Thursday primaries: Supe, council, justice nods up for grabs

Three town justice candidates, three primaries — though no two races are the same.

Robert Kozakiewicz, Jeanmarie Costello and Lori Hulse will battle it out for party nods on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines on Thursday.

The vacancy for one of Riverhead’s two part-time town justice seats comes after longtime Town Justice Richard Ehlers decided not to run again. The winner of November’s race will share the bench with Town Justice Allen Smith.

The race for the Conservative nomination will include all three candidates; Republican voters will choose between Mr. Kozakiewicz and Ms. Hulse. The Independence nod will be up for grabs between Ms. Hulse and Ms. Costello.

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Mr. Kozakiewicz, a former town supervisor who currently serves as Riverhead’s town attorney, won the Republican party nomination in May. The 58-year-old Riverhead High School graduate pointed to his prosecutorial background with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and background as a defense attorney with the office of Peter Danowski — as well as his experience in town government — as a solid balance for voters. A father of three, he lives in Riverhead with his wife and said he’d like to explore the possibility of evening traffic court in order to improve the expediency of the justice court calendar.

Ms. Hulse has served as a deputy town attorney in Southold since 2004 and is a current — and previous — member — of the Riverhead Board of Education. If elected, Ms. Hulse said she would close her private practice and serve “full time” in the part-time role. She said she wouldn’t advocate to make the position full time, but she would spend “100 percent of my time and attention to justice court matters.” The 48-year-old Calverton native lives in Riverhead with her husband and two children. She previously worked in the Brooklyn and Suffolk County District Attorney offices before moving to her municipal role in Southold.

Ms. Costello, who already has the Democratic line, has pointed to her past experience in private practice as being one of her strongest suits. She said she also has the backing of the Working Families Party and the Green Party, and the support of the Independence Party.

“I’ve represented a large segment of the community in their time of need,” she said. “I’m someone who knows the people and someone who is fair and impartial.”

Ms. Costello’s father, Thomas, served as a town justice from 1961 to 1975. Ms. Costello lives in Riverhead with her two children and runs a private law practice on Lincoln Street.

Caption: Jeanmarie Costello, Robert Kozakiewicz, and Lori Hulse