Bad Advice? - 27 East

Letters

Southampton Press / Opinion / Letters / 2401118
Oct 13, 2025

Bad Advice?

Perhaps you have seen the latest social media video targeting Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, which was paid for by the Suffolk County Democratic Committee. The ad starts by promoting Democratic Town Board candidate Tom Neely’s achievements, then quickly transitions into a rather dark, inaccurate portrayal of McNamara, describing her as a “MAGA extremist” and stating that her “extremism is hurting Southampton.”

I guess this is a thing now. This is the second election where Councilwoman McNamara has been on the receiving end of very expensive and very untrue negative ads.

This time, it’s the Suffolk County Democratic Committee slinging the mud. The same Suffolk County Democratic Committee, which is chaired by Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, that has accepted the conservative line in each of his last three campaigns.

I’ve written about cross-endorsement deals numerous times. The truth is, our local elections are compromised by party chair transactions, and the partisan political rhetoric is nothing more than a mechanism to create the illusion of commonality. When you see the Suffolk County Democratic Committee chairman running on the conservative line, it’s probably a good time to ask: “What is happening here?”

The “MAGA extremist” stuff is just the latest tactic designed to divide us, and it has no place in local political races. If you need to promote lies, you have nothing to promote.

Full disclosure, I am not on board with MAGA politics. I am deeply troubled by how divided this country is. That said, I’m not fooled by people or groups attempting to strategically fuse national issues with local issues.

It isn’t Cyndi McNamara playing division politics in Southampton, yet she is the target, and more people are lining up to defend her.

I recently attended a casual fundraiser supporting Cyndi McNamara and Rick Martel for Town Board, and Sundy Schermeyer for town clerk. I counted at least six former Southampton Democratic Committee members in attendance, all bewildered by the negativity being promoted by local Democratic committees, each of us disgusted by the hypocrisy of the county and town Democratic committee chairmen. There wasn’t a divisive comment made by any of the three candidates in attendance. It was positive, hopeful, and the only thing extreme about it was the camaraderie shared by people who understand what local government should be.

My hope is that Tom Neely, whom I have always respected, will publicly denounce these ads in a strong and meaningful way. Mr. Neely is either getting very bad advice from the people who are running his campaign, or his campaign has run away from him.

Craig Catalanotto

Speonk