By Maureen Rossi and Pat Biancaniello
Maureen Rossi -
Candidate Tom McCarthy was all smiles and jubilant – he greeted Smithtown Matters immediately and sat down with us. He said it was a great night.”I am extremely proud of the good campaign we ran. It was a grass roots campaign of residents, it’s their victory. Patrick and I are going back to work for the people tomorrow and we’ll finish off the job in November. I am very confident we’ll finish off the job in November.”
The room at the Watermill was jubilant – John Kennedy and his wife Leslie were there – Assemblyman Fitzpatrick, Vecchio’s campaign manager, and Team Trotta which consisted of Mrs. Trotta, Linda Henninger and Mike Rosato. Trotta was all smiles as everyone congratulated him. He told me that surprisingly , he slept incredibly well last night. Also – before heading to the Watermill, he picked up all his campaign signs. Saying he hates when political signs are left up after a campaign (the true environmentalist that he is). He was shocked but happy – very happy, very grateful and very humble. Without any backing from any party organization – Rob Trotta turned out to be the BIG winner of the evening.
Vecchio and McCarthy were in front of a computer screen watching results as they flowed in. Vecchio was furious – “John Napoleon LaValle attempted to influence the voters of the town of Smithtown and he failed. He’s a failure as a leader and he should resign. Ed Walsh, Conservative Chairman is a bully and was the instigator of all this (referencing the major email snafu sent out with the wrong candidates name as party designees.”
Vecchio’s campaign manager, Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick – “we took a couple of bruises along the way but you can expect that in a campaign. Pat has served this town admirably with distinction and the voters knew that. They responded well to his long and successful service. Bob was a good candidate – but he took on a long-standing incumbent. Fitzpatrick said “Vecchio is a great man, a brilliant man and a fascinating man. At the end of the day you can’t do better than Pat Vecchio.”
Creighton Headquarters – the room was packed, standing room only. Relatives, friends, Republicans and Conservatives – clergy and press. There was an air of great excitement which began to wane as the polling numbers came out. Small cloistered meetings with candidates/relatives and key players set the tone that the evening wasn’t looking good. Puleo, Hennings, Wehrheim and Malloy were on hand as was Judge Janine Barberi .
Councilman Ed Wehrheim took the podium about 9:45pm. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen tonight but I’ve never been more proud to be part of a campaign than I have for Bob Creighton, Kevin Malloy and Vinney Puleo.” He said he was honored to run a campaign for Bob – people all stood up – even the elderly. “Bob and I will go back to Town Hall and get to work. We’re all gentlemen about it. The Voter’s have spoken.”
Bob Creighton took the podium and again a standing ovation which lasted a very very long time – he had to ask everyone to sit.
Thank you very very very much. We ran a very good campaign with our razzle dazzle highfalutin campaign manager. We ran a fine campaign and did our best. We lost to a 35 year incumbent – Creighton thanked his wife and his family, particularly his daughter Denise who worked tirelessly. Creighton went on to thank Kevin Malloy, Paul Hennings and Vincent Puleo.
“I’m very proud of the race we ran – thank you – thank you all.” said Creighton.
At Napper Tandy’s - Carol McGuire was on hand as well as Leg. John Kennedy’s aide – Ali Nazir. The back room was full of Mattera friends and relatives. Mattera was smiling when I walked in. We spoke – he was shocked, absolutely shocked at the results. However, he has said all along that if he couldn’t win – that Trotta should win. He couldn’t believe the margin – really the story of the night was the Trotta romp. It took everyone by surprise, even Trotta. Mario was gracious….Smithtown Matters was at the Watermill alongside Trotta when he rang Mattera to congratulate him on a good race and a thank him for a clean race.
Mattera’s wife Linda was as gracious as she was beautiful. She said it wasn’t God’s plan for them but she joked that she’s happy he ran because he took off 20 lbs this summer when he was out campaigning!
Pat Biancaniello -
Smithtown Democrats gathered at Steve Snair’s campaign headquarters watching the primary results on several small computer screens. The atmosphere was relaxed. The sense among the thirty or so people was that a Vecchio win on the Republican line and a Creighton win on the Conservative line would level the playing field in November. Dems were pleased as the early results came in showing Vecchio with 55% of the vote. A lead he maintained throughout the night.
Everyone was a bit surprised by the magnitude of Rob Trotta’s victory in the race for the Legislature. No one seemed surprised by the Vecchio win or that Lynne Nowick received the highest number of votes for Town Council.
Steve Snair walked around the room chatting with supporters many of whom were young and somewhat new to politics. Floyd Sarisohn, not new to politics, commented on how ironic it was that the room was hoping for a Vecchio victory.
In a released statement Steve Snair congratulated the candidates and said “I congratulate both Supervisor Vecchio and Councilman Creighton on tonight’s results. It’s great to see so many Smithtown residents participate in today’s primary elections. Now that the ballot in November is set, I look forward to continuing this campaign and having a lively debate with my opponents regarding our visions for the future of Smithtown. I am confident that over these next 8-weeks the voters will agree with my fresh and new ideas for Smithtown moving forward.”