Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
Albany’s controversial decision to merge local elections with state and national elections nearly three years ago remains a salient topic, but also one of local intrigue as of late.
On Tuesday, Democrats of the Suffolk County Legislature announced their petition to Attorney General Letitia James (D-Clinton Hill) to investigate billing practices related the GOP-led lawsuit against the litigation in federal and State cases, citing a “pattern of public expenditures, including hotel accommodations, banquet bills, catering charges, outside legal retainers, collaboration with political parties and organizations, and a public relations campaign funded by taxpayers.”
They also allege that “hundreds of thousands” of taxpayer dollars were spent on “a marketing and government relations campaign with little connection to the underlying case.”
According to vouchers obtained from Suffolk County and the signed retainer agreement, Long Island municipalities spent a combined $3 million on the State and federal cases against the even-year elections law. Suffolk County spent $246,054.03 on the federal case and $170,012.49 on the State case, totalling $416,066.52.
Those numbers were shared identically with respect to the two lawsuits for the towns of Brookhaven, Hempstead, Huntington, Islip, and Riverhead. The Town of Smithtown spent $229,387.37 on the federal case, but the same aforementioned amount on the State case. The Town of North Hempstead only funded the State case to the tune of $81,881.01, while Nassau County chipped in $207,958.79 only for the federal case.
Legislature Democrats point out that the County retained the law firm of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders in the care of Steven Losquadro, the County GOP’s lawyer, to begin the litigation. Suffolk County then joined the litigation in the State case. After the October 2025 upholding of the law, the firm billed the County and five GOP-controlled towns $1.1 million.
The federal suit saw the County retain the services of a Texas-based firm, Brewer Attorneys & Counselors. Nassau County and six other towns did the same. They allege that the County was already billed over $940,000 by Brewer before the case was even filed, with the total bill amounting $1.9 million when the case was dismissed in June.
Legislature Democrats are asking the Attorney General for a “full review of all disbursements, contracts, expense reimbursements, credit card statements, and purchase orders” by the County and the other municipal plaintiffs.
“We just want a little bit more transparency. We saw that some local governments have spent County and Town funds on political endeavors,” said the Legislature’s Minority Leader Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) in Hauppauge on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.
“A public dollar carries a public trust,” said the Legislature’s Minority Whip Rebecca Sanin (D-Huntington Station). “This is not about whether someone supports or opposes even-year election law. It is not about whether someone agrees or disagrees with the underlying litigation. Municipalities have a right to advocate for their best interest and to participate in litigation, but when they choose to do so with public funds, then public accountability is not with it.”
Sanin added that they do not want to “prejudice the findings,” but they are “simply asking for the facts.”
Legislator Greg Doroski (D-Mattituck) said that the lawsuits were not to “defend elections” or to “protect voters;” rather, a way to “wage a partisan fight and enrich connected attorneys.” He added that the lead plaintiff in the case, the New York State Republican Committee, paid “zero dollars” in this case, while “taxpayers were forced to foot the bill.”
“$14,000 for hotel rooms and banquets,” at the Garden City Hotel, said Doroski. “$10,000 to rent a mansion for a day. Over $100,000 to attorney William Brewer III to ‘pursue various matters,’ whatever the heck that means. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on marketing and political campaigns not traditionally associated with a lawsuit…by families working overtime just to keep the lights on.”
“This is the same playbook we are watching play out in Washington – the powerful and connected, like William Brewer, cashing in while us regular folks are struggling and forced to pay the bill,” said Doroski. “We have a name for it and we need to call it out. It’s corruption.” Doroski said he filed I.R.1620 in the Legislature, a bill to “rescind the authorization for this lawsuit and to try to recover” what it cost the County.
“I’ve never heard about the renting of mansions or hotel rooms and paying for banquets, all of the attorneys taking their own black car Ubers to and from the city,” said Doroski of some of their accusations.
Documents produced by Richberg and company show that members of the litigating parties, including Steven Losquadro, stayed at the Garden City Hotel on July 23 and 24, 2025, which coincides with “deep dive” meetings listed on invoices to the County from Brewer. These meetings presumably consisted of the legal strategy of overturning the laws. Another “deep dive” conference was held on September 3, 2025, at the Mansion at Glen Cove. Bills show black-car Uber rides costing a total of $37,700 for that event.
Legislature Democrats allege that while Losquadro was not officially involved in the federal litigation, his appearances on invoices and alleged involvement “raise serious concerns about his involvement in the case.” They point out his connections to Brewer, who both notably worked on 50 Cent’s 2015 lawsuit.
Steven Losquadro is the brother of Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham), who is running for County Comptroller this year. Brewer Attorneys & Counselors donated $5,000 to his campaign for comptroller in February.
Records also show that the litigants paid $650 for an op-ed placement in Long Island Life & Politics and $1,950 in a response to an op-ed in The Finger Lakes Times.
Presiding Officer of the Legislature Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville) issued a statement in response.
“The Even Election Year Law was nothing more than a blatant attempt by the Democrats to steal local elections. If the Democrats really believed that the Even Year Election Law was good government, why did they choose not to impose it on New York City residents?” said Piccirillo. “The Albany Democrats and their Suffolk cohorts treated Suffolk voters as second-class citizens, having less rights to self-determination than New York City residents. New York City residents were given the ability to decide how and when to hold local elections and not have it thrust upon them by Albany, but Suffolk residents were not given that choice. Ironically, when given the choice of whether to switch local elections to even years, New York City voters overwhelmingly rejected it.”
Piccirillo added that the party “will not apologize for standing up for the rights of the citizens of Suffolk, regardless of party affiliation.”
“If Legislator Doroski and the Suffolk Democrats were serious about working on behalf of Suffolk residents and made an honest attempt to work with the Republican majority, they would know that I have been working with the County Attorney since January to ensure that taxpayer dollars were being correctly spent. In fact, in January the County secured a deeply reduced billing rate and has also secured an agreement to be reimbursed for certain expenditures.”
He billed Doroski and company’s actions as “political theatre.”
“Shame on them. Legislator Sanin said we should not be afraid of transparency…He received fully unredacted copies. Legislator Sanin also said we should not be afraid to answer questions. We are not, but Legislator Sanin and other members of the Democratic majority have not asked any questions, they have only engaged in political grandstanding.”
On Thursday at 11:00 a.m., the County Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee will see the County Attorney appear in Riverhead to discuss the litigation and the “steps that the Republican majority and the Romaine administration have taken to protect taxpayer dollars.”