The Suffolk County Board of Elections has reversed a controversial decision to deny voters the ability to cast absentee ballots in person as they are received at its Yaphank headquarters. READ
Tag: Board of Elections
The Shoreham man who has been fighting to remain in the running for the Sept. 13 Republican primary is back on the ballot.
The state Appellate Division Second Judicial Department ruled in favor of Mike Yacubich Friday, according to his lawyer Gary Donoyan. The Appellate Division overruled a state Supreme Court judge who upheld a Suffolk Board of Elections ruling knocking Mr. Yacubich off the ballot.
READ
Mike Yacubich’s chances of getting on the Sept. 13 Republican primary ballot took another hit Monday when state Supreme Court Judge John Leo ruled against him and in support of the Suffolk County Board of Election’s earlier ruling knocking him off the ballot.
But Mr. Yacubich, an accountant, former Shoreham-Wading River school board member and current Rocky Point fire chief, plans to keep fighting and has decided to appeal the decision to the state’s Appellate Division, according to his attorney, Gary Donoyan. READ
Members of the Green Party in Suffolk County say that Republicans have hijacked their line on the November ballot for three countywide judge positions.
Green Party members say they were told that petition carriers were helping the Green Party’s judge candidates get on the ballot. READ
Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio’s July 16 campaign finance reports show that she spent $3,881 in campaign contributions on legal fees paid to attorney Anton Borovina in June.
Mr. Borovina initially represented Ms. Giglio in the ethics complaint filed against her by the Coalition Against EPCAL Housing. The complaint argued that she should recuse herself from voting on the qualified and eligible sponsor designation for Calverton Aviation & Technology because she had met privately with CAT principals in Manhattan March 12 to discuss their proposed deal with the town. READ
Anna Throne-Holst will be the Democratic candidate in this fall’s 1st Congressional District race against incumbent Republican Lee Zeldin. READ
NEWS-REVIEW FILE PHOTOS | Riverhead Town Councilwoman Jodi Giglio has currently raised more money than primary challenger Anthony Coates.
Republican Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio is far ahead of running mate John Dunleavy and primary challenger Anthony Coates in terms of money raised and money spent in this year’s campaign, according to the latest Board of Elections disclosure reports.
The reports also show that Riverhead Town Democratic Committee has now raised more money than its Republican counterpart as of the latest filing period for this year.
Also, Democratic supervisor candidate Angela DeVito has raised nearly as much money as incumbent Republican Supervisor Sean Walter, despite the fact that Mr. Walter ran a separate campaign for Suffolk County legislator earlier in the year.
The Board of Elections requires all fundraising committees to file campaign disclosure reports in January and July, but also requires candidates involved in a primary or a general election to file additional reports, including a 32-day pre-primary report that was due Friday.
In Riverhead Town, there is a Democratic primary for supervisor between party nominee Angela DeVito and challenger Ann Cotten DeGrasse, as well as a Republican primary for two council seats that pits party nominees Jodi Giglio and John Dunleavy against challenger Anthony Coates, who has specifically targeted Ms. Giglio in his campaign.
There’s also a council primary for the Independence party nominations in Riverhead, pitting Ms. Giglio and Mr. Dunleavy against Bill Bianchi, a Democratic nominee.
The other Democratic council candidate, Millie Thomas, is not running in the Independence Party primary.
In the Democratic race for supervisor, Ms. DeVito, to date, has raised $21,509 and spent $13,764, with $7,735 left on hand. Her biggest contribution was $1,000 from the Ironworkers Political Action League.
Ms. Cotten-DeGrasse has raised $6,588 and spent $3,920, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. For the year, she’s raised $8,353 and spent $6,422, and ended the most recent filing period with $3,929 on hand.
Mr. Walter didn’t have to submit a pre-primary report since he’s not involved in a primary, but he has raised a total of $26,452 and spent $19,964 so far this year, with much of that being raised when he was running a special election for county Legislature earlier this year.
