Dems back GOP rebel Rob Trotta for Smithtown supervisor

Daily Point

Incumbent Ed Wehrheim to face Suffolk legislator, who is running as a write-in

The Smithtown Democrats are officially supporting a write-in campaign for voluble Republican Rob Trotta as town supervisor, The Point has learned.

The Democrats’ previous candidate for supervisor, Rosemary Griffin, withdrew for personal reasons, town Democratic committee chairwoman Phyllis Hart told The Point Tuesday. That withdrawal, however, came too late to take Griffin’s name off the ballot. But the town Democrats’ executive board met and agreed to support Trotta, a Suffolk legislator from Fort Salonga, who lost to Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim in a nasty Republican primary in June, on a write-in basis in November. Trotta has fought with his own party’s leadership in the legislature and been a persistent critic of the Suffolk PBA’s involvement in political races.

“In many instances, we align more with Rob Trotta than we don’t,” Hart said in an interview. “In order to survive in this world, and in Smithtown, there has to be a certain degree of bipartisanship. Republicans and Democrats have to come together and work together for the betterment of the community.”

Hart said she spoke with Suffolk County party chair Rich Schaffer, who, she said, neither endorsed nor prevented the party’s decision. Schaffer did not return The Point’s requests for comment.

“Voters already spoke when they rejected Mr. Trotta by ten points in the primary,” Wehrheim said in a statement. “His decision to run as a write-in candidate for the Democrats disrespects that result and serves no one but himself. Frankly, it’s a disservice to the voters whose voices should be respected.”

Hart said the Smithtown Democrats particularly agree with Trotta when it comes to “overdevelopment” and the “Queensification of the town.” Town party leaders particularly oppose the Cornerstone at Kings Park proposal to build 46 units in Kings Park, on a half-acre section of a 2.26-acre lot.

“We want sane and sensible development,” she said. “We don’t want the high-density development.”

Hart said the committee also agrees with Trotta on the need for term limits. Other Democratic candidates, including those for town council and the legislative seat Trotta is leaving because of term limits, have voiced support for the write-in effort, too.

Trotta told The Point that he would not officially campaign.

“I’m flattered,” Trotta said. “I’m not spending any money, but I will continue to advocate against the urbanization of Smithtown.”

Both Hart and Trotta admitted that a write-in campaign — especially without significant funds behind it — wouldn’t be easy.

“It’s a gamble,” Hart said. “It’s a heavy lift.”

Added Trotta: “I think it’s important to send a message, but it’s definitely an uphill battle … but I think it’s important that people have a choice and if people are unhappy they should show their unhappiness and if it be through a write-in vote, so be it.”

When asked whether he would write himself in come November, Trotta demurred.

“I might,” he said. “I think I would do a better job.”

The renewed Trotta-Wehrheim fight comes just days before a Sept. 4 court date regarding charges that the boyfriend of Wehrheim’s daughter stalked Trotta before the primary, as police charge that Joshua Smith had parked his truck in Trotta’s driveway and revved the engine in an effort to “intimidate” Trotta and his family.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Snake oil on the boil

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Quick Points

The Point missed a lot while on vacation

• What didn’t happen while The Point was away? Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged; pumpkin spice lattes are back; crossbows are now legal for hunting deer in Suffolk; chatbots are breaking up with humans; and the Cambridge Dictionary officially added skibidi, delulu and mouse jiggler. Typical news week.
• Severe rain caused gridlock in Delhi, stranding commuters in northern India on Monday for up to eight hours. And you thought Southern State traffic was bad.
• A vegan firefighter’s first day on the job in Missouri included 40,000 pounds of burning rib-eye steaks in a truck on a highway. That’s one way to make a traffic jam palatable.
• Expelled, indicted and incarcerated former LI Rep. George Santos continues to write a column from prison, railing against expired food, broken air conditioning and walls covered in black mold. While Santos says prison “is not supposed to be fun,” he demands “accountability from the agencies that operate in our name and with our tax dollars.” Accountability, indeed.
• A city in Japan might pass a law cutting people’s screen time to two hours. Long Island kids, who just went back to school without their cellphones, would revolt.
• Some young people in China, where the youth unemployment rate is over 14%, are paying companies to pretend to work. So, a recent graduate doesn’t have to get a job, just pretend to get a job?

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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