Insurgents win election to replace Shelter Island Democratic Committee

An insurgent group of candidates made a complete sweep of the Town’s Democratic Committee, ousting long-time Democratic Committee Chairwoman Heather Reylek.

At the top of the local ticket, Gordon Gooding handily defeated Bert Waife to carry the Democratic endorsement into the November election for a Town Board seat. Mr. Gooding received 308 votes to Mr. Waife’s 151 votes. He will face opposition from Republican Thomas Cronin and independent Lisa Shaw.

Mr. Gooding said he’s “very grateful” for the turnout, the support he received, and the encouragement people showed him along the way.“I wish Bert Waife the best and hope we can work together on future initiatives,” Mr. Gooding added. “I’m very excited to work with the newly elected Democratic Committee,” a group he described as having “a lot of energy and focus. I hope we can listen to and work to address the needs of our diverse community and represent all of Shelter Island.”

“I think I did better than I thought I was going to do,” Mr. Waife said. “I didn’t carry a petition. I didn’t buy anyone a beer.”

He doesn’t preclude running again if the new committee will have him. “I respect the results,” he said, noting no one made any personal statements against him in what was a low key campaign.

Mr. Gooding had run for supervisor, narrowly losing that race to Republican Amber Brach-Williams. With Ms. Brach-Williams’ election to supervisor, her Town Board seat has gone unfilled since January.

The four-member Town Board was deadlocked on an appointment to the Board. Democratic Councilmen Albert Dickson and Benjamin Dyett, and Republican Councilwoman Meg Larsen and Ms. Brach-Williams, split on who to appoint to the Board from among 11 candidates who applied. The seat continued to be empty when a majority failed to agree to call a special election last spring.

As for the Democratic Committee seats, voters in Election District 1 chose William Mastrogiacomo and Greg Toner. Mr. Mastrogiacomo received 69 votes and Mr. Toner received 67. Losing candidates were Glenn Waddington with 59 votes and John Cronin Jr. with 44 votes.

In Election District 2, Catherine Brigham, who led the insurgent team and is expected to be selected as Democratic Committee Chairwoman, received 79 votes and Mark Mobius won a seat with 72 votes. Susan Jones pulled 42 votes and there were 3 write-ins.

Voters in Election District 3 elected Elizabeth Hanley with 71 votes and Kathleen Gooding with 66 votes. Ms. Reylek received 45 votes and her husband, Robert Reylek received 24 votes.

Ms. Brigham tapped Ms. Hanley to deliver a statement on behalf of the new team of committee members. “The committee elect would like to thank everyone who made this win possible, especially our families,” Ms. Hanley said. “Thank you to Shelter Island Democrats for coming out to vote and supporting our ‘big tent’ vision. And a special acknowledgment to our retiring committee members for your service over the years. We are ready to work hard to represent all Democrats for the election this November and beyond.”