Curran declares victory as Nassau's first female county executive

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Baldwin Democrat Laura Curran pulled out a victory over Republican Jack Martins in the race for Nassau County’s highest seat on Tuesday night, with all precincts reporting.

Curran took 51 percent of the vote to Martins's 48 percent. In total, Curran garnered 147,102 votes to Martins's 139,204, a roughly 8,000-vote margin.

Both Curran and Martins campaigned heavily on anticorruption platforms, with outgoing County Executive Ed Mangano battling federal corruption charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

“Tonight, Nassau voted to end the culture of corruption,” Curran said in her victory speech, “and to give our county the fresh start we deserve.”

Curran went on to say that she planned to make Nassau County “a better place for all our residents,” and to make county government accountable to the voters “and only to them.”

Martins did not concede on Election Night, but he later did so.

Curran became Nassau County's — and Long Island's — first female county executive.

At a news conference in Mineola on Wednesday, Curran spoke about her priorities to restore the county’s contracting process, foster a bipartisan Legislature and find common ground when it comes to the installation of an independent inspector general. “The issues facing our county aren’t Democratic or Republican issues,” she said. “They’re Nassau issues.”

According to political analyst Larry Levy, of Hofstra University, Curran's win could make for some genuine bipartisan work at the county legislative level.

“People aren’t happy with the Republican brand in general, and are unhappy about how little is getting done, whether it’s in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere,” Levy said on Wednesday, adding that Republican legislators are likely aware of a changing tide.