By Doug Miller
Two years ago, this widow of a New York City firefighter tore out the heart of the Long Beach Democratic party, unseating Michael Zapson, a former Long Beach City Council president. This year, she was targeted for removal by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who hand-picked the Long Beach Democratic chairman specifically for this race and actively campaigned for Ford's opponent, attorney Robert Solomon.
It wasn't enough. In fact, the squeaker Ford won in 2003 was followed up by a sizable win on Tuesday, as early returns showed her with a nearly 10-point lead. She lost the areas she expected to lose, notably Solomon's home district in Lido Beach. But he couldn't ride the coattails of his party's Long Beach City Council sweep, or of Suozzi's impressive re-election totals. In districts where the council candidates beat the Republicans by hundreds, Solomon won by dozens. In Lido, he won by roughly 2 to 1 instead of the 4 to 1 margin some predicted. None of it could compensate for Ford's sweep of Long Beach's West End, or her strong showing in Island Park, forever known as Alphonse D'Amato country. The former Hempstead supervisor and U.S. senator made Ford's re-election a priority, working hard to solidify her support north of the Long Beach bridge.
Suozzi's fingerprints were all over the race as well. Long believed to be an undeclared candidate for governor, Suozzi hoped to unseat Ford to shore up his majority in the Legislature. To that end, he sent a legislator whose race was not in serious doubt, Roger Corbin, and Village of Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall to walk the largely black North Park neighborhood with Solomon on election day.
It was a mostly dreary day for the GOP in Long Beach, but disappointed Republicans took solace in Ford's win. "People see that she's a people person, that she's genuine, and that crosses party lines," said Long Beach City Council President Jim Hennessy. "And people don't give her enough credit for her independence. Nobody tells her what to do. She has a steel rod for a back and she's not afraid to take it out and use it."
It turned out that the status quo ruled: Ford, along with the rest of the Legislature, was re-elected, and Suozzi kept his slim majority. Ford, bolder and more sure of herself, for the first time Tuesday started sounding like she was getting comfortable in office. "I felt I ran a good campaign and kept it positive," she said. "A lot of hard work really paid off. I'm happy that I'm re-elected, and I'm going to work harder than I ever have before. We have a race again in two years, and I know we'll bring back the majority."
County-wide results
Democrats gathered at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale late Tuesday night, after the polls closed, were understandably in a celebratory mood. As of midnight, the Nassau County Board of Elections was reporting that in the battle for Nassau County executive, Suozzi had garnered 59 percent of the vote, to 38 percent for Republican challenger Greg Peterson. Democratic incumbent Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman also won a second term, with 142,168 votes, to 126,904 for Republican Donald Clavin, the Town of Hempstead's receiver of taxes.
"We did it!" proclaimed Suozzi in his victory speech. "The people have spoken. Tonight, the people recognized that we cleaned up after the elephants. They ran a campaign on fear, and we ran a campaign on hope, and tonight we kept hope alive."
In a surprise, Republican Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon narrowly lost his long-time spot as the county's chief prosecutor after a competitive race with Democrat challenger and Locust Valley resident Kathleen Rice, who garnered 51 percent of the vote.
Town supervisor race
The Town of Hempstead's Republican incumbent supervisor, Kate Murray, no doubt breathed a huge sigh of relief when reports late Tuesday night showed she had won re-election over Democratic challenger Harvey Levinson, who has served for the last two years as Nassau County assessor. Murray had 59 percent of the vote, to Levinson's 41 percent.
"It was a great night for the Town of Hempstead," Murray said. "The entire Murray team came through strong. It's really an affirmation that we're doing the right thing by the Town of Hempstead. I'm pleased that the residents cut through the mudslinging."
In addition to controlling the town supervisor seat, the Republicans also maintained a lock on the town board at 5-1, with incumbent councilmen Anthony Santino of East Rockaway and Gary Hudes of Levittown winning easily. Incumbent Dorothy Goosby of Hempstead retained the lone Democratic seat on the board.
Complete election results are available at www.liherald.com.
Jennifer LaLima, Andrew Coen and John O'Connell contributed to this story. Comments about it? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
