Suffolk Democrats Confident Absentee Ballots Will Win Election

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Democratic candidates with full or partial jurisdiction in Suffolk County competing for seats in the New York state Assembly and Senate said they will secure come-from-behind wins in Tuesday's election once absentee ballots are counted.

Democratic candidates trailing their Republican counterparts following Election Day include incumbents James Gaughran of the 5th Senate District, Steve Stern of the 10th Assembly District, Steven Englebright of the 4th Assembly District and Michael Marcantonio in the vacant 12th Assembly District.

Thousands of absentee ballots have yet to be counted, according to the New York State Board of Elections.

Under New York law, mail-in ballots may be received up to seven days after the election, which is Nov. 10 this year, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. Also, a New York voter may vote in person even after casting an absentee ballot. That is another reason why absentee ballots cannot be counted until after all in-person votes are cast.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections expects to start counting absentee ballots Tuesday after it removes absentee ballots of those voters who also cast a ballot on a machine and compare the signatures. Bipartisan teams will compare the signatures on the absentee ballot envelopes to voters' signatures on file.

Englebright, a 28-year incumbent, currently trails Republican Michael Ross; Ross has 22,966 votes to Englebright's 20,999.

There were 15,046 absentee ballots received by 4th Assembly District constituents, according to the Suffolk elections board. Of those, 7,821 are Democrat, 2,948 are Republican, 181 are Conservative, 530 are independent and 3,501 are blank.

"I am confident I will be heading back to Albany in January and look forward to continuing to serve the people of our wonderful community," Englebright told Patch. "The voting pattern this year is different because of COVID-19, which has caused almost one out of every five voters in this district to vote absentee. Their votes make up much of the core of my support and they have not yet been counted."

Ross previously told Patch he is "cautiously optimistic" about his current 1,967-vote lead as of Election Day.

"I think that, judging from the other races, the voters of Suffolk County have spoken," he said. "They are tired of the Albany agenda, and they want their politicians to hear their voices. If I win, I promise I will listen."

Stern currently trails Republican challenger Jamie Silvestri by 85 votes — 24,189 to 24,104. In the 10th Assembly District, 15,181 absentee ballots were received. Of those, 7,854 are Democrat, 2,943 are Republican, 119 are Conservative, 484 are independent and 3,725 are blank.

"This is currently a very tight race," Stern said. "We knew going in that votes on Election Night would be close. There are thousands of absentee ballots still waiting to be counted. We are confident that when counting the votes is completed, that we will continue to proudly represent our community."

Silvestri did not respond to a request for comment.

Republican Keith Brown leads Marcantonio in the 12th Assembly District race, securing 30,554 votes to Marcantonio's 22,754.

In the 12th District, 12,875 absentee ballots have been received, according to the Suffolk elections board. Of those, 6,124 are Democrat, 2,771 are Republican, 154 are Conservative, 507 are independent and 3,258 are blank.

Marcantonio has not conceded and believes absentee ballots will be enough to edge him past Brown.

"While we await the final results of this heated year-long race, we need to remain patient until all the votes are counted," Marcantonio said. "Given that the Democrats heavily pushed their voters to vote absentee, while the GOP pushed in-person voting, we expect the absentee ballots to break markedly in our direction, putting us over the top."

Brown has not responded to a request for comment.

The position was previously held by Republican Andrew Raia before he retired.

Gaughran, the state senator representing the 5th District, is behind Republican challenger Edmund Smyth, who has 69,015 votes to Gaughran's 55,132. The 5th District stretches across both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

"There are nearly 30,000 absentee votes, the majority of which appear to be from Democrats," said Marissa Espinoza, a spokesperson for Gaughran's campaign. "It is vital that every vote be counted. I'm confident that this full count will favor Senator Gaughran."

Smyth, in a Facebook post, said his campaign is "extremely confident" with his lead.

"After all of our hard work, I am happy to say that after Early Voting and yesterday's Election Day voting, we are up nearly 14,000 votes!" Smyth wrote. "While there are still many thousands of absentee ballots that need to be opened and counted over the coming days, we are extremely confident that with the cushion we have from in person voting, we will ultimately be successful."