Doroski shocks Stark to win Legislature’s 1st District
Democrat Greg Doroski pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Tuesday’s election, unseating Republican incumbent Catherine Stark in the Suffolk County Legislature 1st District race.
The four-year Southold Town Board member notched 52% of the vote in what he called a “Republican-favored district” and will now represent Shelter Island, Southold, Riverhead, Brookhaven and Southampton.
Mr. Doroski received 11, 219 votes, beating Ms. Stark by 908 votes according to the Board of Elections’ unofficial results.
The 30 people remaining at the Democratic watch party at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. in Peconic erupted in cheers when Southold Democratic Committee chair Kathryn Casey Quigley announced his victory at 11:11 p.m.
Democrats had held off calling the County legislator race at 10:39 p.m. despite Mr. Doroski appearing on the brink of pulling off the upset. As of 10: 41 p.m., the two candidates were split by 795 votes. By 11:11 p.m., Mr. Doroski’s lead had grown to 890 votes, prompting the Suffolk County Democratic chair to call the race in his favor.
It capped a strong night for Democrats in the area, as well as nationally, with wins in key races including the New Jersey and Virginia governorships and New York City’s mayor’s race.
Throughout his door knocking-campaign, Mr. Doroski said he found “there is more that unites us than divides us” among voters. “We all want to preserve our open space, we all want to preserve our farmland, our water,” Mr. Doroski said late Tuesday night, citing common threads among 1st District voters.
Ms. Stark, who was at the Republican watch party in Riverhead, did not comment.
Mr. Doroski’s win coincides with Southold Democrats taking home at least seven other seats Tuesday night between Southold’s Town Board, Trustees, highway superintendent and town justice races.
The room of more than 100 people at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. burst into applause at 9:25 p.m. when Mikey Sherrill was announced as winner of the New Jersey governor’s race.
“That’s going to set the tone for the evening, right,” Ms. Casey Quigley said.
When he takes his seat in the County Legislature next year, Mr. Doroski plans to meet with department heads, commissioners, employees and other legislators to get the lay of the land on the county level before rolling up his sleeves.
Issues at the front of his mind are figuring out how to garner more funds from state partners for the working waterfront initiative and seeing how Southold’s deer management protocols could be translated to the district and East End at large, he told The Suffolk Times late Tuesday night.
Mr. Doroski’s term will end in 2028, as Proposition 2 in Suffolk County — to change county legislator term lengths to four years to coincide with New York’s even-year election cycle — received a 57.4% voter approval rating.
