final Point

The Blakeman-Hochul choice starts now

Long Island movers and shakers will be faced with an interesting choice next month.

Do they head up to Albany on Monday, Jan. 12, to attend festivities before Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, including the annual reception for Long Island leaders that’s sponsored by the Long Island Association and other organizations?

Or do they stay closer to home, and attend the second inauguration of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — who’s now seeking Hochul’s job?

Blakeman’s inaugural is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Uniondale. The Long Island reception for the State of the State is scheduled for the same day, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Hilton Albany.

By car, it’s 167 miles between the two — at least a three-hour trip on a good day.

So, local lobbyists, consultants, nonprofit executives and others, who depend upon both the county executive and the governor, will have to pick one.

"You’re caught between a political Scylla and Charybdis," said one Nassau political observer, referring to the Greek monsters that represent an equally perilous choice either way. "You need to go up to Albany, to be there for the start of session and hear the governor’s priorities, but you also need a working relationship with the Blakeman administration."

It's not clear whether Blakeman’s inauguration was intentionally scheduled to coincide with the State of the State, or whether the timing is coincidental. Four years ago, the county executive’s first inauguration was on Monday, Jan. 3. Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle did not respond to a request for comment.

Nonprofit leaders and others who have requests of the State Legislature and the governor often see the Albany event as a chance to get started in making their pitches, especially since many state lawmakers attend. Last year, more than 250 area advocates, business leaders and elected officials, including Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, attended the Long Island leaders’ State of the State reception in Albany. Even Hochul herself made an appearance. Blakeman, however, was not present.

LIA president and chief executive Matt Cohen told The Point he doesn’t expect the inauguration to have a significant impact on turnout for the Albany function, adding that increasingly, political players statewide come to the event, even though it’s billed as Long Island-focused. At the same time, he said, advocates and executives shouldn’t worry too much about their choice.

"I don’t think the governor or the county executive are going to question why one person is at one event and not theirs," Cohen said. "A lot of folks ... have durable long-lasting relationships with the county or the state, and having a conflict for one event does not mean anything more that's going to translate into any substantive loss for them."

What’s more, there will be an alternative opportunity for everyone to be in the same place just a few days beforehand, as both Blakeman and Romaine are scheduled to attend the LIA’s state of the region on Friday, Jan. 9 — at Crest Hollow Country Club.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is listed as that gathering’s keynote speaker. It’s unclear whether Hochul will make an appearance — as she did the last two years, including in 2024, when Blakeman famously said the state should "stay out of Long Island."

But, Cohen said, Hochul has an "open invitation" to that event as well.

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

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