As the winners of November’s Nassau County judicial elections are sworn into office, some can give thanks to Conservative Party voters, whose support helped decide four of the Surrogate and County Court races.
Nassau County Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said if judicial races were simply Democrat versus Republican, then Democrats had a stronger chance of winning.
“I would say it’s just the way the party structure is set up right now. Right now, the way it’s structured, if you look at Republican versus Democrat in Nassau County, Democrats come out on top,” Jacobs said. “The Conservatives tend to push it over the top for Republicans.”
In the Surrogate Court race, Republican Margaret C. Reilly defeated Democratic candidate Angela G. Iannacci with about 52 percent of the votes.
Iannacci received more votes on the Democrat line, 83,420, than Reilly received on the Republican line, 78,213.
But Reilly, who also ran on the Independence and Reform party lines, received 15,563 votes on the Conservative line — enough to offset Iannacci’s lead and win the race.
Iannacci also ran on the Working Families, Green and Women’s Equality party lines, but did not receive enough support on those lines to combat the Conservative Party’s strong turnout.
The race for three seats on the County Court bench showed similar outcomes.
The three Democratic candidates — Tammy S. Robbins, Steven M. Jaeger and N. Scott Banks — got more votes on the Democrat line, receiving 82,960, 83,009 and 78,956 votes, respectively.
But they lost the race to Robert G. Bogle, Felice J. Muraca and Howard E. Sturim, who received 77,283, 76,018 and 76,202 on the Republican line, respectively.
Bogle, Muraca and Sturim each received about 16,500 votes on the Conservative line — enough to make up the difference even with the three Democrats, who were also running on the Working Families, Green and Women’s Equality lines.
Efforts to reach Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joe Mondello and Nassau County Conservative Party Chairman Daniel F. Donovan, Jr. were unavailing.
Jacobs said 2015 — a year without a presidential election on the ballot — had lower turnout, which generally favors Republicans.
“If it’s a presidential year, you’ll have a large turnout of voters which will favor Democratic candidates on judicial lines. That doesn’t mean absolute wins but you tend to overwhelmingly see more Republicans elected in other years,” he said. “I think Democratic voters tend to be more energized by national issues than by local issues. Republican voters are more energized by tax issues, and that is impacted by every level.”
Unlike the Surrogate and County Court races, the three District Court judicial races were not impacted by Conservative Party voters.
In the county’s 3rd District Court race, Democrat William A. Hohauser defeated Republican Frank A. Doddato with about 57 percent of total votes.
Hohauser received 15,375 votes on the Democratic line, about 2,000 more than the 10,483 votes Doddato received on the Republican line and 2,125 on the Conservative line.
Jacobs said the 3rd district, which includes Great Neck, Roslyn and Port Washington, has a strong Democratic edge and a Democrat will usually win the district.
“It doesn’t make a difference because there the Democratic Party enrollment and voting history demonstrates we’re a lot stronger than Republicans,” he said. “They can get all the lines they want but it won’t change much.”
Hohauser’s strongest support came in Port Washington, North Hills, the villages of Great Neck and Great Neck Plaza, East Hills and North Hills.
Although the district also includes areas such as North New Hyde Park, East Williston and Manhasset, which lean Republican, Doddato could not overcome the district’s Democratic edge.
The 2nd and 4th District Court races saw all Republican candidates receive more votes than Democratic candidates.
Jacobs said both districts leaned Republican.
Jacobs said the Democratic Party determines who will run in the judicial races through a screening process that includes a screening committee..
After the screening committee makes a decision, he said, he makes his recommendations to a nominating committee that makes the final decision.
