L. to R.: Suffolk County Legislator William J. Lindsay III and Anthony Piccirillo.
Suffolk County Legislator William J. Lindsay III (D-Bohemia) conceded Wednesday the election to Republican challenger Anthony Piccirillo following a recount in the lone county legislature seat to be flipped on Long Island this year.
Lindsay was trailing Piccirillo by 223 votes in the unofficial returns on election night but did not make up the loss after the Board of Elections counted the paper ballots in the rematch of a 2017 race. The challenger finished the race with a 215-vote lead.
”I just want to thank the 9,500 taxpayers who put their trust in me,” Piccirillo said, referring to the number of votes he got. “It feels great to be victorious this time around.”
While seeking a rematch of a race Piccirillo lost by about 200 votes two years ago, Piccirillo beat Lindsay in primaries for the Conservative and Independence party lines this year before ultimately unseating the three-term legislator on Election Day.
Lindsay has not specified what he’ll do next, but said “several opportunities” have been presented to him.
”Although I am disappointed with the final election results, I’m incredibly thankful for being able to serve the people of the 8th Legislative District for the past six years,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay is the son of the late former presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature William Lindsay.
Democrats now have an 10-8 majority in the county legislature. If the GOP picks up at least one more seat in the next county legislative elections in 2021, they would have a 9-9 split in the legislature. If that were to happen, Republican Suffolk County Clerk would then have to choose the next presiding officer.
On the other side of the county line, all incumbent Nassau County legislators were re-elected, allowing the GOP to maintain their control of that body.
Piccirillo will be sworn in at the legislature’s first meeting of 2020 in January.
