65.0°,
Fair East Meadow's incumbents soar to Election Day victories
McCarthy, Hannon, McKevitt, Montesano, McDonough among local winners
Though most incumbents representing East Meadow and Salisbury won convincingly on Election Day, the balance of power in the state Senate remained in question on Wednesday.
Some races, including the 7th Senate District battle between Democratic incumbent Craig Johnson of Port Washington and Republican challenger Jack Martins of Mineola, were considered too close to call on Wednesday. Heading into the election, the Democrats held control of the Senate by only two seats.
Tom McKevitt, a Republican from East Meadow representing the state’s 17th Assembly District, was one of the local incumbents who soared to victory on Tuesday. As he commuted to Manhattan on Wednesday morning for a conference related to his membership on the Assembly’s Insurance Committee, McKevitt admitted he was still puzzled on what transpired the night before.
“I’ve been involved in this business for 22 years and I cannot for the life of me figure out what happened last night,” McKevitt said. “We are talking 14 hours after polls have closed and we still don’t have any answers to where New York is headed.”
What is certain is that McKevitt won his race, as well has his fellow Republican assembly colleagues Michael Montesano and David McDonough.
McKevitt defeated Democratic challenger Tom Devaney of East Williston by a count of 23,513 to 14,313.
Montesano, a Republican from Glen Head, beat the Democrat, Leon Hart, 20,740 to 12,249 in the 15th Assembly District, which includes Salisbury and parts of East Meadow.
McDonough of Merrick, who received 24,039 votes, 11,195 votes than his Democratic opponent, John Brooks of Seaford, in the 19th Assembly District received, which includes a portion of southern East Meadow.
Also, in the 18th A.D., which includes a portion of eastern East Meadow, Democratic incumbent Earlene Hooper of Hempstead won over her GOP challenger, Derek Partee, 19,674 to 3.953.
Although the Democrats maintained their large majority in the Assembly, the Republicans picked up several seats across the state.
