Victory for Panzenbeck in Glen Cove

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As midnight approached on election night, Republicans in Nassau County-wide races were inching toward a GOP sweep. 

Pamela Panzenbeck will be the next mayor of Glen Cove, according to the unofficial results of Tuesday’s election. Voters chose the Republican candidate and most of her City Council slate, defeating Mayor Tim Tenke and the majority of the incumbent council members.

“We had a roaring success,” Panzenbeck said, “and we’re absolutely waiting for the absentee ballots to come in, but this is beyond our wildest imagination. We worked very very hard and I’m very, very happy.”

Just before midnight on Tuesday, the results showed City Council Republican candidates Kevin Maccarone, Joseph Capobianco and John Mancusi,  along with Democrat Marsha Silverman leading. Roni-Sue Jenkins was ahead of Barbara Peebles by one vote, though the 359 absentee ballots have yet to be counted.

The Knights of Columbus hall in Glen Cove was abuzz as the results of each district in the city were reported and read by Republican Committee Leader John Maccarone.

“I went up against Marsha Silverman, the most respected on the Democratic ticket,” Republican city council candidate James Greenburg said. “I respect her diligence and her efforts. I’m ecstatic that Pam is in. I’m a Republican, but when it comes to local politics, it’s common sense. It’s what’s going to be good for Glen Cove.”

And if the absentee ballots don’t go in his favor, he said, “I’m still running soccer, still running my law firm, still uniting families through adoption, and maybe I’ll come back another time.”

“I think the community has spoken,” Roni Jenkins said. “They said they wanted change, they wanted new voices, and were obviously not happy with the tax increase last year. That was the message we came out strong against, and it resonated with people.”

As the Herald went to press, Bruce Blakeman, the Republican Town of Hempstead councilman, had surged past incumbent Democrat Laura Curran in the race for county executive, with 92 percent of precincts reporting. At press time, an official winner had not been declared in the race, but Blakeman had 52 percent of the vote to Curran’s 47 percent. Close to 20,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted, however.

What was certain: Republican Anne Donnelly, a 32-year career prosecutor in the Nassau district attorney’s office, was declared the winner in the race for D.A. Donnelly defeated State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach. Donnelly had 60 percent of the vote.

Republican Elaine Phillips, a former state senator, was declared the winner in the race for county comptroller, besting Democrat Ryan Cronin. And Republican Maureen O’Connell appeared headed to victory over Democrat Justin Brown in the race for county clerk.

In the race for Town of Hempstead supervisor, Don Clavin also appeared headed toward an easy victory over Democrat Jason Abelove, at press time nearly doubling his vote.