Healey wins, two-year terms prevail
Shelter Island voters sent Mary-Faith Healey to the justice bench and propositions to extend terms of office to the political dungeon Tuesday night.
The propositions to extend terms of office of the highway superintendent and town supervisor went down big, 912 to 291 for the highway job, and 988 to 215 for the supervisor, according to the unofficial tally — a landslide victory for proposition opponents.
Ms. Healey, the Democratic candidate, won 742 votes to Republican Tom Carr’s 458, according to unofficial but identical counts by Democrat and Republican poll watchers. These results, however, were different from those posted by the Suffolk County Board of Elections and regional media sources showing a tight 24-vote margin.
Absentee ballots were not counted Tuesday night and the fate of all “emergency” ballots, those cast early Tuesday morning when voting machines had to be switched between the Center and Cobbetts Lane firehouses, was unclear (see sidebar story, page 6).
According to the Board of Elections, 254 absentee ballots had been received but were not counted Tuesday night. Another 89 absentee ballots were distributed but not yet returned.
“I’d like to say thank you very much,” Ms. Healey said to Democratic supporters at the Chequit Tuesday night. She especially thanked her closest friends and family and also the Democratic Committee. “I’ve never done anything political in my life and this was an immense education … Everybody really worked hard — I could never have done this on my own.
“I hope I never see any of you in court,” she said to crowd laughter, “but I do promise that I will be a good justice for Shelter Island, so thank you so much.”
Mr. Carr thanked his supporters at Sweet Tomato’s before walking with GOP Chairperson Amber Williams to the Chequit to congratulate Ms. Healey. “I want to thank everybody for their efforts on the committee,” Mr. Carr said, adding that he wished the committee better luck with their next judicial candidate.
The Board of Elections tally, posted on the county website, matched that of the poll watchers for the propositions but showed a narrow race for justice court, with Ms. Healey ahead 586 to 562, well within the margin of absentee ballots.
Board of Elections official Ivan Young told the Reporter Wednesday morning, “As of right now the numbers on the website will remain until we do the recount,” which will begin next week and should be completed before Thanksgiving.
While there was a discrepancy in vote results, Ms. Healey’s victory is not being challenged. “We think Mary-Faith has won based on the numbers we have,” Ms. Williams said Wednesday.
Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop received more Island votes than Republican Randy Altschuler in the race for Congress, 713 to 474 at last count. That race was much closer district-wide, about a percentage point difference, and Mr. Altschuler did not concede defeat Tuesday night.
First District Assemblyman Marc Alessi also received more Island votes than his Republican opponent, 739 to 433 for Dan Losquadro, but district-wide, Mr. Losquadro appeared to have the edge in a race that was deemed too close to call at press time.
Democrats Andrew Cuomo and Eric Schneiderman won their races for governor and attorney general here and statewide.
Ken LaValle enjoyed an easy victory in his re-election to the state senate.
According to Board of Elections data, 48 percent of voters registered on Shelter Island cast ballots Tuesday. Adding the 254 absentee ballots to the total would yield a 59 percent voter turnout. That compares to 37 percent county-wide. The Island turnout is comparable to 2006, when 56 percent of voters cast ballots, but much lower than in 2008, when no local races were decided but a president was elected and over 76 percent of Island voters cast ballots.
