By Scott Brinton
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, the GOP took no prisoners, nor did it take much of anything else.
Democrat Thomas Suozzi, the City of Glen Cove mayor, routed Republican-Conservative financier Bruce Bent for the county executive's post. He won by an almost 2-1 margin in a county where Republicans enjoy a 2-1 voter-registration advantage.
Democrat Howard Weitzman, the former mayor of Great Neck Estates, beat incumbent Fred Parola for the county comptroller's spot.
And Democrats retained control of the county Legislature with a slim 10-9 majority, despite Republicans pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into key legislative races.
What happened to Nassau's once-indomitable Republican Party?
Four, even three years ago, the GOP appeared invincible, acting like the well-oiled machine that it was, electing candidate after candidate to all levels of government. Republicans controlled the Legislature 13-6, as well as the county executive's seat.
Then came 1999.
Almost a decade of fiscal mismanagement under Republican watch came to light, with budget deficits soaring past $300 million. Democrats won the Legislature for the first time, 10-9.
Today, Nassau remains stuck in a financial quagmire, with budget deficits in the tens of millions of dollars and takeover by the state's Nassau Interim Finance Authority looming.
Financial fallout
Patrick Hoey of Bellmore is an adjunct professor of political science at Nassau Community College, Republican pollster and market-research director. According to polls conducted by Hoey in Bellmore-Merrick and East Meadow-Levittown during the election, some 80 percent of voters cited the county's dismal financial state as their top concern.
Republican charges that the county Legislature had become yet another tax-and-spend, liberal-Democratic institution simply didn't resonate with voters during the election, Hoey said.
Yes, Democrats had proposed a 15.4-percent - or $150 average per household - tax increase for this year. According to Hoey, though, many people saw the plan as needed to fill the county's continuing deficits. "If anything," voters saw the Democratic tax policy as "responsible, prudent and reasonable," said Hoey.
He added that by spotlighting the 15.4-percent proposal - which was whittled down to 9 percent and approved by the entire Legislature - Republicans only forced an issue into the fore for which they no longer enjoyed credibility.
County Legis. Francis Becker (R-Lynbrook), who kept his seat this year, called the county's finances a "tremendous hill" to overcome for Republican candidates.
County Executive Thomas Gulotta (R-North Merrick) "didn't appear willing to do what is necessary to really solve the problems, to negotiate some tough contracts" with municipal employees, said Becker.
In short, Gulotta looked weak and hence so did the Republican Party.
Bruce Bent, CEO of a $13-billion Wall Street investment firm, was seemingly the GOP's great hope -- a tough-talking, no-nonsense multi-millionaire who worked his way up from working-class roots.
Bent, however, didn't campaign early enough, say Republicans. Mondello told the Herald on election night: "The way Bruce Bent ran his campaign, I really disagree with. He could have gotten out a lot earlier. He came on strong in the end. Nevertheless, I think it might be a little too little, too late."
Lou Cocchi, GOP executive leader for the Village of Malverne, said Bent really did not start his campaign until after Sept. 11.
By contrast, Cocchi said, Thomas Suozzi "was all over the place. On Ground Hog Day, guess who appeared here [in Malverne]? Suozzi. He started campaigning here in February."
Bent defended his campaign, saying the World Trade Center attacks slowed his momentum. The Sept. 11 tragedy "took two weeks out of the campaign," he said on election night. "Of course, I would have preferred that never happened. I would have rather had the extra two weeks."
Party maverick
Suozzi enjoyed another advantage, in addition to his early campaigning, said Hoey. He bucked his party for the county executive's nomination during the spring convention, opposing former Nassau Democratic Party Chairman Thomas DiNapoli, a state assemblyman. Suozzi lost at the convention. Then, he ran a primary campaign against DiNapoli and won.
His willingness and ability to fight his own party endeared Suozzi to many disaffected Democrats and Republicans who have grown increasingly fed up with "machine" politics, for which insider status means more than one's ability when parties name candidates. In his polling, Hoey found that a full 10 percent of voters said machine politics was their biggest concern.
Because of the primary battle, Democratic and Republican voters perceived Suozzi as the consummate outsider. The same Republicans who voted for Arizona Sen. John McCain for President during the 2000 GOP runoff likely cast their ballots for Suozzi, not because of the candidate's political affiliation, but because of his outsider status, said Hoey.
The GOP pollster also noted Long Beach Republican candidates for City Council employed Suozzi's anti-machine rhetoric and nearly won seats, despite an overwhelming voter-registration advantage for Democrats. All three GOP candidates posted respectable numbers, with the top vote-getter trailing by just 166 votes in the at-large election.
Jim Moriarty, Long Beach GOP leader, said after the election: "We were able to wage a vigorous campaign, and I really believe we laid the groundwork here for two-party politics."
Hoey also said the GOP has largely failed to recognize the county's changing demographics. Nassau's minority population has grown tremendously over the past 10 years, he said, noting that, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Town of Hempstead is now 31 percent African-American and Hispanic. Minority voters tend to be Democrats. Unless the GOP becomes more inclusive, taking in more blacks and Hispanics, it could very well lose its countywide, voter-registration advantage.
Hoey also noted that Democrats now control redistricting of the county's legislative districts, which according to the county charter, is to take place in 2003. With a Democrat-controlled Legislature and Thomas Suozzi in charge of redrawing the lines, Nassau could see a very Democratic county government for many years to come - at least eight, he predicted.
Republicans' great hope now lies in Suozzi failing to deliver on promises to restore the county's fiscal health, Hoey said. He noted, though, "I don't see Tom Suozzi screwing it up."
Jonann Brady contributed to this story.
