Town Supervisor Frank Petrone was re-elected by a narrow margin Tuesday night, fending off a sharp challenge from Gene Cook to win his fifth term as Huntington's chief executive.
Voters also re-elected Mark Cuthbertson, the top vote-getter in Town Board elections, and added Tracey Edwards, while ousting Republican Mark Mayoka, and turned down Josh Price, also running as a Republican for Town Board.
The new lineup gives Petrone a 4-1 advantage on the board, with Cook an independent who has Republican support.
"This was a long, long campaign. But you know what? The people of Huntington spoke and prevailed. They like what’s going on in Huntington," Petrone said. "I’m thrilled."
"A lot of you have worked so hard and we’re so thankful. We will not let you down."
Petrone, 68, was first elected in 1993. This year's campaign was fierce, with the LIPA tax grievance, Huntington Station revitalization, the town's fiscal condition and development among the issues motivating voters.The only happy news for the Republicans gathered at Albert's Mandarin Restaurant in Huntington Pete Gunther's win over long-serving highway superintendent William Naughton and the election of David Reilly of Northport to the State Supreme Court bench.
"This was struggle," Cuthbertson said. "This was a struggle because we don’t do it the easy way. We actually take chances in town hall. We do things like allow the Paramount to locate in downtown Huntington and do other things that move the town forward."
Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Cuthbertson said, "Lots of thanks you's to voters. It was a great night for me because the first 15 votes came in and it didn’t sound promising so then I went out to the car and the good karma started when I got on the phone with my family and I never left. Thank you to our wonderful people in town hall. We are the policy makers, but it's you (speaking to residents) that come to us with the great ideas so we’re a team. I've never seen before the this kind of effort in a campaign."
Toni Tepe, chairwoman of the Republican Town Committee, said there was a chance results could change after a recount or when absentee ballots are counted."We ran a very hard campaign," Tepe said. "We were outspent by thousands but do believe that we had the right message for the people."
Unofficial results at 11 p.m. gave Petrone 50.79 percent of the vote to Cook's 49.16 percent.
"We ran a good race, an honest race, and we're proud of it," Cook said.
Mayoka thanked his supporters and said, "The electorate made its decision."
Edwards said of her victory, "At 9 o’clock, when the polls closed, I was actually in church. I want to thank God for bringing me here and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.
"I promise I’m going to clean the house tomorrow- she joked to her husband.
Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She also thanked Petrone and Cuthbertson for being really strong running mates.
"Without all of you, I don’t see the three of us up here tonight. I will do my very very best to represent all of you. I heard from Mark and Josh and Gene and wish them good luck."
Patch will continue to update this breaking-news story.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
