Halpin defeats Rothwell, secures two-year term as Riverhead Town Supervisor
Riverhead has spoken. It wants two more years of Jerry Halpin.
Mr. Halpin, an independent running on the Democratic and Taxpayers First lines, declared victory over Republican rival Ken Rothwell in the race for Riverhead town supervisor just after 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Speaking to supporters at The All Star, he thanked voters for their trust while initially cautioning that the results still needed to hold.
“Every person that went out and voted. It means the world to me that you can put your trust in me, and I want to earn that over the next two years and work really hard,” said Mr. Halpin, as he celebrated with his wife, Kristen, and their daughter, Chloe.
With all 22 election districts reporting, unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections showed Mr. Halpin ahead by 627 votes, with 6,779 votes, or 52.4%, to Mr. Rothwell’s 6,152, or 47.6%.
Mr. Halpin received 2,821 more votes than last year, when he defeated Republican incumbent Tim Hubbard by just 37 votes. The two candidates’ combined vote total was about 64% higher than the number of votes cast for Mr. Halpin and Mr. Hubbard last year.
His victory came on a strong night for Democrats, with Gov. Kathy Hochul winning reelection and Chris Murray poised to unseat Republican state Sen. Anthony Palumbo in the 1st Congressional district.
Republicans squeezed by in two other local races, with Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio winning another term, while Rep. Nick LaLota declared victory over Democrat Chris Gallant, who declined to concede.
Mr. Halpin, a pastor and political newcomer before his successful bid last year, had to run again due to New York’s Even-Year Election Law.
He described his first 10 months at the helm of Riverhead Town as both inspiring and challenging.
“We’ve done so many great things. We came in under the tax cap, but we have so many more exciting things to do,” Mr. Halpin said after the results rolled in. “So much great stuff, and I really want to work together over the next two years to continue to strengthen what Riverhead is doing.”
The crowd at the Riverhead GOP election watch party at Stonewalls began to thin around 11:30 p.m. Supporters hugged Mr. Rothwell or gave him supportive pats on the shoulder as they left the restaurant at The Woods golf course in Riverhead.
At that hour, the councilman was holding out hope as he awaited the final results.
“It’s trickling, but not certainty,” said Mr. Rothwell, who will remain on the Town Board for the next two years. “We’ll see what things look like, so whatever it is, it’ll be good – we’ll accept it.”
Before the polls closed, Mr. Rothwell took a moment to reflect on the last five months of campaigning and thanked the volunteers who put their “heart and soul” into helping him.
He also touched on how his extensive campaign walks opened his eyes to the needs of Riverhead residents.
“The biggest thing that I learned, there’s areas of Riverhead that I truly never walked to, and because of this campaign, I saw homes that were magnificent … but the truth of the matter is, I saw a lot of homes in impoverished areas,” Mr. Rothwell told the Riverhead News-Review before the results came in. “It humbles you, and it makes you feel grateful for what I have and what my family has, and how fortunate we are, but it also says there’s a lot of work that we need to do.”
Suffolk County Legislator Greg Doroski — who was manning one of the laptops and scouring for results at the Democratic watch party — described the result as a “bipartisan victory.”
“If you look at Jerry’s vote total, it’s clear: This is a bipartisan victory for Jerry. That shows Jerry’s value as a leader and the results that he’s delivered for Riverhead,” Mr. Doroski said.
In a sit-down interview before the election, Mr. Halpin said his focus throughout his first year has been on working with staff, highlighting departmental successes and breaking down organizational silos.
Over his next two years, he hopes to invest in technology to modernize Town Hall operations, review sewer district power costs, expand food-scrap partnerships, examine costly town-owned real estate and possibly revive the audit committee.
On his vision for the Enterprise Park at Calverton, the supervisor said he sees the property as the town’s “greatest economic generator” for decades to come.
Now that the town has cleared a major legal hurdle with the Calverton Aviation and Technology lawsuit, Mr. Halpin pitched the idea of freight rail service that could move local products — including wine, seafood and agricultural goods — to markets beyond Long Island.
Mr. Halpin also wants to see the 111 East Main St. space — known as the Long Island Science Center building — become something “sustainable” that attracts people downtown. His longer-term goal is to extend revitalization to areas like Polish Town and toward Main Road, rather than having it stop at Riverhead’s downtown area.
The supertvisor also had an apology for someone waiting at home.
“And to my dog, I’m sorry I’m never home,” he said.
