Schneiderman Holds On To County Seat for 1 Last Term

Jay Schneiderman won a sixth and final term on the Suffolk County Legislature, handily warding off challenger Chris Nuzzi.

Schneiderman, an Independence Party member from Montauk, received 11,329 votes, or 60.34 percent, while Nuzzi receive 7,444 votes, or 39.64 percent, with 65 of the 68 election districts reporting.

"It's clear," said Schneiderman on Tuesday at about 11 p.m. "It was a good race — it was a long race. Chris was a good opponent," he said. "But I ran on my record and I think the people realized I'd done a lot of work for the district and I look forward to serving another two years."

Schneiderman will continue to represent the second legislative district, which extends rom Montauk to East Moriches, and includes Shelter Island, until the end of 2016, at which point he'll have reached the term limit.

"It was a challenge — I knew that from the beginning," Nuzzi said at about 11:15 p.m. "For the opportunity to run for that seat, I took on the challenge. I would have loved to have won or for the numbers to have been closer, but the voters have decided and I respect that."

Schneiderman also held the Democratic and Working Families Party lines on the ballot in Tuesday's election. Nuzzi, a Republican Southampton Town Councilman, had the Republican and Conservative lines.

Nuzzi is finishing his second term on the Southampton Town Board, first taking office in 2006. Asked what's next after he leaves office at the end of the year and if he might run again for Schneiderman's seat in two years, Nuzzi said it's too early to speculate.

"Of course, I have a job in the private world," he said, adding that he loves public service and wants to be involved in whatever way he can be.

Nuzzi said he's thankful for the two terms he's served on the town board. "I'm certainly a member of the community. I'm here and I'm staying here."

Both men hail from the Town of East Hampton; Nuzzi from East Hampton and Schneiderman from Montauk.

Schneiderman, who previously served as East Hampton Town Supervisor and turned down the Republican nomination to run for the seat this year, has been a legislator for 10 years.
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