Nassau's cash-rich Republican clubs

Daily Point

Nassau GOP clubs have history of raising tons of cash

The campaign funds raised by Nassau County Republicans are massive.

Money doesn’t guarantee any political victory — think of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s spending in the New York City Democratic primary — but cash can tip the scales beyond competitive in local races.

The Nassau County Republican Committee and its various accounts have raised more than $70 million since 2005. Nassau Dems have raised over $25 million since 2005, according to campaign finance filings with the New York State Board of Elections.

Perhaps even more impressive are the amounts raised by local GOP clubs in Nassau, which then funnel the money up to the campaign organizations.

The East Rockaway Republican Finance Committee reported $2.1 million in donations since 2005. The Town of Hempstead Republican Committee raised just under $5 million since 2006. Other big GOP fundraising clubs were: Town of Oyster Bay ($3.48 million); Hicksville ($2.18 million); Town of North Hempstead ($1.41 million); Island Park-Lido-Point Lookout ($1.41 million); and City of Long Beach ($1.24 million).

At least 15 other GOP clubs raised at least $500,000 each, and many more reported raising at least $100,000.

That money — often the bundling of small checks — then gets sent to the county GOP committee’s coffers for spending in hot races. 

The list of top-performing GOP clubs isn’t surprising considering who helms them. East Rockaway lists Anthony Santino as its leader on the county GOP website. Santino, a current East Rockaway Village trustee, is a former Hempstead Town supervisor and longtime Nassau powerbroker. Island Park is led by Anthony D’Esposito, a former congressman and Hempstead Town board member.

Michael Dawidziak, a Republican political consultant, told The Point, "There’s no bad way to raise money as long as it’s legal, and give it to the Republicans for raising money."

A Nassau Democratic political insider countered that voters don’t care about fundraising totals. "They want leaders who will work for them, not for their own egos or political aspirations. That’s what will ultimately decide the outcome in November."

The decades-long dominance of fundraising continues this year as Nassau Republicans have raised $1,092,352.30 from Jan. 15 to July 15, according to an August Point item. Nassau Dems raised $518,691.23 in contributions during the same time.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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Data Point

Nassau's low housing vacancy rate

Nassau County has consistently had one of the state’s lowest housing vacancy rates in the last decade, which indicates a persistently tight market on Long Island, where finding a home to rent or buy is infamously difficult.

Vacancy rate is a term used to measure the number of housing units that are livable but unoccupied relative to the total number of housing units available in a neighborhood. A high vacancy rate implies low demand in the housing market, while a starkly low rate indicates there aren’t enough homes to meet demand. The data does not differentiate between rental and homeowner vacancy rates.

In 2023, Nassau’s vacancy rate was 4.5%, only slightly above the Bronx’s 4.2%, which was the lowest in the state, according to The Point’s analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. This was below the national average of 7.7% and the New York State average of 5.5%.

The last decade has seen an even steeper decline in vacancies in Nassau. The vacancy rate was about 5.4% and 5.5% in 2019 and 2014, respectively. The region’s proximity to New York City and decades of lagging construction rates have contributed to skyrocketing rents and inflated home values. In an ideal world, new construction would increase supply to meet the demands of a growing population. Instead, mostly younger homebuyers are being forced to move out of Long Island while the region’s population growth stagnates.

Suffolk’s vacancy rate is more difficult to capture. The data includes housing units considered to be vacation or second homes, giving the county, which has a high number of seasonal "vacant" rental homes, a higher-than-average vacancy rate of 11.6%. Due to the seasonal market, that figure does not reflect the reality of Suffolk’s tight market. According to 2023 data, an estimated 44,000 housing units in Suffolk, or 65% of all vacant units, were listed as being for seasonal or recreational purposes. In comparison, around 4,000 units in Nassau, or 5% of its total vacant homes, were seasonal rentals.

— Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

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