Freshman Class: New Year, New Pols Take Office on East End

The new year ushered in the inaugurations of more than a half dozen newly elected Democratic lawmakers who had unseated Republican incumbents across the East End in the November elections’ blue wave.

Freshman Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin took the reins from his one-term Republican predecessor Tim Hubbard and Suffolk County Legislator Greg Doroski (D-Mattituck) officially replaced Catherine Stark, who also served one term representing the North Fork in the county legislature. On Shelter Island, new Town Clerk Shelby Mundy took over after ousting Republican Amber Wilson. And on the South Fork, Southampton Town Councilman Tom Neely replaced unseated Republican Rick Martel — in addition to a trio of Democrats who replaced GOP members of the Southampton Town Trustees.

“I’m very grateful to the residents of Southampton and the voters of Southampton for electing me, and excited to be in the office and hit the ground running,” Neely said.

The Democratic gains come as 2026 has on tap the midterm congressional elections in which U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) is running to help maintain the Republican majority in the House of Representatives this fall — races that are considered a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term.

Whether the local turnover is a sign of things to come this fall remains to be seen. But what is clear is that the fresh faces taking office across the Hamptons and the North Fork got to work as soon as they were sworn in.

SUFFOLK LEGISLATURE

Doroski, the former Southampton Town Councilman who works as a craft beer brewer by trade, took Stark’s seat representing the county’s first legislative district during the Suffolk County Legislature’s meeting on Jan. 5.

He and his counterpart on the South Fork, Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker (D-Southampton), made their first order of business to urge the legislature’s Republican majority leadership to reverse course on reducing from four to three the number of meetings that the panel holds in Riverhead instead of Hauppauge.

“It is very difficult for our residents out east to make it,” Doroski said, noting that the drive from Mattituck took him more than two hours.

Suffolk County Legislator Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), who was appointed at the same meeting to be the new presiding officer of the county legislature — replacing term-limited former Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) — said he will consider the request to add at least one more Riverhead meeting back to the schedule.Doroski’s win meant the GOP lost the supermajority in the legislature and now has an 11-7 majority. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, who used to represent the first district, noted that he maintains a good relationship with the legislature and hasn’t vetoed any bills that the panel could have overridden with its prior supermajority.

“As we begin a new year, I’m proud to say that our Democratic caucus enters this moment stronger, more united, and more determined than ever,” Suffolk County Legislature Minority Leader Jason Richberg (D-Wyandanch) said. “With the addition of a seventh member, Legislator Greg Doroski, our caucus continues to grow.”

Piccirillo told the newcomers: “You will find this place to be unlike anything you have ever seen.”

RIVERHEAD

Halpin took his seat on New Year’s Day as the new leader of Riverhead Town Hall by striking a tone of inclusiveness with the Republican majority town board and the community.

“We have a saying that we’re ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen,” the Riverhead town supervisor said. “We will work tirelessly to establish a budget and new revenue streams that will help the taxpayer. We will work alongside the current sitting council people, who are amazing, to create opportunities for paying our town employees better and lessen the tax burden on each home.”

The lone Democrat on the town board takes over as Riverhead is constructing its long-planned town square, litigating the rules of recreational cannabis dispensaries, reopening the historic Vail-Leavitt Music Hall downtown, and continuing to grapple with the future of the EPCAL property, among many other issues.

Halpin acknowledged his lack of prior electoral experience, but vowed to hustle to leave the town in better shape than he found it, even if that means learning from mistakes along the way.

“I promise you that I will be a servant leader, but I also promise you that I will miss the mark,” he said. “Everyone does and I will. But I will do my best, when I do, to admit that and to fail forward and allow others to do the same, so I, and this town, can grow together. Because as Rick Warren said in a book The Purpose Driven Life, it’s not about me, it’s about us. It’s about we.”

SOUTHAMPTON

The inauguration of Neely, a member of the town planning board, gives Democrats a 4-1 supermajority on the Southampton Town Board, with Southampton Town Councilmember Cyndi McNamara the lone Republican.

Democrats also swept the Southampton Town Trustees races, ousting incumbents Ed Warner Jr., Chip Maran, and Scott Horowitz. Democratic challengers Jimmy Mack, Hannah Pell-O’Farrell, and Sara Topping will join re-elected Democratic incumbents Matt Parson and Joseph McLoughlin Jr.

Deputy Town Supervisor John Ortiz, who officiated the swearing-in ceremony, quoted from President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech, A Citizen of the Republic for the occasion as an ode to the challenges of the campaigns winners and losers.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better,” he said. “The credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause, who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while dare daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore, who ran unopposed for her second term, said the town focused on “responsible, forward-looking government,” citing balanced budgeting, long-term planning and efforts to rebuild public trust through open communication and collaboration. Over the past two years, she said, the town completed essential highway, parks and building maintenance projects; preserved open space; and committed more than $23 million from the Community Housing Fund to support affordable and workforce housing through both single-family homes and apartments.

“For all I said at my first inauguration, and it remains true today, let us embark on this journey with optimism, unity and determination. Southampton’s best days are ahead of us,” Moore said. “By working together, we can build a future that honors our past while embracing the endless possibilities of tomorrow. My heartfelt thanks go to my fellow board members, to our extraordinary town employees, and to my husband Tom for his steadfast support every day and to the residents of Southampton, thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to serving you with integrity, dedication and an unwavering focus on the work ahead of us.”

Other officials in attendance spoke highly of working with Moore in office, including those at the hyperlocal level who work most directly with the town.

“Working with Maria as since she’s been supervisor and her office has been extremely positive,” Quogue Village Mayor Robert Treuhold told Dan’s Papers. “I’ve worked with Maria in the past when she was mayor at Westhampton beach, so I have a long standing and friendship and working relationship with her, which has carried over since she’s been supervisor. [Quogue] Village has applied for and received several grants from the Community Preservation Fund for water quality improvement projects. Those grants, while supported by the CPF, end up needing approval by the town council, and Maria and the Council have been very supportive.”

SHELTER ISLAND

On Shelter Island, Democratic Town Clerk Shelby Mundy was also sworn in on New Year’s Day along with Elizabeth Hanley, who won an open seat on the town board.

Mundy stated that she and Hanley “could begin our duties right away” following the ceremony before a packed house at town hall.

“A historic day for our town,” the Shelter Island Democratic Committee posted online. “The energy in the room was electric, with a full house of supporters including Suffolk County Assemblyman Greg Doroski and County Executive Ed Romain. We are so proud to see these two dedicated leaders ready to hit the ground running for our community.”

EAST HAMPTON

The one town that saw the least amount of turnover was East Hampton, which is already solidly Democratic.

When East Hampton Town voters elected their first new town clerk in more than a decade, the Democratic stronghold kept the seat blue when Democrat Michael Hansen beat Republican Jeff Miller to replace former Clerk Carole Brennan.

Democrats also retained total control of the East Hampton Town Board when incumbent Democratic councilmembers were re-elected over Republican challengers, and re-elected without opposition were first-term East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, East Hampton Town Highway Superintendent Stephen Lynch, and East Hampton Town Court Justice Steven Tekulsky. East Hampton Trustees Democratic incumbents also swept their re-election over GOP opponents.

But some of these names — including supervisors Burke-Gonzalez, Halpin and Moore — will be back on ballots this fall due to the newly enacted New York State law moving local elections to even years in a bid to boost voter turnout, if that law isn’t overturned by the courts before Election Day.