Schneiderman Comes Up Short

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman acknowledged on Wednesday, November 28, that after a recount, he had come up just short in his bid to unseat incumbent Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy.

         Schneiderman said that after the recount he still trailed Kennedy by 4536 votes. The margin was less than 1 percent after more than 500,000 votes were cast in the November 6 election. On the morning after the election, the challenger trailed by about 8600 votes with about 30,000 absentee ballots to be counted.

         Schneiderman said he had called Kennedy to concede. “I congratulated him on his victory and pledged to work together to help the county get through its financial challenges,” he said.

         A Republican, Kennedy also ran with the backing of the Independence, Conservative, and Reform parties. Schneiderman, a former member of the Independence Party, switched his affiliation late last year to the Democrats. In doing so, he lost the support of Independence Party boss Frank McKay. Kennedy picked up nearly 6500 votes on the Independence line.

         The race was the first Schneiderman has lost in two decades. He previously won two terms as East Hampton Town supervisor and six terms as a Suffolk County legislator, before successfully running for Southampton Town supervisor in 2015. Schneiderman has another year on his current term.

sjkotz@indyeastend.com