The Riverhead Town Democratic Committee had not yet posted a pre-primary report on the state BOE website but, to date, per the July filing, the Democrats had raised a total of $25,686 and spent $15,344 this year. The committee shows a balance of $15,550.
By comparison, the Riverhead Republican Committee had raised $5,950 and spent $7,172 through the July filing and the end balance showed them in debt to the tune of $4,102. The Republicans filed a “no action” notice in the pre-primary report, indicating that they had neither raised nor spent any money since the July filing date.
“I think it’s obvious that people want to change this Town Board this year and are supporting us,” said Riverhead Democratic chair Marge Acevedo.
Neither Mr. Bianchi nor Ms. Thomas have set up campaign fundraising committees yet.
The primary vote date is Sept. 10.
In the Republican race for two town council seat nominations, Ms. Giglio’s latest reports show her raising $14,760 more and spending $12,780 more since the prior reports in July.
Adding up the totals from the January and July filings, she has raised a total of $54,824 and spent $49,317. She started in January with $6,066, giving her a closing balance of $11,571, according to the report.
Ms. Giglio reported $4,542 in unspecified contributions in her latest report. Contributions of less than $100, such as those from people who attend fundraisers with a ticket price under $100, do not have to be listed by name.
Her biggest contributors named in the latest report are Phyllis Chulpsa of Smithtown and Composite Technologies of Calverton, each of which contributed $1,000.
Ms. Giglio’s campaign expenses show payments for fundraising events of $900 and $5,740 to Strategic Maneuvers and $1,500 to Third Rock, both of which have the same address as the Outer Banks Restaurant, which Ms. Giglio’s husband runs at the county’s Indian Island Country Club.
Mr. Dunleavy’s 32-day pre-primary report lists only $2,683 in additional contributions and $6,572 in additional expenses. For the year, including numbers from the prior reports, Mr. Dunleavy has raised $38,613 and spent $25,187. His campaign still has a balance $9,647 on hand.
His biggest contribution in the recent report was $1,000 from Randy Altschuler of St. James, who twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress on the Republican line against incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop.
Mr. Dunleavy also received $808 from Rudy Saviano Inc., of Ronkonkoma, which does fundraising auctions.
And Mr. Coates’ latest disclosure report shows only $1,000 more in contributions and $492 more in spending. The entire $1,000 came from Ron DeVito, who is seeking to build an assisted living facility on Mill Road.
Adding up all the reports, Mr. Coates has raised $6,275 and spent $5,336, although he started the year with $2,512, having raised $2,708 at fundraisers in late 2012. He still had $3,449 on hand at the end of the most recent filing period.
Mr. Coates’ expenses showed charges of $61 for “gas for petition travel” and $29 and $11 for “meal for petitioner.” In past reports, he has listed his cell phone costs as a campaign expense.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio.
UPDATE: Riverhead Councilwoman Jodi Giglio’s July 15 campaign finance disclosure forms have now been posted on the state Board of Elections website and, when combined with what she raised in the Jan. 15 reports, pull her ahead of fellow incumbent Republican Councilman John Dunleavy as having raised the most money for the coming town elections.
New July 15 reports were also posted Tuesday for Ann Cotten-DeGrasse, who is waging a Democratic primary for supervisor against committee nominee Angela DeVito.
FILE PHOTO | Second-term Riverhead Councilman John Dunleavy in Town Hall.
Reports for North Fork state Assembly candidates Tony Palumbo, the Republican candidate, and Democrat John McManmon, are also now available.
Ms. Giglio’s July 15 filings report contributions of $17,309 and spending at $20,771.
In January, she reporting raising $22,755 and spending $13,055.
By comparison, Mr. Dunleavy raised $25,430 in July and spent $16,220, but in January, he only raised $500, and spent $2,395.
