Josh Lafazan the unofficial victor after absentee ballots counted

Josh Lafazan, 27, who began his career as a legislator in the Nassau County Legislature when he was 23, making him the youngest-ever to hold the position, has unofficially won his bid for a third term. After the absentee ballots were counted, Lafazan, an Independent, who lost on Election Night, has won by 220 votes against political newcomer, Republican Paolo Pironi, of Brookville.

“We are feeling really good,” an exuberant Lafazan said. “It was a crazy 13 days. I’m grateful to have this job. I love my job.”

Lafazan, who caucuses with the Democrats at the Legislature, represents District 18, which includes Oyster Bay, Bayville and Locust Valley.

Democrat Arnold Drucker, who also lost initially, won as well. Elected to the Legislature in a special election in 2016, he represents part of the North Shore, including Plainview, Old Bethpage, Jericho, Syosset, Woodbury, Hicksville, Old Westbury, and Roslyn Heights.

Drucker won by 406 votes.

Democratic Board of Election Commissioner James Schuereman said that the results should be official before Thanksgiving.

The Democrats cast 13,022 absentee ballots, he said, with 6,655 sent in by Republicans. The remining 2,978 were cast by voters who are registered as blanks, conservatives, Green Party and Libertarian Party members.

Schuereman said it is the most absentee ballots the Nassau County BOE has ever received in an off year election.

“It’s important to count every vote,” he said, “and we take our time in Nassau to make sure it’s right.”

Two high-speed scanners were purchased in 2020 at $100,000 a piece for the BOE, which can process 100 ballots a minute. BOE workers open the ballots and a process that once took weeks to count manually is now  performed quickly by the scanners. The counting will continue tomorrow morning but that will not affect the Lafazan or Drucker races.