Dems declare Halpin victory in Riverhead Town supervisor race

The question on residents’ minds has finally been answered: The Riverhead Democratic Committee announced Jerry Halpin will be Riverhead Town’s next supervisor, according to a press release issued Friday.

“I am truly honored that the voters of Riverhead have entrusted me to serve our community. It is with deep humility and gratitude that I step into the role of Riverhead Town supervisor-elect,” Mr. Halpin said in a statement. “Riverhead’s future depends on all of us — working together as neighbors and taxpayers, regardless of party — to ensure our community continues to grow stronger and brighter than ever.”

All eyes have been on the incredibly close race between incumbent Supervisor Tim Hubbard and Mr. Halpin, who widened the tight gap with a 37-vote lead as of Friday. According to unofficial numbers the committee received from the Suffolk County Board of Elections, the local pastor defeated Mr. Hubbard 3,956 to 3,919 votes.

Despite this declaration, the Suffolk County Board of Elections said it plans to begin the manual recount process on Monday at 10 a.m. 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 just under 40 votes of total 7,875 total ballots recorded.

In an email on Friday afternoon, the board confirmed it would be publishing the certified results on Tuesday following the manual recount of the supervisor race.

“We are grateful to the voters of Riverhead for placing their trust in Jerry,” the Riverhead Democratic Committee said in its news release. “This win belongs to every resident who believed our town deserves a government that listens, plans responsibly and puts people first.”

Republican Riverhead Town councilmen Bob Kern and Kenneth Rothwell will continue to serve on the Town Board. Mr. Kern received the highest amount of votes, securing 3,958, while Mr. Rothwell received 3,882.

“The committee also extended sincere thanks to Mark Woolley and Kevin Shea, who ran strong, spirited campaigns for Town Council,” the Democratic committee said in its statement. “Mark and Kevin showed up every day for this community, and we are grateful for their dedication and the energy they brought to this election.”

Starting Monday, every single ballot cast will be manually counted by a bipartisan committee at the Board of Elections.

Mr. Hubbard could not be reached for comment before press time. He previously stated he was also waiting for the final absentee and military ballots to be tabulated and anticipated an automatic recount.

In the last couple of weeks, the Suffolk County Board of Elections have been counting remaining military, absentee and affidavit ballots for the Riverhead Town supervisor and council races. Mailed absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Nov. 4 and received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 12. Military ballots must be received by Monday, Nov. 17.

In an email to the Riverhead News-Review on Nov. 12, the Suffolk BOE confirmed there were 36 affidavits that needed to be counted and 39 were submitted. The board was waiting on three military ballots as well.

At the time this information was shared, 406 total absentee ballots for the general election had been counted; 171 were Democrat and 132 Republican. Around 224 absentee ballots were sent, but had not yet been received, including 84 Democrat and 64 Republican ballots. The county board also noted 58 blank ballots were sent, but not received.

Looking at the other totals for absentee ballots, 25 were marked undeliverable and 17 were disqualified. Seven were not sent, and four were deemed not active.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections previously told the Riverhead News-Review that the election results would not be certified until the end of the month.

This is a developing story and will be updated.