Election 2019

Donald Clavin declares victory over Laura Gillen in Town of Hempstead supervisor race

Incumbent doesn't concede in Hempstead

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Donald Clavin declared victory over Laura Gillen in the race for Town of Hempstead supervisor Tuesday night. Gillen was seeking a second term.

As of midnight Tuesday, with roughly 1,500 votes separating the two candidates, Gillen had not yet conceded. It was unclear if she would. There remained at least a couple of thousand absentee ballots to be counted.

Clavin, who had been the receiver of taxes in the town since 2001, thanked his supporters at Mirelle’s Continental & Catering in Westbury, which served as Republican headquarters.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have made commitments, we have made promises, and we are going to deliver that to the taxpayers by putting them first,” Clavin said. “I intend to keep my promises. I intend to keep every promise I made on my campaign trail.”

With 100 percent of voting precincts reporting, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas secured victory over her challenger, Francis McQuade. Singas had collected nearly 145,054 votes to McQuade’s 97,122.

“This is really such a humbling experience for me,” she said. “It’s been my absolute honor to be your district attorney these past four years ... We run the office with one guiding principle: that we protect the people of Nassau County. If you hurt the people of Nassau County, then we will hold you accountable.”

McQuade said, "I had a good time running in this race and I thank the chairman for asking me to run. I'm sorry that I was unable to deliver a victory, but I did my very best."

County Legislator Howard Kopel, a Republican from Lawrence  won a sixth term to represent the 7th Legislative District.

"It's great that the people of my district seem to be comfortable with my policies," he said. "A couple of things I want to work on in my next term is the county's reassessment plan and work on a solution to the Woodmere Club."