Thursday, November 5, 2026
A blue wave crashed onto Long Island’s shores the evening of Nov. 3. In the governor's race, not only did incumbent Kathy Hochul beat Nassau County’s Bruce Blakeman, where he will remain county executive through 2028, she beat him in his district. Nassau County voters elected Hochul over Blakeman by 1,167 votes.
At the state level, Rockville Centre-born State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was re-elected, as well as Attorney General Letitia James.
Long Island Democrats held onto key congressional positions, with Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen re-elected to their seats in Congressional Districts 3 and 4, respectively. Republican Andrew Garbarino was re-elected in New York’s 2nd Congressional District, but only by a slim margin against challenger Pat Halpin, with two percentage points separating the candidates at the end of the night.
Democrat Joe Scianablo defeated Republican incumbent John Ferretti in the race for Town of Hempstead supervisor. Scianablo’s campaign was centered on affordability, government transparency and public safety.
“Let's be clear: We see what's going on in this country,” Scianablo said in his acceptance speech. “The voters decided that enough is enough. They're sick and tired of the nonsense that's going on in the Town of Hempstead. They're sick and tired of political favoritism, the lack of transparency, and we're going to bring a town government that's worthy of the people that it represents.”
Scianablo, of Garden City, is a Marine combat veteran, retired New York City police officer and former prosecutor. He campaigned on bringing greater accountability to town government and ensuring that residents have more opportunities to participate in decisions affecting their communities.
He will be taking on several challenges in this leadership role, as the majority of town officials he will work alongside are Republican.
“No level of government succeeds alone,” Scianablo told the Herald on election night. “I'm willing to work with Independents, Republicans, Democrats, of course, state, county, federal level partners to bring much-needed resources back to the Town of Hempstead.”
Scianablo will be joined by his running mate, clerk-elect Joylette Williams.
Joylette Williams won the Hempstead town clerk's race over incumbent Kate Murray by a slim margin. Unofficial results late Wednesday night showed that the Democratic challenger received 50.26 percent of the vote, defeating the incumbent Republican by just 1,750 votes.
A Hempstead resident since 2001, Williams has served as a Village of Hempstead trustee, is a member of the Hempstead Board of Education and sits on the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency board. She has taught English at Nassau Community College since 2002.
Williams campaigned with a desire to streamline public-record requests, improve residents’ access to town information and ensure that the clerk’s office operates independently.
“A clerk should be an advocate for the people, not just someone who signs off on a dog license,” she previously told the Herald. “Although that's important — I'm not saying it isn't — but if you're elected by the people, you should be able to serve the people.”
Democrat candidate Lisa Vider, a Hewlett resident and health care administrator, defeated Republican Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick in Senate District 9, while campaigning on health care, affordability, public safety and antisemitism.
“I'm a little bit in shock, surprised, but really happy to get started and bring back the funding to our beautiful, beautiful, beautiful county,” Vider said. “Honestly, I mean, part of it we have to bring back the funding back here. Healthcare is a big topic for me, and I need to fight the hate of antisemitism.”
Vider, a Democrat and an Orthodox Jewish woman, said that years of advocating for her community and working in health care prompted her to seek the office. Affordable health care is one of her central campaign issues. Drawing on her professional experience, Vider said the state needs to make health care easier to understand and less expensive for families.
“People shouldn’t have to choose between paying their bills and putting food on the table,” she said. “Health care is expensive. We need to make it more affordable.”
