Suffolk Democrats' leadership battle intensifies, spills into town races weeks before Election Day

The polarizing fight over Suffolk County Democratic Party leadership has extended to town committees just weeks before Election Day, with supporters of longtime chairman Rich Schaffer winning in Brookhaven but backers of his rival winning in Islip and Huntington.

The internal party battles over the past week, with allegations of improper last-minute appointments to fill vacant committee seats, come a month after Schaffer withstood a challenge from Southold Town Democratic Committee chairwoman Kathryn Casey Quigley and vowed unity.

It also comes as early voting in the general election begins Saturday, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.

For Democratic voters, the leader of the town party can influence which candidates run for local office, set priorities for key issues and impact the overall strength of the committee to serve as the backbone of political campaigns.

Town committees operate independently but under the bylaws of the county committee, which can provide additional resources such as money, voter data and coordination with campaign events like canvassing and phone banks.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is taking on Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, and Democrats are hoping to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), whose seat is entirely in Suffolk, and protect Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), whose district is partially in Suffolk. 

Schaffer, the Babylon Town supervisor, has led the Democratic Party in Suffolk for 26 years, and his supporters credit his leadership for helping elect minority and women candidates. Casey Quigley supporters argued Schaffer has been too focused on his hometown, hasn't supplied other committees the resources they need and has been too willing to make deals with the Republican and Conservative parties.

Casey Quigley had publicly stated before the Sept. 22 party chair election that she would not appoint any new members to town committees. She said the county's bylaws allow for "special privileges" that are intended to "protect itself."

"They have written anti-democratic rules to protect the powerful," she said.

Bryan Sokolowski, political director for the Suffolk County Democratic Committee, said the focus is on electing Democratic candidates in the general election.

"Any legal matters related to these conventions won't be resolved until after Election Day and shouldn't distract any focus on November's election," he said.

Schaffer didn't respond to requests for comment.

New Huntington leader

At the Hilton Long Island/Huntington hotel Thursday night in Melville, Liz Best defeated incumbent chair Jill Kaufman, a Schaffer ally, securing about 54% of the vote. The crowd erupted in cheers as the temporary chair announced the result shortly after 8 p.m.

Best said she set out this summer, when she started the campaign, to connect with current committee members, listening to their concerns and laying out her vision for the party.

"I think that vision of what we can do moving forward was what brought people on board,” she told Newsday, adding that people felt frustrated with their experience in the town committee.

Best emailed members Wednesday with a final pitch and said she had learned the day before the vote how 66 people had been appointed to the committee rolls, which she said was "deeply disappointing.”

She said it appeared those appointments didn’t factor much into the final tally.

"I think a lot of them did not show up,” she said.

Best said she doesn't know Schaffer personally and looks forward to connecting with him.

Kaufman supporters criticized Best for "parachuting" into the committee.

"I don't respect that," said Sherry Pavone when she nominated Kaufman, who works for the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

Kaufman did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Challenging Islip

In East Islip Wednesday night, Leigh-Ann Barde, the Islip committee chair who has become a vocal critic of Schaffer, won reelection against challenger Elizabeth Mercado, of Brentwood, after appointing her own supporters to fill vacancies and refusing to allow the county committee appointees to participate.

Barde said she had no intention of appointing members to fill vacancies until the county committee did so in Brookhaven last week.

"We were not going to be lame ducks,” she said in an interview after the results were announced. "Islip Dems fight back.”

Barde secured 60% of the vote. Her appointments contributed to her total, and she said her result would have stood even without her appointments.

Mercado on Thursday said the meeting was "deeply disappointing” and vowed to legally challenge the outcome and "procedural irregularities” in court. She said the decision to exclude county committee appointees "violated party rules and undermined the integrity of the process.”

An overflow crowd filled the Greenwood Hall for the organizational meeting, and when frequent audio problems prevented the committee members outside the building from hearing the proceedings, the leadership eventually decided to move the entire meeting outside to the dimly lit parking lot. The roll call was then conducted for more than 200 election districts, with each member in attendance announcing their vote.

"The disorganization and disregard for established procedures were exactly why I believed new leadership was necessary,” said Mercado, who serves on the Suffolk County Water Authority Board.

Barde said the committee "did not recognize” the appointees from the county committee and did not allow them to vote, saying, "They’re not legitimate.” She said as town committee chair, she must approve an appointment from the county committee, which she did not.

Mercado said Schaffer never asked her to run for the leadership post and she did so "following numerous conversations with committee members and party members frustrated with the direction of the town committee.” She said she aimed to "rebuild a stronger, more inclusive, transparent, and effective Democratic organization in Islip.”

Former Legis. William Lindsay III and current Legis. Samuel Gonzalez (D-Brentwood), allies of Schaffer, nominated Mercado’s slate during the meeting, both arguing that the committee needed change. State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood), a Schaffer ally, also voted for Mercado.

Asked why she believes Schaffer would prefer a different town chair, Barde said: "Because I stood up to him, and he likes to have an iron grip on everything and he's not used to somebody saying no. And we said no.”

Former Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan stated a formal objection to the conduct of the meeting before casting a vote for Mercado, saying the county committee appointees were "improperly excluded." Nolan previously served as president of the Suffolk Off-Track Betting Corp., a position Schaffer helped orchestrate, Newsday previously reported.

Brookhaven vote 

In the Brookhaven Democratic Committee election last Thursday at the Portuguese American Center of Suffolk in Farmingville, Diane Costello, a Schaffer supporter, narrowly edged out Jennifer Greene, a Casey Quigley supporter. Greene contends that positions appointed at the behest of Schaffer influenced the outcome of the race.

The chair position was vacant because Anthony Portesy, the former Democratic county clerk candidate and an attorney at Suffolk OTB, became a committee member in Huntington.

Costello received 51.2% of the weighted vote. Greene said without appointees, she would have won with 55.3%.

Not all appointees voted for Costello, but Greene said the majority did.

She said she plans to challenge the outcome in court.

“[Schaffer] spoke of coming together in his remarks after the county chair vote,” Greene said. "And what a shame that he put his thumb on the scale this way.”

Costello did not return a message seeking comment on the chair position.

Ashley Hunt-Martorano, a Brookhaven committee member, said she views Schaffer’s strategy of asserting control over the town elections as "divide and conquer” to limit the power his opponents in the party can gain.

"I believe Rich is trying to control the town chair races because if he can handicap us in these three key towns — Huntington, Islip and Brookhaven — and maintain control there, it will be harder for Kathryn to defeat him in 2028 when she runs again,” she said.