By Jeff Lipton
Skelos reelected; Cullin ousts Kestenbaum
Voters returned Republican Congressman Peter King and Democrat Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg to office on Tuesday, with both scoring impressive victories over their opponents.
Congressman King won a fifth term by collecting 135,328 votes to beat Democrat Dal Lamagna, who got 90,290, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, These were the final, unofficial figures released by the Nassau County Board of Elections early Wednesday.
Voters overwhelmingly gave Assemblyman Weisenberg a seventh term to represent them from the 20th Assembly District. Weisenberg polled 31,800 votes to 12,446 for Republican challenger Peter McDonald.
State Senator Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), captured a ninth term in the Ninth Senatorial District with an impressive victory over Ed Oppenheimer, 68,890 to 43,799.
In a local Hempstead Town Council race, Republican Angelina Cullin defeated Democrat Rita Kestenbaum, an incumbent, 25,978 to 23,024. Ms. Cullin, who is the receiver of taxes for the town, won the seat in the reconstructed council that will represent District Five, which includes Lido Beach. Ms. Kestenbaum won an at-large seat on the Town Council last year, helping to briefly break the Republican stranglehold on the board. Districts, a new concept in Hempstead this year, were carved out so that councilpersons would be voted on to represent specific areas of the town, instead of being voted into office in town-wide balloting.
After his victory, Senator Skelos said, "There's been an awful lot written about the five state senators [from Nassau County]. If I count correctly, we're all back. Let me tell you ... New York City Democrats, stay out of Nassau County. We represent the great people of this county, not gutter politics. And that's how we intend to keep winning."
Senator Skelos and other Republican senators accused Democratic state senators, particularly those representing New York City, of pooling their resources to attempt to unseat Republican incumbents.
Mr. Oppenheimer said he was a "credible candidate with credible ideas, running against someone who's never had opposition."
After his defeat in the Third Congressional District, Mr. Lamagna addressed the Democrats and said, "This race is a victory because it is the kind of campaign that I think America yearns for. For both myself and Peter King, there was no attacking, there were no insults. I'm very proud to be a Democrat and I'm proud of this party."
Congressman King said of the vote outcome, "I'm delighted and very gratified. The main thing is the record of independence and getting the job done."
Assemblyman Weisenberg said about his success, "It's evident that the electorate is intelligent and aware of their community's needs and what's important.
"It's obvious that if you're an incumbent and work hard and meet the needs of the people, you will be reelected."
He said his priorities continue to be education and meeting the needs of district schools, and taking care of the developmentally disabled and the handicapped. "We have to take care of the human needs and provide a quality of life for them," Weisenberg said.
