GOP taps candidates for Suffolk Legislature seats
The Suffolk County Republican Committee on Tuesday night nominated Alain “Albie” de Kerillis of East Marion as the committees’ candidate to take on incumbent Democrat Al Krupski in the race for the county Legislature seat representing the towns of Southold, Riverhead and parts of eastern Brookhaven Town.
County Republicans held their nominating convention at the Ramada Inn in Holtsville, at which they nominated candidates for county Legislature seats and renominated incumbents Tom Spota for district attorney, Angie Carpenter for treasurer and Vince DeMarco for sheriff.
Mr. Spota and Mr. DeMarco have both run with Democratic backing in the past as well.
The Republicans did not nominate someone to run for the state Assembly seat left vacant when Dan Losquadro was elected Brookhaven highway superintendent in March — but they are expected to do so soon.
“We’re just finishing up some discussions among the leaders, and we will do an announcement on [an Assembly nominee] hopefully by the end of the week,” county Republican chairman John Jay LaValle said after the convention.
Mr. de Kerillis, 46, was not present at the convention, and could not be reached for comment.
He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, where he was a paratrooper. He’s also a member and former captain of the Greenport Fire Department, a volunteer at Maureen’s Haven, which provides food and shelter for the homeless, a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Paris, France, and a commissioner of the Orient/East Marion Parks District.
He works for Riverhead Building Supply in Greenport and ran for Southold Town Board in 2009, but finished third in a race for two seats.
“Albie is a lifelong Republican and he’s in the private sector now and that’s what we like,” Mr. LaValle said. “He’s served his country with distinction. He’s a pretty well rounded guy.
“He’s someone working in the private sector who knows what’s going on out there.”
“Albie is a strong candidate, he’s a solid Republican and he’s a tireless campaigner,” said Southold Republican leader Peter McGreevy.
In the County Legislature’s second district, which represents the South Fork, the Republicans nominated Southampton Town Councilman Chris Nuzzi to challenge incumbent Jay Schneiderman of Montauk, who was elected as a Republican but has since switched his registration to the Independence Party. He was re-elected with Democratic backing two years ago.
Mr. Nuzzi has been on the Southampton Town Board for eight years, and thus, cannot serve any longer as a councilman under that town’s term limit laws.
Mr. Nuzzi said he considered running for supervisor, but decided instead to run for Legislature.
The North Fork’s seat on the county Legislature had been held for many years by Ed Romaine, but when Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko resigned last fall, Mr. Romaine ran for that seat and was elected.
That set off a special election to fill his county seat, and Mr. Krupski, a former Southold Town Board member, handily defeated Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter in January for the remainder of the term.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Losquadro ran for a vacant Brookhaven Town highway superintendent seat and won, leaving his old Assembly seat vacant.
To date, it doesn’t appear that Governor Andrew Cuomo intends to call a special election to fill the Assembly seat, instead waiting for the November general election date.
Mr. Cuomo has not publicly commented at all on his plans for the vacant Assembly seat.