Thus, the combined totals for the two filings show Ms. Giglio having raised $40,064 and spent $33,826, and Mr. Dunleavy having raised $25,930 and spent $18,615.
Among the contributions Ms. Giglio received in the July filings were $500 from Saber Riverhead, which is building a new shopping center on Route 58; $840 from Mainstream House on Sound Avenue in Riverhead; $500 from West RAC contracting of Hauppauge; $500 from Kevin Gershowitz of Gershow Recycling; $500 from M-GBC LLC, which is a company headed by Jan Burman that owns land at EPCAL, and $630 from East End Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery of East Main Street.
Among Ms. Giglio’s expenditures were $3,000 to Outerbanks — a restaurant run by her husband at Suffolk County’s Indian Island Country Club — for fundraiser and $200 for snow removal for about 100 spaces at Outerbanks, according to the filing.
She also paid $989 to Campaigns Unlimited of Shirley for fundraiser invitations and professional services, and $1,378 to GMG Printing and Marketing Resources of Shirley for fundraiser invitations.
Mr. Dunleavy paid $729 to Minute Man Press of Riverhead for fundraising and $10,850 to the Baiting Hollow Club for fundraisers.
On the snow removal for Outerbanks, Ms. Giglio said Tuesday the job was needed to clear space for people attending a Feb. 12 fundraiser there, a day after the Blizzard of 2013 struck the region.
“The county employees were not coming to clear the parking lot that night, as they normally would, so I had to pay so the people coming to my fundraiser could have somewhere to park,” Ms. Giglio explained.
She also said the $3,000 checks for the Outerbanks fundraiser actually went to a catering company called Strategic Maneuvers, which was hired to help run the February fundraiser.
Supervisor Sean Walter’s January reports show only $6,100 raised and $1,085 spent. He was running for a county Legislature seat at the time.
Ms. Cotten DeGrasse, meanwhile raised $3,765 and spent $1,262, according to the July 15 reports.
The state Assembly race is close in the fundraising department
Mr. Palumbo raised $24,785 and spent $8,678, while Mr. McManmon raised $21,425 and spent $2,671.
Ms. Giglio’s rival in a Republican primary, Anthony Coates, reported raising $5,275 and spending $4,631. His campaign spending included $1,698 to the Riverhead Project for a fundraiser and $515 to PDQ Print of Taylor, Penn. for campaign brochures, according to the July 15 filings.
He also paid an AT&T cell phone bill out of campaign funds, according to the report.
(Scroll down for a complete roundup.)
JULY 16 STORY: The first campaign finance disclosure forms of the political season were due Monday, and Riverhead Councilman John Dunleavy is way out in front of everybody so far, with more than $25,430 raised between Jan 15 and July 15.
In the supervisor race, incumbent Republican Sean Walter is leading Democratic challenger Angela DeVito in the money-raising department, $18,077 to $13,930.
The reports, which are filed electronically and posted on the state Board of Elections website, were due Monday, although some candidates didn’t report any contributions or didn’t file on time.
John Conklin, a BOE spokesman, said workers there are filing the reports as they receive them, but that anything received after 5 p.m. Monday will not be posted until Tuesday, although anything received up until midnight Monday would not be considered late.
If a candidate is more than five days late, the BOE could launch a lawsuit against that person, and could possibly fine them up to $1,000, Mr. Conklin said.
Mr. Dunleavy and primary challenger Anthony Coates were the only town council candidates to have filed the July 15 reports on the state site so far, but Republican Councilwoman Jodi Giglio had reported $22,755 raised in the Jan. 15 reports.
