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May makes it a three-legged race for 6th District

The Press of Manorville and The Moriches
By Bryan Finlayson
9/21/07

Now it’s a three-person race.

Joe May won the Independence Party line in Tuesday’s primary election against Democrat Edward J. Hennessey, putting Mr. May in the running for the 6th District Town Council seat in November. He collected 87 votes to Mr. Hennessey’s 65 votes.

Mr. May will be running against Republican Party candidate Keith Romaine and Mr. Hennessey, the Democratic Party’s candidate.

Mr. Hennessey had originally received the Independence Party’s endorsement, but Mr. May challenged him for the third party line. Mr. Hennessey, a former Republican and previous 6th District councilman, received the party’s endorsement in previous election years.

Republicans this week said Mr. May’s victory on Tuesday shows that voters do not support Mr. Hennessey, who made an unsuccessful run for town supervisor two years ago as a member of the GOP.

“Once again, the voters of Brookhaven have soundly rejected Ed Hennessey,” Brookhaven GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia said in a written statement. “After 12 years of his failed policies and inability to improve the quality of life for families of the 6th Council District, the people have once again spoken at the ballot box to keep Ed Hennessey out of public office—as they will again in November.”

In a separate statement, Mr. Romaine said: “The voters have spoken loud and clear—they will not stand for the failed politics of the past. As the next councilman, I will be a strong voice for the district, provide real results for residents, and make sure that the Hennessey-era ‘good-ole boys’ backroom politics does not return to Brookhaven.”

But Democratic Party officials this week downplayed the results of the primary. Anna Deknatel, executive director of the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee, maintained that the loss was not indicative of how voters will mark their ballots in November.

“I’m not going to speculate. I don’t think it changes our game plan,” she said. “It’s as simple as inside baseball; 150 people are not the whole electorate.”

Brookhaven Democratic Party Chairwoman Marsha Laufer said having a third person in the race allows candidates to win with less than 50 percent of the vote. “It makes the numbers do something different,” she said. “I would like to think that is a good omen for us.”

Mr. Hennessey did not return calls seeking comment.

There are about 1,500 registered Independence Party voters in the 6th District. Townwide, there are about 9,000. Mr. May, who has never held public office, but ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic Party candidate for the 3rd District County Legislature seat in 1997, said he celebrated Tuesday’s victory. “Went out to dinner late last night, it was a very interesting day,” he said.

Mr. May said he remained optimistic about his chances in November’s general election.

“I’m going to split hairs and take over the votes and win. I told them I’m going for them in November,” he said of his opponents. “I lost 20 pounds [from walking door to door], and I’ll probably lose another 10.”

Town and County Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay said that Mr. May has the support of the party, though the endorsement was given to Mr. Hennessey. Mr. MacKay also noted that he was not surprised that Mr. May won the primary. “Joe May worked his tail off. He should be congratulated,” Mr. MacKay said. “He’s our candidate and we’re cheering him on. I hope he catches lightening in a bottle.”

“I’m not certain where he goes from here, who he takes votes from and what he will accomplish,” Mr. MacKay continued. “I certainly hope it isn’t an exercise in futility.”

Mr. May has said that if elected, he will fight for full disclosure in government as well as to improve the quality of life in the tri-hamlet area. To do this, he said that he would regularly use the Freedom of Information Act to extract information that may be of importance to a community and to see if taxpayer funds are being spent correctly.

Another of Mr. May’s main platform issues is increased code enforcement in the tri-hamlet area, which he said does not seem to be up to par when compared to other districts. “Code enforcement in the tri-hamlet area doesn’t seem to be out there doing their job,” he said.