By:John C. O'Connell and Keith Grant
Surprising turnout helps Glen Cove mayor upset party choice
There never was a primary like this one. First there was the campaign, then primary day, then horrific mass murders by America's enemies, and then another primary day.
For all the Democrats who thought Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli's grace, powerful endorsements, legislative accomplishments and party leadership would win the primary day in the county executive race, there were more - 5,000 or so more - who thought Tom Suozzi's charm, mayoral experience and Glen Cove achievements had earned him their votes.
Unofficial counts reported by the Board of Elections as of Wednesday morning showed that Suozzi won 36,796 votes (almost 54 percent) to DiNapoli's 31,719 (46 percent). About a quarter of all registered Democrats voted, compared with less than 15 percent in the last Democratic county executive primary in 1993.
Democrats, after all, had a happy choice. Elect a strong, long-experienced legislator who knows all the state and county players and has the respect of important officials in both parties, or go with a bright and confident north-shore star with undeniable small-city executive successes and big-league leadership ambitions.
Though conventional primary wisdom might have held that the candidate with the most endorsements and party-loyalist support should win, this year's primary broke the rules. Suozzi's enormous self-confidence, his constant campaigning and his enthusiastic staff of Suozzi zealots sought the votes door-by-door, and got them. Suozzi seemed to never tire of shaking hands, of smiling, of repeating his campaign mantras, of stopping strangers and asking them for their support. He marshaled legions of volunteers and, in spite of the paucity of organized labor support, brought people out to vote for him.
Registered Democrats may also have turned out in unusually large numbers as a show of defiance to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, exercising their quintessential democratic right to vote.
Holed up at the Vanderbilt in Plainview, optimistic DiNapoli supporters gathered around the bar for what they believed would be a victory party. Just minutes after 9 p.m., when polls closed, a waiter rushed the bar and demanded a bottle of champagne, which he promptly disappeared with behind a closed door. It was likely the last of the champagne drinking here for the night.
News 12's early reportings of a slight DiNapoli edge surprised no one, but the mood gradually changed as each ensuing report showed a growing Suozzi advantage.
Awaiting a concession speech by their candidate when the outcome was clear, DiNapoli supporters were left silent by the sight of a Suozzi celebration on TV screens, which were quickly shut off. Mercifully, a smiling DiNapoli appeared to warm applause a long half-minute later and praised the unexpectedly strong voter turnout.
"It was important to show our neighbors, the state and the world that our democratic traditions endure even in the face of adversity," the assemblyman said.
His campaign, DiNapoli said, was one he felt had been conducted like his previous ones: clean and fair.
"Even if it meant at times withstanding bows and arrows, I wanted to never do anything that would diminish us," he said.
Reflecting on the top-shelf support he had gotten from party leaders and officials throughout the county, DiNapoli said he felt the best people in Nassau had lined up behind him. "I am humbled by that fact. I'm awed by that fact. It is etched in my heart the effort each and every one of you put in."
Though he insisted there would still be a party this evening, many people lost the desire and headed for the exits. More than one supporter commented "This one hurts" as they left, and a few quickly pinned the defeat on Long Beach.
After DiNapoli conceded, Suozzi took the stage to speak of his triumph at Chateau Briand caterers on Old Country Road, just two miles east of the county executive's offices in Mineola.
With tears glistening in his eyes and an emotional tremble in his voice, Suozzi said he dedicated his victory to his late brother, Joe, and a good friend - an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald - who was lost on Sept. 11.
Amid all the back-slapping cheers and loud shouts of celebration, Suozzi said he was also "dedicating this victory to the thousands of heroes of these past weeks."
Speaking of the polite contention of the primary race with DiNapoli, he said, "We proved tonight that the political process does not have to be mean spirited."
DiNapoli had won the party's endorsement at its May convention 2-to-1 over Suozzi. Taking great pride in his primary upset victory, Suozzi said, "everything was against us. We didn't have the endorsements; even the weather was bad. But the people were with us."
It was left to a supporter in the crowd to yell that Suozzi did have two daily newspaper endorsements, which may well have helped him gain additional stature in voters' minds.
"I make a pledge tonight," Suozzi said, regaining his campaigning poise. "I will work harder and longer until we break the back of machine politics and make Nassau County the best county in the country. Now I'm asking everyone on the DiNapoli team to come over to our side so we can have the biggest victory."
Mindful that Democrats are a minority in the county, Suozzi told his supporters to remember that "we are not running this campaign to win a victory for Democrats only. We are running to win a victory for everyone in Nassau County."
Robert McLaughlin of Freeport said he was with Suozzi throughout the candidate's South Shore campaign. "We went knocking on doors through Valley Stream and Long Beach, Plainview, Freeport, the Five Towns. The reaction everywhere he went was very positive. In fact, I saw that people were shocked to see the mayor at their door, listening to them, to their concerns; they seemed to really appreciate it. It was a well-run campaign. I think it's going to be good for the whole county."
"This is a great win," Legis. Roger Corbin said. "He's got the tenacity and the intelligence for this job. I am proud of him and I know he will bring the county back from the doldrums it's been in. I am looking forward to working with him as a legislator."
Sean Strife of Lynbrook said he felt "the voters came out tonight to support Tom Suozzi because they felt it was their patriotic duty to do so at a time when so many people are grieving."
Mike Swirnoff of Glen Cove is Suozzi's policy and issues consultant. "I and my wife, Chris, have been working out of our own very personal conviction that Tom Suozzi is the right man. We have been getting such positive responses from homeowners, and the response has been getting better and better."
Suozzi now faces a campaign against Republican Bruce Bent for the general election in November.
