Hubbard keeps focus on budget as recount looms in tight supervisor race

Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard focused on the town’s 2026 budget at a hearing Thursday — his first public appearance since challenger Jerry Halpin took a 21-vote lead that could trigger an automatic recount.

The narrow margin from Tuesday’s election results — 3,891 to 3,870, according to unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections — went unmentioned as residents and town officials discussed the preliminary budget and tax levy override.

An automatic recount is required if the margin of victory is 20 votes or less or approximately 0.5% of votes cast, the law says. That would put the margin for an automatic recount at around 40 votes of the 7,761 cast.

The Riverhead Town Board race results are also too close to call. Both Republican incumbent candidates, Bob Kern and Kenneth Rothwell, were ahead of their Democratic challengers Mark Woolley and Kevin Shea when polls closed.

Out of 14,951 votes counted for the Riverhead Town Board races, Mr. Kern tops all four candidates with 3,907 votes. Mr. Rothwell follows with 3,833. Mr. Woolley currently has 3,759 votes, while Mr. Shea racked up 3,452.

The candidates may not know their fates until the middle of the month while military and absentee ballots are tabulated.

Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4 and received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 12. Military ballots must be received by Nov. 17. The current vote tallies include early voting and absentee ballots received by Election Day.

In a phone interview following Election Day, Mr. Hubbard said if the race demands a recount, he is hopeful it could sway in the Riverhead Republicans’ favor.

“We have to look at the final numbers when they come in, with all the absentee ballots and military ballots counted, we’re going to have to reevaluate once we have those final numbers,” Mr. Hubbard said. “But, it certainly seems like it’s going to be heading towards a recount.”

He predicted a “closer race” this year than when he first ran for town supervisor in 2023 against Angela DeVito. At that time, Hubbard won by 59% of the 8,753 votes cast.

He attributed low voter turnout to the current results and said taxes were the major issue that influenced voters the most — the same issue that dominated Thursday’s budget hearing.

The Riverhead Democratic Committee said on social media Wednesday they are waiting for the final count.

“Mark Woolley [is] in third place, for the two board seats, but final ballot counts could bump him over [Mr.] Rothwell, who only has 74 votes over Mark,” the committee wrote on Facebook. “The official results of the election will not be known for weeks.”

The Riverhead News-Review reached out to the Suffolk County Board of Elections to confirm outstanding ballot totals. A representative said Friday the office has been “busy” over the last few day due to an influx of inquiries. They will not able to respond to the information request until next week, the rep said.

At Thursday’s public hearing on the tax levy override and preliminary 2026 budget, residents expressed frustration over the town once again piercing the tax cap.

“Ignoring the taxpayers is disrespectful and costly,” said Claudette Bianco of Baiting Hollow. “People are angry.”

Mr. Hubbard and other town officials explained there was no way around the increase, as state mandated rises in health insurance premiums, state retirement rates and contractual police raises were unavoidable. The other avenue would have been to lay off 15 town employees, the officials said.

The supervisor had expressed the same sentiment in the phone interview after the close election night battle.

“It doesn’t matter who’s sitting in that chair, it’s going to be the same problem whoever is sitting there. “Unfortunately, people don’t like to pay more taxes, neither do I, and I understand that, but there’s a reality to all of this,” he said. “It’s raising taxes, or laying people off, and I wasn’t in a position to lay anybody off. I didn’t feel that was the right thing to do because we’re barebones staffed as it is.”