It appears that incumbent Supervisor Gerry Siller (D) won another two-year term at the helm of Town government, and incumbent Amber Brach-Williams (R) will likely serve another four-year term on the Town Board.
But other Shelter Island election results were too close to call Tuesday night.
That’s because the margins between candidates in some races were smaller than the number of outstanding absentee and affidavit ballots, which were not included in the preliminary results after the polls closed.
“I think it’s too early to call,” Heather Reylek, leader of the Shelter Island Democrats, said to party members gathered to hear results at American Legion Mitchell Post #281. “There’s a lot of close races.”
(Note: This post was updated to reflect Suffolk County BOE data at 1 AM Wednesday; they varied slightly from results reported here earlier)
Early voting
The Suffolk County Board of Elections provided unofficial election results starting with early voting that had the Supervisor with 69.8 percent of the vote over non-specified write-in votes.
Former Councilman Peter Reich (R) launched a write-in campaign, but the initial reports from the polls did not specify how many votes he’d received, only the number of write-ins for the position.
The early voting results were the only tallies posted on the BOE website until late into the evening (they were updated around 1 AM).
In the Town Clerk race, challenger Kristina Martin-Majdisova (D) was ahead among early voters with 60.34 percent over long-time incumbent Dorothy Ogar (R).
In the race for two Town Council seats for four-year terms, Brett G. Surerus (D|WF) was ahead in early voting with 38.78 percent over Brach-Williams at 32.65 percent. Challenger Margaret A. Larsen (R) had 28.57 percent of the early vote.
In a second Town Council race for a two-year term, BJ Ianfolla (D) had 65.52 percent over Marcus Kaasik (R|C) with 34.48 percent.
Machine counts
As Reylek reported machine counts after the polling station at the school closed, races shifted. Siller retained a solid lead. Ogar at 661 was ahead of Martin-Majdisova at 584.
But the BOE said it had already received 82 absentee ballots from Island voters; the total number won’t be known for another week.
“There’s a lot of absentees out there,” Reylek said. “So we do not think that she should concede.”
Brach-Williams ended up with what appeared to be a strong lead of 765 in a three-way race for two seats, with Larsen at 681, 51 votes ahead of Surerus. In the other Council race, Kaasik was ahead of Ianfolla by just 7 votes.
“I know you might be a little bit disappointed,” Siller told the Democrats assembled at the Legion Hall. “But don’t be. The numbers very clearly show that we’re probably going to sweep this thing.”
“Don’t feel this was all for naught,” Siller said. “Number one, it wasn’t; number two, everybody ran a hell of a good race, and number three, I honestly believe we’re going to win.”
Outstanding ballots, a long wait
Reylek says the BOE has sent 237 absentee ballots to Island voters. While voters had until Election Day to get their ballots postmarked or to hand them in at a polling station, the BOE won’t begin to count absentee ballots for at least seven days.
This is to allow time for ballots sent by mail to arrive, including those from active duty military. As they are tallied, they can be challenged by poll watchers from either party.
Affidavit ballots are created when voters arrive at the polls but find they are not listed in the poll book, or there are problems with how they’re listed. After vowing that they’re entitled to vote, they file a provisional ballot. These ballots are also subject to further review.
We will update the results as new figures become available (you can look for them at this link to the BOE website), and as we gather feedback from the Shelter Island Republican Committee and individual candidates.
Unofficial results
Below are the unofficial results (as of 1 AM Wednesday):
| Town Supervisor | Early | In-Person | Total | % |
| Gerry Siller (D) | 37 | 656 | 693 | 64.29 |
| (write-ins) | 16 | 369 | 385 | 35.71 |
| Town Clerk | Early | In-Person | Total | % |
| Kristina Martin-Madjisova (D) | 35 | 552 | 587 | 47.04 |
| Dorothy Ogar (R) | 23 | 638 | 661 | 52.96 |
| Town Council – 4 Years | Early | In-Person | Total | % |
| Amber Brach-Williams (R) | 32 | 733 | 765 | 36.80 |
| Margaret A. Larsen (R) | 28 | 653 | 681 | 32.76 |
| Brett G. Surerus (D|WF) | 38 | 592 | 630 | 30.30 |
| (write-ins) | 3 | 0.14 |
| Town Council – 2 Years | Early | In-Person | Total | % |
| BJ Ianfolla (D) | 38 | 568 | 606 | 49.63 |
| Marcus Kaasik (R|C) | 20 | 593 | 613 | 50.20 |
| (write-ins) | 2 | 0.16 |
(Note: Candidates are shown in alphabetical order by last name. Affiliation abbreviations: C=Conservative, D=Democrat, R=Republican, WF=Working Families.)
Other races
It should be noted that in non-contested races, Highway Superintendent Brian Sherman, with 1,110 votes, and Assessor Pat Castoldi, with 1,050 votes, were re-elected.
Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini (D) was beaten by challenger Raymond A. Tierney. Errol D. Toulon Jr. (D) was re-elected County Sheriff, over challenger William Amato (R).
In the Suffolk County Legislature 2nd District, Bridget M. Fleming (D) had a solid lead over challenger Robert J. Carpenter III (R), with about 73 percent of districts reporting.
Proposals
Suffolk County voters were divided on ballot propositions, with results that mirrored statewide outcomes, passing two and defeating three. The county results are for all but 8 of 1,052 election districts. The NYS BOE results are for all but 104 of 15,518 election districts.
- Proposal One, to amend the apportionment and redistricting process, was defeated 170,570 to 86,207. Statewide the nay votes led 1,515,586 to 1,201,010.
- Proposal Two, which amends the NYS Constitution to establish a right to clean air, clean water, and a healthful environment, passed 156,811 to 102,317. Statewide the yea votes led 1,902,745 to 858,604.
- Proposal Three, to eliminate the 10-day advance voter registration requirement, was defeated 179,368 to 83,407. Proposal Four, authorizing no-excuse absentee balloting, was defeated 174,354 to 87,651. Statewide the nay votes led 1,606,209 to 1,178,600.
- Proposal Four, authorizing no-excuse absentee balloting, was defeated 174,354 to 87,651. Statewide the nay votes led 1,566,981 to 1,207,545.
- Proposal Five, increasing the jurisdiction of the NYC Civil Court, passed 134,909 to 118,778. Statewide, the yea votes led 1,676,249 to 988,900.
