Congratulations are in order to the Republicans who defeated incumbent Democrats in the county Legislature. The majority has now shifted to the GOP after the Democrats held it for 10 years. more

For those of you who didn’t vote in last week’s election — and based on the numbers, that includes far too many of you — tsk tsk. You owe your neighbors and fellow taxpayers who did vote a thank-you for saving you from the status quo. more

As of Monday, Thomas Suozzi, Democrat from Glen Cove, was still the county executive. He apparently squeaked by in last week’s election. With 235,985 votes cast, Suozzi was a mere 237 votes ahead of Republican challenger Ed Mangano, a 14-year county legislator. The big question is, what the heck happened to Suozzi? more

I wish to make a modest proposal. Sometime in the next week, please write a letter. I want to prove that most of us have not lost the capacity and the will to compose our thoughts and commit them to paper, in our own hand, using a real pen. more

To the Editor: First, I congratulate your newspaper on the new design of your Web site. It is intuitive, well-designed, and much improved over the previous version. more

To the Editor: Thank you to the Valley Stream Baseball League parents, players, coaches and board members for a remarkably successful 2009 baseball season. more

Kathleen Rice ascended to the district attorney’s post four years ago as a virtual unknown -- a former federal prosecutor and Brooklyn assistant district attorney who had never run for political office before. Back then, she appeared a tad unsure of herself, slightly nervous in her interviews with the Herald. And why not? She was opposing the legendary Denis Dillon, who had served as Nassau County district attorney for 31 years. Despite being a political neophyte, Rice ran a strong campaign, and was elected with 51 percent of the vote to Dillon’s 49 percent. Four years later, we’re happy that Rice was elected. She has proven herself to be a consummate professional who only improved an already well-run D.A.’s office. Cases are processed nearly twice as fast as they once were. Conviction rates are up. And Rice has garnered a national reputation for her aggressive stance against driving while intoxicated. Many now call her the toughest DWI prosecutor in the country. more

It’s hard to argue with a track record like that of Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, a Democrat from Glen Cove. Over the past eight years, he took a fiscally mismanaged, virtually insolvent county and turned it around, consistently balancing a budget that seemingly could not be balanced. Suozzi saved money by cutting the county work force by 1,000 employees and instituting tried-and-true management practices that were previously nonexistent. At the same time, he has put in place a host of programs to improve residents’ quality of life, from smoking-cessation regimens to energy-efficiency incentives. more

While it might be easy to overlook the office of county clerk, the office plays an important role in keeping Nassau County’s court cases and real estate humming. They hum now, at least, and that’s in large part the work of County Clerk Maureen O’Connell, who has earned the Herald’s endorsement. more

In the race for Town of Hempstead clerk, the choice is clear: Republican incumbent Mark Bonilla of Bellmore. more