SUFFOLK CLOSEUP
By Karl Grossman
The victory of Perry Gershon in the primary last week for the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Lee Zeldin in the lst Congressional District was about an aggressive, well-financed campaign—but it was more than that.
On the afternoon of Primary Day June 26th, there was a knock on our door—and virtually no uninvited person has come down the long private dirt road to our rather isolated cottage in the 44 years we’ve lived there. The nice-looking young man at the door introduced himself as Marshall Gershon and asked for a vote “for my dad.”
One thing is expending large amounts of money on TV commercials and slick brochures, but this sort of thing is way beyond that—it reflects a remarkable commitment.
(I’m not enrolled in any party—to emphasize being non-partisan as a journalist. I advise my students going into journalism to do the same. My wife, however, is an enrolled Democrat and young Gershon was in search of her primary vote.)
Hours after the results were in, Mr. Zeldin, in the way of President Trump with whom he is politically and personally close and who likes to use epithets to diminish people—“little rocket man,” “crooked Hillary,” etc.—issued a statement referring every several sentences to Mr. Gershon as “Park Avenue Perry.”
It will be a hot contest. Now we’ll see what the extraordinarily high Gershon energy will mean in a Gershon-Zeldin race.
Remarkable, too, the number of rivals in the primary—five. In more than 50 years following Suffolk politics, I know of no primary contest of any party in which there were so many contestants. I believe it to be a record.
From the outset, Mr. Gershon, a political outsider, broke out of the starting gate strong—and continued strong. A successful New York City businessman with a home in East Hampton, the son of two noted doctors, a Yale graduate who initially studied medicine, too, but then decided on a business route, his campaign issued hard-hitting literature—going for the jugular.
“Together We Can Beat Lee Zeldin And Stop Donald Trump,” declared one brochure. “It’s Time To Take Back Our Country.” And there were brochures on specific issues: “Medicare For All Isn’t Just My Fight—It’s Our Fight,” said one. “Perry Gershon Has A Plan To End Gun Violence” and this includes “banning assault weapons,” said another. “Our Environmental Treasures Must Be Protected…Perry Gershon will be protecting our coastline and drinking water. Global Warming Is Real, No Offshore Drilling,” said another. “Standing With Planned Parenthood. Protecting The Right To Choose,” said another.
The campaign literature and the TV commercials described Mr. Gershon as a “bold progressive”—and continued a drumbeat tying Mr. Zeldin, of Shirley, to Mr. Trump.
There was a large primary turn-out—almost double the number of Democrats who turned out for the 2016 primary pitting former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst against David Calone, ex-chair of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, in a race to challenge Mr. Zeldin that year.
Former Suffolk Legislator Kate Browning of Shirley, who came in second to Mr. Gershon, told supporters this indicated that “Democrats are energized to succeed in November.”
Mr. Gershon spent a great deal of money in the primary contest—a lot his own. Federal Election Commission records show that by June 6th he had raised $2,110,371 and spent $1,660,210. Ms. Browning raised the second-highest amount with $493,850.
Mr. Gerson received 35.5 percent of the vote, Ms. Browning 30 percent. (Mr. Gershon garnered in 7,226 votes, Ms. Browning 6,159.)
Other candidates in the race were former Suffolk Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher of Setauket who received 16 percent of the vote, former New York City Council staffer David Pechefksy, a Patchogue native now of Port Jefferson, who got 12 percent, and former Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist Elaine DiMasi of Ronkonkoma who got 6 percent.
Mr. Zeldin, then a state senator, first won the lst C.D. seat in 2014 defeating Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop of Southampton. The lst C.D. includes all five East End towns, all of Brookhaven, most of Smithtown and a slice of Islip town. Through the decades it has been represented by both Democrats and Republicans and, for a time, a Conservative, William Carney of Hauppauge, who ran with GOP cross-endorsement.