Unofficially, Amber Brach-Williams, who ran on the Republican and Conservative lines, has won the Supervisor race, 803 to 757, beating Democrat Gordon Gooding.
That’s according to the latest information from the Suffolk County Board of Elections, shared by the local Republican committee leader Sunday morning. Gary Blados says the unofficial final results, after 18 affidavit ballots were counted, show Democrats Albert Dickson and Benjamin Dyett won the two Town Council seats with 840 and 777 votes, respectively. Republican challengers Tom Cronin and Art Williams received 715 and 484 votes.
The BOE has said it will certify election results by November 22.
“Thank you to everyone who supported me and had faith in me,” Brach-Williams said Saturday when unofficial results information showed she had an insurmountable lead. “I’m going to work hard to prove that faith isn’t unfounded and to bring everyone together to work on the issues we face.”
Brach-Williams, an accountant and Town Council veteran who has served as Deputy Supervisor and overseen the Town Budget and Capital Projects planning development, will be Shelter Island’s first female pick for Supervisor since Barbara Kaiser was elected in 1979.
Gooding, the appointed chair of the Town’s Community Preservation Fund Advisory Board, is a newcomer to Town politics. He ran a campaign called “A Better Shelter Island For All,” with Dickson and Dyett. Gooding said Saturday he had received no information confirming the vote tallies.
To be determined is whether and how the Town Board will fill the remainder of Brach-Williams’ Town Council term. She was re-elected in November 2021 for a four-year term that ends December 31, 2025. Councilwoman Meg Larsen, a Republican whose term is also through 2025, rounds out the new Town Board that will be seated in January 2024.
The new Town Board may appoint someone to serve through 2024 or, possibly, through 2025. What’s least likely — given the board’s large workload — is that a majority will choose to leave the seat vacant.
