Politics & Government

Cardinale: State Run in 2014 Possible

Former Riverhead supervisor says he learned some lessons during his latest election defeat.

Former Riverhead Supervisor Phil Cardinale, who most recently , has stated that after taking a break from the political cycle, he may take a run at the state level in 2014.

Two Republicans currently hold the North Fork's state elected seats in the Assembly and State Senate, with contrasting experience levels in Albany.

Assemblyman Dan Losquadro, R-Shoreham, won a narrow victory in 2010 over two-term incumbent Marc Alessi. In the other house in Albany, state Sen. Ken LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, has won 18 consecutive terms in office.

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The former Democratic supervisor said he's unhappy with the area's current representatives. He said Losquadro's status as a minority in a Democrat-controlled legislature has limited his effectiveness, and the state Senate seat is calling out for new blood.

Democrat Jennifer Maertz, a Rocky Point attorney, is challenging LaValle again after in 2010. No reports have been made of a Democratic candidate to challenge Losquadro.

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Caridnale, a four-term supervisor who first won by less than 50 votes in 2003, was swept out of office in 2009 when Walter won by less than 250 votes. He lost his last election to sitting Supervisor Sean Walter by a sizable margin of 61 to 35 percent - over 2,000 votes.

With that in mind, the Jamesport resident said there are a few lessons he learned from his last run.

"For example, it's now very clear to me that the public generally is really put off by the partisanship that has overtaken the political discussion in this country at every level - federal, state, and local," he said on Friday. "One of the mistakes I made in my last campaign was not responding to that.

"The reason I ran poorly last time was because I knew that intellectually but I didn't implement that in the campaign. There was too much bickering and partisanship involved."

John Jay LaValle, chair of the Suffolk County Republican, said considering how Cardinale's last two elections have turned out, he would like to see him run again.

"If he can't beat Sean Walter twice, his best bet is to stay home But that could be some great news for the Republican party," he said. "He's a nice guy, but he's a horrible candidate. He's not dynamic. He has a horrible record ... God bless him. Keep running. That's good for us."

Accoridng to state finance reports, Cardinale has $20,936.69 in the bank. His campaign committee has donated $300 to a few local charities as of late. According to state campaign finance law, the balance of any remaining candidate's contribution funds must be either donated to a charity, contributed to another committee (or committees), or refunded to the donors. The former supervisor did not rule out those possibilities as well.

A call to county chairman Rich Schaffer, of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee, was not immediately returned.


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