Nassau Executive Race May Take Weeks to Decide

NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- Grumpy suburban voters outside New York City took out their dissatisfaction on two popular Democratic incumbent county executives on Election Day, ousting one from office in a stunning 16-point defeat and forcing the other to await the results of a recount.


Mona Rivera
Election Day Interactive | Photos | New  York Results

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, who turned back a challenge from Republican Rob Astorino by 16 points four years ago, lost a bid for a fourth term by the same margin on Tuesday.

On Long Island, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi led Republican challenger Edward Mangano by a slim 237-vote margin in a race that many, including Suozzi, thought would be a cakewalk.

A recount of more than 200,000 votes, as well as a canvass of an expected 6,000-7,000 absentee ballots, was expected to begin on Monday and could take at least two weeks before a winner is declared in Nassau, said state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs.

``People in the suburbs are scared and angry and on Tuesday they took out their unhappiness, whether it's with Obama or Paterson or Wall Street, or local Democrats,'' said Lawrence Levy, the head of Hofstra University's National Center on Suburban Studies, which recently conducted a poll on suburban attitudes.

Suozzi and Spano were dogged by dissatisfaction over high property taxes in two of the most affluent counties in the country.

``It's a big surprise, but it's not surprising the public's in a bad mood,'' said Suozzi, who ran a losing primary race for governor against Eliot Spitzer in 2006. ``They're very concerned about their futures and here on Long Island they're concerned about property taxes.

``Now I've tried to make it clear that the property tax problem is a school tax problem, but the public wants change and that's a message they're saying very, very clearly.''

Spano sought unsuccessfully to make the same argument in Westchester, claiming high taxes were the result of school levies and state mandates.

``We tried in the campaign to communicate what we had done to preserve quality of life. But resonating throughout this county and throughout this nation is a dissatisfaction with the way things are. My opponent was able to tap that feeling, and I do not begrudge his victory,'' Spano said.

Astorino admitted his win was an upset, saying it was ``surpassing anything we expected.'' He said, ``People wanted change, and they are going to get it starting in January.''