Maria Moore Elected Town Supervisor; Democrats Sweep Southampton Town Board Race

It was after midnight at the Canoe Place Inn on Election Day when Southampton Town Trustee Ann Welker arrived from a Holtsville gathering, to cheers from her fellow Democrats, fresh from her victory for Suffolk County legislator over Republican Manny Vilar.

“I am so excited to be in a place where there is so much joy,” Welker said as the news became official, at long last: Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore, a Democrat, had prevailed in her race for town supervisor over Republican Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara.

There was no joy in Holtsville, Welker said: Republican Ed Romaine had beaten Democrat Dave Calone in the Suffolk County executive race. But the joy was ample in the Library Room on a night where Democrats achieved a 4-1 supermajority on the Southampton Town Board and nabbed a couple of seats on the Board of Trustees along the way.

At around 12:30 a.m., following a balky and hours-long rollout of the Election Day results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections, Gordon Herr, chairman of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee, affirmed what had become obvious by this point, given the vote tally and that the news was already popping on social media.

“It’s all over Facebook that you’re taking it,” said an exultant Herr, directing his joy to Moore, who sat anxiously with her family as the results trickled in.

Moore didn’t want to take anything for granted and said she would wait for the final word. “I feel like a gloom and doomer,” she said with a laugh.

The final word was soon enough in coming. Along with Moore’s unofficial election night victory, fellow Democrats Michael Iasilli and Bill Pell won their races, too, on a surprising night that saw the popular Hampton Bays Republican Rick Martel lose his seat on the board.

Outgoing Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who emceed the night with a music rotation heavy on the João Gilberto and bossa nova tunes, declared that he was “thrilled to pass the baton” to Moore.

“We have a supermajority!” he shouted.

By now it was after 12:30 a.m. and Pell had already left the room with his schoolteacher wife, Sarah. Matt Parsons, who took one of the five open Trustee seats, had departed, too, after an evening that found him cheerfully sharing his scallop recipes as the results trickled in.

Joseph McLoughlin toughed it out through the night with family and would eventually prevail in his race for one of those open Trustee seats.

It was a big night for Bridget Fleming, too. Fleming is leaving her post as county legislator in January and had encouraged, she said, Moore, Iasilli and Welker to run. Not a bad way to go out the door, she said.

An exuberant Iasilli said he was “looking forward to working with Maria” on what he called the New Vision Agenda for the Town Council. He also gave a warm shout-out to Martel on the morning after.

“I want to commend Rick Martel for his service. I think he is one of the most stand-up, nicest individuals that I know,” Iasilli said. “I truly wish I was able to serve on the board with him, but the voters chose who they chose and I’m looking forward to doing the good work on behalf of the people.”

Pell, a North Sea resident, was enthusiastic about the road ahead when reached early Wednesday morning after all the votes had been tallied. “I’m looking forward to serving the townspeople and listening to what they have to say so I can help solve the issues with the new Town Board,” he said.

As the hour drew close to 1 a.m. on election night, Moore told the gathering, which by now had dwindled to a handful of the hardcore supporters, including Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, that she was, of course, grateful for all the support she had gotten from Herr and other local Democrats. “I can’t believe it,” she said.

Moore spoke of how she had big shoes to fill with Schneiderman’s departure following a 24-year run of elective office service here, in East Hampton and at the Suffolk County Legislature.

Moore received 8,128 votes to McNamara’s 6,160, a 57.9 percent to 43.1 percent split, according to unofficial results from the Board of Elections.

Pell, who like Moore had the Democratic and Conservative lines on the ballot, received the most votes in the four-way race for two seats on the Town Board, with 7,941, or 29.2 percent. Iasilli, who also had the Working Families endorsement, received 6,843 votes, or 25.2 percent.

Martel fell short in his reelection bid with 6,624 votes, or 24.35 percent. He had the Republican and Conservative lines, while his running mate, Bill Parash, with only the Republican line, nabbed 5,795 votes, or 21.3 percent.

In the 10-way race for five Town Trustee seats, Trustee President Scott Horowitz had the most votes, with 7,162, or 10.9 percent. The only other incumbent in the race, Edward Warner Jr., had the second-most votes with 7,052, or 10.7 percent. Both incumbents were cross-endorsed by the Republicans and Conservatives.

Parsons had the third-most reported votes, at 6,924, or 10.49 percent. Chip Maran, on the GOP-Conservative ticket, was right behind, with 6,806 votes, or 10.32 percent. And securing the fifth spot was McLoughlin, who also had the Working Families line, with 6,617 votes, or 10.03 percent.

Republicans had gathered at the Westhampton Beach VFW hall to track the results, and while there may not have been too much joy given the results, the night wasn’t a total washout for the party.

Gary Weber held on to his seat on the Southampton Town Justice Court, beating Democrat John Ortiz, 7,468 votes to 6,486, or 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent.

Teresa Kiernan had similarly staved off challenger David Glazer, who had angled for her long-held position as the town’s receiver of taxes. Kiernan received 56.2 percent of the votes, 7,895, to Glazer’s 6,150.

Moore struck a note of grace to cap off a long night at the Canoe Place Inn that featured lots of food, wine and fretting.

The newly minted town supervisor, who will take her seat on the Town Board on January 1, said she welcomed “the opportunity to work with Cyndi,” and that she was, in fact, “looking forward to it.”

McNamara posted on Facebook Wednesday: “I love you all and cannot thank you enough for your support. While the results are not what I had hoped for, I will hold my head high knowing that I worked hard and ran with integrity.”