Gordon Gooding wins seat on Town Council: Stanley Birnbaum easily wins re-election to the bench

Just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, 10 minutes before polls officially closed at the Shelter Island School gym, applause broke out among poll workers and observers.

Ashley Panpaleon, 23, a South Ferry employee, was not only the last Islander to cast a ballot on Election Day 2024, but she was also a first-time voter.

As she shyly made her way out of the gym and into the hall with people clapping and congratulating her, she was asked why she had decided to register and vote in this election.

“I did it for my country,” Ms Panpaleon said.

It took more than 45 minutes, but unofficial final results of the Shelter Island election vote — 72% of votes were cast on the Island by 6 p.m. Tuesday according to the two major parties — had Democrat Gordon Gooding winning to fill the vacant seat on the Town Council by a count of 849 votes to Republican/Conservative Tom Cronin’s 731.

Lisa Shaw, running as an independent on the Island Action Party line finished with 427 votes cast for her.

In the race for Town Justice, Judge Stanley Birnbaum handily defeated challenger Michael Carey by a count of 1,116 to 850.

At the Democrat’s post-election gathering at the American Legion Hall, there were claps on the back and congratulations for Mr. Gooding.

“I love my Island and I’m going to earn the confidence of the people who didn’t vote for me,” the councilman-elect said. He went on to say his goal is to bring about civility and unity on the Town Board and move forward on issues important to Islanders.

Councilman Benjamin Dyett expressed his joy at being united on the Town Board with his former running mate. Mr. Gooding lost his bid to be elected supervisor last year by a relatively small margin, while Mr. Dyett and Democratic Councilman Albert Dickson, who also ran with Mr. Gooding last year, won their seats.

At Isola, where the Island Republicans assembled to await the results, Mr. Cronin said twice he had no comment to questions, and wouldn’t welcome more questions.

At Opties & Dinghies where the Island Action Party gathered, Ms. Shaw was gracious in defeat, saying, “The people speak.”

She was proud of the campaign she had run, noting that, “The Island Action Party is not finished,” but she would be back running for the same seat on the Town Board in November 2025 when it will be up for grabs again.

“We’ll be ready to roll,” Ms. Shaw said. “This was a challenge, an interesting and educational experience, and next time we’ll be much more prepared.”