Doroski Leads Stark in Possible Upset Nixing GOP's Suffolk Legislative Supermajority

Democrats appear to have flipped a Republican-held North Fork seat in the Suffolk County Legislature on Election Day, which – if the lead holds – would strip the GOP of their current supermajority.

Southold Town Councilman Greg Doroski declared victory over first-term Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark (R-Riverhead) in the first district representing the towns of Southold and Riverhead, although Suffolk County Republican Committee Chair Michael Torres called the race “too close to call.” Doroski had a nearly 1,000-vote lead with 52% of the vote over Stark’s 47%, according to unofficial early vote tallies that the Suffolk County Board of Elections released. 

“We feel confident based on the results from the last election,” Doroski told Dan’s Papers from the Southold Town Democratic Committee watch party he attended to watch the results come in.

Republicans have had a 12-6 supermajority majority in the Suffolk County Legislature since 2023, after the GOP flipped the 18-member panel from Democratic control for the first time in 16 years in 2021.

“A Republican majority will continue in the Suffolk County Legislature,” Suffolk County Republican Committee Chair Michael Torres told cheering party faithful at Stereo Garden in Patchogue as the results rolled in on Nov. 4.

On the South Fork, incumbent Democratic Legislator Ann Welker held onto her seat, defeating Republican challenger Raheem Soto. Welker told Dan’s Papers she was looking forward to working with Doroski in the legislature.

“Catherine Stark and I worked well together, but you couldn’t always be at 100 percent,” Welker said. “I’m looking forward to working with Greg. We will work building on working waterfront. We need to figure out seaweed processing. We need to figure out where we’re going to do with our seafood processing too. It can’t keep going to the Bronx. We need to figure out our solid waste. We have a long list of things to do.”

Town of Babylon Supervisor and Suffolk County Democratic Committee Chair Rich Schaeffer, who won re-election to his own seat, partially credited Doroski’s victory to a national trend of Democratic voters turning out in higher numbers in response to President Donald Trump.

“What I think happened here is people saw some of the things that were going on nationally out of the Republican Party, didn’t like what they saw, and wanted to express themselves tonight,” Schaeffer said.