Among some of the larger contributions for Mr. Dunleavy were $1,000 from town building inspector Sharon Klos; $1,000 from Mainstram House, an alcohol rehab center on Sound Avenue; $900 each from Riverhead Ford Lincoln and Mattituck Sanitation; $737 apiece from Kevin and Marnie Gershowitz, of Gershow Recycling; $500 from Ron DeVito, who is proposing an assisted living project on Mill Road, and $675 from Jefferson Consultants, headed by Mark Lyons of Port Jefferson, who is working on that project as well; $500 from Giorgio’s Catering in Baiting Hollow; $900 from Bob Scheiner of H2M Engineering; $900 from builder Richard Wiedersum of Wiedersum Associates; and $900 from Jaral Riverhead, which owns the Holiday Inn Express on Route 58.
Mr. Dunleavy, a retired town police officer who was re-elected to a second term in 2009, said almost all of his contributions came from a golf fundraiser he held on July 9.
He said he thinks he received the support because people are happy with the job he’s done, not because they are looking for favors from the town.
“I work with everybody,” he said. “I don’t care if you give me $100 or you give me nothing. A lot of people gave me nothing but I work with them.”
Mr. Walter’s biggest contribution came from the Riverhead Republican Committee, which gave him $3,000. He also got $1,000 from George Regini of Giorgio’s Catering; $1,000 from Suffolk County Probation Officers; $500 from Apple Honda owner Irwin Garsten, who is seeking to build a shopping center next to Riverhead Centre on Route 58; and $500 from West RAC contracting of Hauppauge. He also got $500 from Green World Marketing of Northport and he reported $2,985 in contributions under $100 from a July 9 event. Those contributions are not required to be reported by name.
Ms. DeVito, (who is not related to the aforementioned Ronald DeVito) worked with a builder’s union for many years and received a lot of campaign contributions from unions, including $1,000 apiece from the Political Action League of two Ironworkers’s unions and $500 apiece from a Sheetmetal Workers union PAC and from Bricklayers Local Union 1.
Ms. DeVito also got $705 from Paulette DeVito of Rocky Point; $500 from Amy and Jim Csorny of Wading River, who had been in court with the town over breach access disputes; and $300 from George and Christine Prete of Flanders. Ms. Prete had served with Ms. DeVito on the Riverhead Board of Education.
Among the larger contributors to Ms. Giglio’s campaign in the Jan. 15 report were $1,000 from Irwin Garsten; $800 from engineer Dennis Kelleher of H2M, which has worked for the town for many years; $525 from Henry Chlupsa, the president of consulting firm Dvirka and Bartilucci; and $500 apiece from Syp Industries of Manorville; $500 from Sypher Construction of Manorville, and Bench Strength Partners of Floral Park.
Mr. Coates’ biggest contribution was $1,000 from Stacey Polites and $500 from Lia Polites, who is one of the owners of the Jedediah Hawkins Inn. He also received $500 from Mainstream House.
The Riverhead Republican committee got a $250 donation from Ronald DeVito, but most of its contributions were not larger than $200.
The Riverhead Democratic Committee had not filed the July 15 report, but the Jan. 15 report showed the Democrats owed $6,862.
There were no campaign committees listed for Riverhead Democratic council candidates Millie Thomas and Bill Bianchi.
Anne Cotten DeGrasse, who is challenging Ms. DeVito in a primary for the Democratic supervisor nod, had a committee but did not report any campaign finance activity.
More by the numbers:
Friends of Sean Walter
raised $18,077
spent $16,239
Angela DeVito for Supervisor
raised $13,930
spent $9,956
Friends of John Dunleavy
raised $25,430
spent $16,220
Vote Coates 13 (Anthony Coates)
raised $5,275
spent $4,631
Riverhead Republican Committee
raised $6,115
spent $7,172
Riverhead Town Democratic Committee
raised $6,205
spent $5,548
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio
July
raised $17,309
spent $20,771
January
raised $22,755
spent $13,055
Councilman John Dunleavy
July
raised $25,430
spent $16,220
January
raised $500
spent $2,395
Ann Cotten-DeGrasse
raised $3,765
spent $1,262
Tony Palumbo
raised $24,785
spent $8,678
John McManmon
raised $21,425
spent $2,671