It was one of the most closely watched races in Nassau County but at the end, Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas dominated Republican cha
llenger Kate Murray in the highly contested battle for district attorney.
Though polls showed the candidates were neck and neck in the days leading up to Election Day, when Nov. 3 came, Democratic nominee Singas had a steady lead throughout the night, garnering close to 58 percent of the vote with Murray taking in 42 percent.
Throughout the campaign, Singas touted her experience, emphasizing that the district attorney position needed to be filled by a “prosecutor, not a politician.” Singas, who had served as the acting district attorney since January and has more than 20 years of experience under her belt, said she is committed to not letting party politics get in the way of solutions.
“I was not running as a Democrat or a Republican. I was running as a prosecutor. And that is how I intend to run this office, as a prosecutor,” Singas said in her victory speech at the Garden City Hotel. “I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to find solutions to the problems facing Nassau County. I will run this office without fear or favor. I will be the independent prosecutor Nassau deserves, because that’s what the people who voted for me expect of me, and it’s what I expect of myself.”
Murray, a well-known name throughout the county and the Town of Hempstead supervisor, ran a campaign that touted her qualifications as an administrator. Though she had many big-name endorsements, including the Nassau County PBA and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, many questioned whether a career politician would be able to do the job of district attorney, which would include having to tackle corruption.
In her concession speech at Nassau Republican headquarters in Westbury, Murray thanked her supporters and said she was proud of her campaign.
“This night didn’t go my way, but I have never been prouder of a campaign that I have run,” Murray said. “I have never been prouder of the broad base of support I received. I will never regret this campaign.”
Murray, who surrendered her supervisor seat for the possible DA position, will be replaced by newly elected Republican Anthony Santino come January.
As for the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor race, it has been more than a week since Election Day and the outcome still remains inconclusive.
In what was perhaps one of the most unexpected races of the night, political newcomer John Mangelli beat longtime Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto at the polls by a mere 68 votes, taking in 22,454 votes to Venditto’s 22,386. The race remains too close to call and will ultimately be decided by 1,700 absentee ballots.
Kevin Clemency, volunteer spokesmen with the Oyster Bay Democrats, said they are confident that the ballots will favor Mangelli.
“We are confident that the absentee ballots will go our way like the machine votes did,” Clemency said. “It’s still going to be close but we’re confident that enough registered Republicans crossed over and made the conscientious choice to jump parties and vote Mangelli.”
In a statement, Venditto said overall, he was pleased with the public’s continued support of the town’s elected officials, but that it was too soon to speculate on the supervisor race.
“It is most important to let the election process continue to unfold,” said Venditto. “However, I would like to thank all the town residents, who not only supported me in this year’s campaign, but have over the many years I have been privileged to serve as town supervisor.”
Venditto is closing in on his 17th year as supervisor, taking office in 1998. He noted that over his years as supervisor, he has helped improve infrastructure and maintain quality of life. But in doing that, the town debt has grown, and in recent months, he has also received criticism for several controversies, most notably the indictment of restaurateur Harendra Singh for allegedly paying bribes and kickbacks to town employees.
Mangelli’s only previous political experience was a run for New York State Senate two years ago. Running on what he called a “common sense approach,” he said he wanted to fight corruption and cronyism, as well as impose term limits and tackle the town debt.
“We’ve been talking about ways to increase transparency in the town, end the pay to play culture that has taken over and reviewing a lot of contracts and [make sure] every residents knows where every penny is getting spent,” Clemency said. “I think that will restore a lot of faith that has been lost by Oyster Bay residents and get us back in the direction we need to be going.”
Editor’s Note: As of press time, absentee ballots had not been counted and the election results were not yet decided. Check out www.massapequaobserver.com for updated results.
