Alessi: Losquadro's 40-Vote Lead for Assembly Seat is Too Close to Call

Just after 11 a.m. on Wednesday, it still stands that has the edge over incumbent by a mere 40 votes for a seat in the New York State Assembly.  

Though races between and business man and other candidates were close this election, this was by far the closest. And election results show that the First Assembly District had the highest turnout rate among all 11 Assembly races in Suffolk County, drawing 42,028 voters to the polls. The two candidates remained separated by 40 votes, which were not tallied until the early hours of Wednesday morning.  

But in a statement sent late Wednesday morning, Alessi said the race is still too close to call with 2,500 absentee ballots still left to count. Alessi added that mililtary ballots, according to law, have until the end of November to arrive at the Suffolk County Board of Elections. 

"It is obvious that this election is too close to call, and should be a reminder to everyone that every vote counts," he said. "We will have a clearer picture at the end of November the actual results of this election."

To ensure accuracy, he added that the voting machines in Suffolk County will undergo a re-canvass next week to ensure the accuracy of the results reported on Tuesday night.

Southold Town GOP chairman Denis Noncarrow said on Wednesday that he thought Losquadro had the edge over Alessi in the initial tally, not because of what Alessi has or has not done in Albany — it's just time for change.  

"And Dan's already got a great reputation," Noncarrow said, referring to Losquadro's role as Suffolk County Legislator. "People just want to see a more conservative type of person in office, and Dan's got that."  

Alessi and Losquadro were not available for comment late Wednesday morning. But Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy echoed Noncarrow's thoughts Tuesday night as the numbers were coming in.  

"I think that what's ultra important is that Long Island get back the clout it lost when Republicans lost control of the senate," he said. "We had a block of Republicans that protected us. When we lost that, we got slammed with an MTA payroll tax."    

"I think that on a national level, the Republicans are surging," said Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine. "Things are trending very well for Republicans tonight."  

Newsday also endorsed Losquadro, saying that Alessi has not challenged leadership in the Assembly enough and that Losquadro is the man with a much-needed fresh approach to fiscal sinkholes like the MTA tax.  

But earlier in the night on Tuesday, when Alessi lead Losquadro by 340 votes at around 10:30 p.m., Southold Democratic Party chairman Art Tillman had a different view on the Assembly race and the local political landscape. He said that he was more confident in his party than ever.  

"I'm happy that we have now have 30 committeemen rather than 18 like we did three weeks ago," he said. "Greenport has always been a Democratic, but I believe it's a tipping point through the entire North Fork to Orient Point. And I believe this is all in reaction to the characters the republicans have been putting forward —Paladino, O'Donnell, Palin."  

Tillman cited the fact that more people new to the area are registering democratic now more than ever.  

"Years ago, it was an unwritten rule that if you were new in town, you had to register Republican," he said. "That's no longer the case."  

Though it was impossible to tell whether Alessi or Losquadro would win the seat in the state Assembly early in the vote count Tuesday night, Tillman expressed his confidence to his small group gathered at .  

"We're making a lot of progress," he said. "But then again, our party doesn't really have a track record. Southold itself is still a tough nut to crack, but, hey these numbers aren't bad."