The Town of Hempstead remained a Republican stronghold in Tuesday’s election, with the GOP maintaining control in the supervisor’s and clerk’s offices and on the Town Board.
Longtime town Councilman Anthony Santino beat Democrat Rita Kestenbaum with nearly 60 percent of the vote to Kestenbaum’s 40 percent — 52,903 to 40,313 — to win the Town Supervisor seat, which Republicans have held since 1905.
“I know I have a tough act to follow, but with all of you behind me, I promise you the town of Hempstead’s best and brightest days are ahead,” Santino told supporters Tuesday night at a GOP gathering in Westbury.
He succeeds 12-year supervisor and district attorney candidate Kate Murray, whose achievements gave Hempstead Republicans a platform for victory this year, Santino said.
Kestenbaum said she thought 40 percent of the vote was “a pretty good showing” for a Democratic Supervisor candidate in Hempstead.
“I think that our message of needing to have a Town Board that’s responsive to every resident in the town, not just the politically connected, is resonating,” she said.
Santino was the senior member of the Hempstead Town Board, representing the Fourth District of Bay Park, East Rockaway, Hewlett, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Neck, Island Park, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, South Hempstead, Woodsburgh and parts of Cedarhurst, Lynbrook, North Lynbrook, Malverne, Valley Stream and Woodmere for more than 20 years.
He is also the executive assistant to Nassau GOP chairman Joe Mondello.
Before being elected to the board, Santino was a village trustee in East Rockaway, where he has lived for more than 40 years.
Kestenbaum resurrected her political career last year, running a losing race for the 19th District seat on the county Legislature against Republican Steven Rhoads. The seat became vacant after Democrat David Denenberg plead guilty to federal mail fraud.
She served on the Town Board for two years after an upset victory in 1999.
Santino’s salary as supervisor will be $160,000.
Republican Nasrin Ahmad held onto her position as Town Clerk, beating Democrat Dino Amoroso with nearly 53 percent of the vote to Amoros’s 47 percent — 54,376 to 48,758.
“Obviously (Hempstead residents) enjoy and they like what they have, and that’s why they voted for me,” Ahmad said.
Amoroso did not respond to requests for comment.
Ahmad, a Salisbury resident, has worked in the Town Clerk’s office since 1998 and was appointed to lead it in September 2013 after former clerk Mark Bonilla was convicted of official misconduct that March.
She won a special election in November 2013 against Democrat Jasmin Garcia-Vieux to retain the seat.
Part of her platform in that race centered on making town forms more accessible online, which she has since done by putting several printable forms on the town website.
Amoroso spent 15 years as a prosecutor in Brooklyn before becoming head of the Nassau Off-Track Betting Corporation in 2005. He left the post in 2010 and has practiced law in Manhattan since 2013.
The Lynbrook resident has argued that the town’s records are not transparent or accessible enough. While forms are available online, he said town officials make it harder than necessary to access financial records and other documents.
Ahmad touted her continued efforts to get more clerk’s services online, adding that her office has an “open door” policy and complies with all requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Law.
Ahmad’s salary as clerk is $106,500.
Republican Councilman Edward Ambrosino won a fourth term representing the town’s Second District, beating Democrat Tammie Williams 64 percent to 36 percent — 10,891 to 6,116.
“I want to thank the voters of the Second Councilmanic District for their confidence in me,” Ambrosino said. “I won’t let them down.”
Williams said she expected the votes to turn out that way, but added that the race showed the effect of what she thinks is unfair gerrymandering in Hempstead.
“This was about representation for all communities, so I’m going to continue to knock on the doors and engage constituents, take their issues to the board and advocate for them, and see that they are taken care of,” she said.
Ambrosino, a North Valley Stream resident, was appointed to the Town Board in 2003 to represent his district, which includes Bellerose Terrace, Floral Park, South Floral Park, Garden City, Garden City South, New Hyde Park, Salisbury, Stewart Manor, and parts of Bellerose, East Meadow, Elmont, Franklin Square, Hempstead, Uniondale and West Hempstead.
He previously served as the Nassau County Legislature’s first majority counsel.
Williams, an Elmont resident, has been an Elmont Library trustee since 2013.
She also runs helps run the Queens-based non-profit Girls PRIDE, which mentors girls of color.
In a sit-down interview with Blank Slate Media, Williams said Ambrosino was failing to represent his district’s unincorporated areas, which depend on the town for many services that villages provide for themselves.
Ambrosino said he was proud of his record on constituent service, specifically touting his role in replacing the Courtesy Hotel with commuter apartments.
Ambrosino’s salary as a councilman is $71,000.
