Gonsalves, Hudes win

Shortly before 11 p.m. on Election Day, County Executive Ed Mangano took the podium at Republican Party headquarters in Westbury and declared victory.

With more than half of electoral precincts reporting, Mangano, a Republican from Bethpage, held an 18-point lead over Tom Suozzi, the former county executive, whom Mangano narrowly defeated four years ago.

East Meadow incumbents retained their seats on Tuesday night, with Norma Gonsalves, Dennis Dunne and Kevan Abrahams winning their county legislative district elections by decisive margins.

With 90 percent of the county’s precincts counted, Gonsalves, the Legislature’s presiding officer, led Democratic challenger Ed Kraus by 4,000 votes, garnering 64 percent of the vote.

Dunne, whose 15th Legislative District now contains Salisbury and parts of East Meadow, led Democratic challenger Jonathan Clarke by more than 4,500 votes.

The 1st District, which now incorporates parts of East Meadow west of Merrick Avenue, remained in Democratic hands, as Abrahams, the Legislature’s minority leader, accumulated 84 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Laurette Gregory.

With about 95 percent of Town of Hempstead districts reporting, Republican incumbents easily held their seats.Councilman Gary Hudes, from Levittown, fended off challenger Diane Madden, a Democrat from East Meadow, accumulating 71 percent of the vote to retain his seat in the Town’s 6th Council District.

Unofficial results late Tuesday had incumbent Supervisor Kate Murray defeating challenger Felix Procacci, 96,975 to 46,821 (67 percent to 33 percent).

In other countywide races, Republican County Comptroller George Maragos was leading Democrat Howard Weitzman, 53 percent to 47 percent.

Four years ago, Weitzman lost to Maragos after holding the job for eight years. Like Suozzi, he was unsuccessful in his bid to win back his old post.

County Clerk Maureen O’Connell held a significant lead over Democratic challenger Laura Gillen.

The lone winner for the Democrats in countywide races was District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who held a commanding lead over Republican Howard Sturim.

Republicans appeared to strengthen their hold on the County Legislature, picking up an extra seat for an 11-8 majority.