The blue wave continued to build.
Hempstead, Long Island’s longtime Republican bastion, unexpectedly turned Democratic in Tuesday’s midterm elections, as northern suburban areas of Westchester and Rockland counties also appeared poised to move left.
Voters in Nassau County — the nation’s most populous county — rejected Republican rising star John Ferretti’s bid for town supervisor, instead electing Democrat Joe Scianablo by a stunning three-point margin.
Scianablo’s victory broke with more than a century of Republican control. He became only the second Democrat to lead Hempstead in roughly 120 years.
Democrats were also on track to capture the town clerk’s office, with Joylette Williams holding a lead of several hundred votes over incumbent Republican Kate Murray on Wednesday, roughly a day after polls closed.
The results reflected the broader national midterm outcome, in which Republicans suffered major setbacks as Democrats captured majorities in both chambers of Congress and flipped five governor’s mansions.
The Democratic gains extended beyond Hempstead. The rest of Long Island backed Gov. Kathy Hochul over Republican Bruce Blakeman, and even Blakeman’s home base in Nassau County favored the incumbent Democrat.
Voters in the battleground 17th Congressional District, just north of New York City, also turned toward Democrats, defeating incumbent Republican Mike Lawler and electing liberal Democrat Cait Conley.
Deeply Democratic Westchester County was likewise leaning toward Democrats in several local contests, although some races remained undecided Thursday as officials continued counting ballots following widespread Election Day voting-machine failures.
The county’s 17-member Board of Legislators appeared likely to become entirely Democratic for the first time in its history. At that point, only one registered Republican and one Conservative Party member remained in the chamber, with ballots still being tallied.
In neighboring Mount Pleasant, former Assemblyman Tom Abinanti appeared poised to become the first Democrat ever elected supervisor of the Westchester town, which had long been a Republican stronghold in the increasingly liberal county.
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Rockland County voters also ousted Republican state Sen. Bill Weber, who had received an Election Day endorsement from President Trump, choosing Democrat Joseph Rand instead.
Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann was defeated as well after more than a decade in office.
Political analysts largely attributed the Republican losses to President Trump, saying the national climate under his leadership had become so charged that the party was being punished even in local races.
“Unfortunately for Republicans, local issues were overshadowed by national issues and an affordability message that Democrats successfully delivered to voters,” said O’Brien O.B. Murray, a strategist who has worked for both Republican and Democratic campaigns.
“Democrats across New York and the country showed up as if President Trump were on the ballot,” he told The Post. “Republican, independent and Democratic voters either stayed home or used their ballots to express their displeasure.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, who comfortably retained his Long Island seat in the 3rd District against a Republican challenger, offered a similar assessment. Voters, he said, backed the left “not necessarily because they love the Democratic brand, but because they are fed up with what’s going on in the country and want change.”
“They want us to address the issues that concern them — affordability, immigration, taxes, crime and health care,” he added, along with education, artificial intelligence and climate change.
Still, some political observers warned that Democrats’ post-election momentum may not last.
“Now Democrats are in charge, and they’re going to have to deliver,” said Steve Levy, a Republican and former Suffolk County executive. “And when they can’t, the public anger is going to be directed at them.”
“It’s only a matter of time before that anger lands on the Democrats’ doorstep again.”
