Election Day 2009
The balance of power in the Nassau County Legislature was at stake in Tuesday's election, and with it, legislative support for County Executive Tom Suozzi's agenda and budget — support he could generally count on as long as Democrats have controlled 10 of the Legislature's 19 seats.
As the final precincts reported their votes, the Legislature had changed majorities, from Democratic to Republican, with the defeat of Jeff Toback by challenger Howard Kopel of Lawrence.
This was Kopel's second run against Toback.
“I was here two years ago, but this time is much more fun,” Kopel said in his victory speech at Republican headquarters in Westbury. “We will fulfill our promise — we will lower taxes and spending.”
Because Suozzi had only 291 votes more than Mangano with 1,126 of 1,137 election districts reporting, the race was too close to call.
Speaking of the Republican victory in the Legislature, Mangano said, "I've been a leader for a lot of years, and this is one of the finest nights of my entire life. And we've worked very, very hard, and I'm very happy for Nassau County."
Republican Legislator John Ciotti, who beat his Democratic challenger, Nina Petraro Bastardi, said of the majority shift, "It's a wonderful feeling. The people have spoken. We are pleased that the Democratic voters had the courage to cross party lines and vote for their communities," Ciotti said. "They've voted for a change. They've had enough with the increase in taxes."
Referring to the tight race between Suozzi and Mangano, Ciotti said, "The bottom line is, we'll work with the county executive for the benefit of the county and will not accept new taxes."
The Herald staff contributed to this report.
