Mangano victorious

County Executive Tom Suozzi conceded defeat Tuesday afternoon, a month after Election Day, bringing a surprising conclusion to one of the most hotly contested elections in recent Nassau County history.

According to information from the county Board of Elections, Republican challenger Ed Mangano defeated Suozzi by 386 votes.

“He’s a hard-working, smart guy,” 6th District Legislator Francis X. Becker said of Mangano. “I think he’s going to do a really great job for the county.” Becker added that Mangano is familiar with how the county operates, and he hopes there will now be more oversight of the county’s capital budget projects. “We wish Tom Suozzi the best, but I think he took his eye off the ball by looking for higher office when he should have taken care of things at home,” Becker said.

Suozzi struck a conciliatory tone in his remarks, saying that he was disappointed with the results, but he did not plan to stand in the way of Executive-Elect Mangano. “I called him to congratulate him,” Suozzi said at a news conference that featured several standing ovations by supporters.

He added that many of those supporters were urging him to continue on, with many ballots set aside to be reviewed in court, but he felt that it was better not to delay the process any longer. “I don’t think it would be fair to the people of Nassau County and to Ed Mangano,” Suozzi said. “My objective is to have a smooth transition of government.”

The county executive said his loss could be attributed largely to residents being fed up with high property taxes, but that he hoped the work he has done to bring attention to the issue continues in the Mangano administration and also in Albany. “I have absolutely no regrets ... we have done everything we can to address the property tax issue in Nassau County,” Suozzi said, referencing his Fix Albany campaign in 2004 and his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2006. “We could not do any more than we did.”