New York Republicans wait to see if Lee Zeldin will run to flip Long Island county's top job
New York Republicans are looking to win this fall’s race to succeed termed-out Democratic incumbent Steve Bellone as executive of Suffolk County, and Newsday’s Vera Chinese reports that some party members are still hoping that former Rep. Lee Zeldin will campaign to lead this populous Long Island community.
Zeldin, who carried the county 58-42 last November in his unsuccessful quest to oust Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, responded with a statement very similar to the one he supplied to the New York Times when it asked him about his interest in taking on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: “Since Election Day, I have fielded many calls from people with their thoughts of various positions in government they would like me to pursue and I am very grateful to everyone for their passionate outreach,” said Zeldin, “But I don’t have any update on that front to announce at this time.”
There’s no other word on how likely he is to run, though longtime political observer Lawrence Levy tells Chinese, “Republicans and even some Democrats are waiting for Lee Zeldin to make up his mind.” Several other local Republicans, though, explicitly said they were thinking about running to replace Bellone:
County Legislator Trish Bergin
Brookhaven Town Councilman Neil Foley
County Comptroller John Kennedy
County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine
On the Democratic side, venture capitalist Dave Calone has had the field to himself since July and enjoys the backing of powerful county chair Rich Schaffer and several prominent party leaders; Calone also says he now has $1.7 million on-hand. Calone previously competed in the 2016 primary to take on Zeldin in the 1st District but lost to Anna Throne-Holst in a 51-49 squeaker; Zeldin went on to easily turn back Throne-Holst 58-42.
Suffolk County, a community of 1.5 million people that takes up the eastern half of Long Island, has long been competitive turf, though Republicans have done well here in recent years. Donald Trump’s 51-45 victory in 2016 made him the first Republican presidential nominee to carry the county since 1992: Trump four years later took it 49.30-49.27―a tiny 232-vote margin that still made it the largest county in America to back the GOP ticket.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/23/2148832/-New-York-Republicans-wait-to-see-if-Lee-Zeldin-will-run-to-flip-Long-Island-county-s-top-job
= new reply since forum marked as read
I gotta remind my brain not to jump to conclusions 
