Suffolk's Political Chairs Looking Forward To A Busy Year

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Suffolk's political leaders are gearing up for a busy year with the presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and local elections loom ahead.

"It's going to be a crazy year," said Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer. "I think the presidential campaign is obviously going to set the tone, similar to what we saw in 2020. And I think just the past couple of elections have been difficult to predict."

"I think you'll see the same thing going on with the elections coming up in '24," he said. "Because you're going to have very strong turnouts to vote for president. Both sides are very galvanized among their supporters, and so again, when you have that kind of activity going on, I don't think anyone can predict how things are going to turn out."

"I think all the campaigns are going to be very interesting," he said.

Suffolk GOP chairman Jesse Garcia said, "Every presidential year is going to be filled with energy and excitement from the ground — grassroots level, right up through the ranks."

"I am really looking forward to a good year here," he added.

He believes Trump, who was defeated in 2020 after only one term in office, will be elected.

Part of the reason for this is that voters are questioning whether they are better off financially than they were four years ago, and cited inflated gas and food prices.

"We're paying 49 percent more for bread and groceries and everyday items," he said. "The second question they're going to ask themselves is 'Are we going to be safer?'"

"Certainly, the Biden administration and its foreign policy has been a complete and utter failure," he said, adding that America has been taken off of the global stage.

Biden's supporters and progressive Democrats want the country to become socialist," according to Garcia.

"We are not a socialist country; we will never be a socialist country," he said.

Schaffer says he prays that Trump will not be elected.

"Biden's campaign is much stronger, much more organized," he said, adding that its workers understand what they have to do. "I think at the end of the day, smart Republicans will understand that Trump is a danger to democracy in our country."

Schaffer says it comes down to which candidate supports maintaining the country's democracy.

"Trump led a an assault on democracy and our capital," he said. "At the end of the day, we as Americans, whether you'd be Democrats or Republicans, support our system and that we don't support an authoritarian system. "

People are "genuinely frightened" by the prospect of what Trump would do" is elected, according to Schaffer.

"We saw what he did at the end of his first term," he said. "They're generally frightened by what he could do for a full four years."

Garcia said his party is looking at a very good year locally.

"We've been very successful, so we have a lot of incumbents to defend and reelect and we're still looking at a couple of critical districts to try and pick up," he said.

There are several other seats the GOP is eyeing this year, Garcia said.

One of those districts includes Senate District 4 that's being held by Democratic Sen. Monica Martinez, who Garcia attacked for "delivering cashless bail," a controversial move that has drawn the ire of Republicans since its introduction in 2020.

For the seat, the GOP is running Theresa Bryant, a registered nurse and pastor whose husband and daughter are in law enforcement.

"[Bryant]'s got that mix of a small business and also volunteerism in public service, which is grounded in her faith," Garcia said.

Schaffer disagreed with Garcia, noting that Martinez is known because of how hard she worked at both the local level as a legislator and the state level as a senator.

"The budget that just passed delivered record amounts of school aid for all the school districts in her senatorial district," he said, adding that Martinez and her colleagues passed a bill eliminating squatters rights.

"It was a major ask from our local officials because we've had problems with squatters taking over these foreclosed homes and us having a very difficult time to remove them," he said. "So the state Legislature made that change possible. Now, in effect, it's going to help us on a number of fronts."

He is confident that Martinez is going to do very well because of the record that she's established, and called Garcia's desire to win the seat for his party "wishful thinking."

"But that's what we do as leaders," he said.

In Assembly District 1, which covers the East End and a portion of eastern Brookhaven Town, there will be an election to replace longtime Assemb. Fred Thiele, who is retiring.

Garcia described Democrat Tommy John Shiavoni, a Southampton Town councilman, as an ultra-progressive socialist that the GOP is looking to best with "a common sense of protector of the North Fork values" in attorney, Steve Kiley, "who we feel very confident that he is going to pick that seat up."

Schaffer says he's pretty confident that Schiavoni will retain Thiele's seat because of his accomplishments as a councilman.

"He's a very know very well known name on the South Fork and in the East End area, and I think it's important people in that district are used to having an assembly person in the majority," he he he said. "Fred has an outstanding record of accomplishment over the years and delivering for school districts with local towns."

"Tommy John will continue in that vein," he said.

Assembly District 11, which straddles Suffolk and Nassau, and currently held by Assemb. Kimberly Jean-Pierre, who is not seeking reelection.

The Dems are running retired New York Police Department detective Kwani B. O'Pharrow, founder of Cops For Kids, an organization that fosters good relations between communities and law enforcement.

Schaffer is "pretty confident" that based on O'Pharrow's resume, his party will keep the seat blue.

"The fact that we we've done a lot of groundwork through Team Schaffer on the town level," he said. "I'll be strongly supporting him, and I believe that voters will respond to all of that."

To fill that seat, the GOP is looking to Joseph Cardinale, also a retired NYPD police officer who also has a background in housing enforcement.

"He knows the importance of providing proper housing for residents and making sure that they're not taking advantage of. He's a law and order candidate that's been supported by the major law enforcement unions."