Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
The Smithtown Supervisor race is on for November. Incumbent Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park) is running for a third term. In June, he won the Republican Primary for the Supervisor’s seat against term-limited Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga). The campaign was built on Wehrheim’s defense of investments across the Town and reviving the downtowns and Trotta’s challenges of development.
Wehrheim was set to face Rosemary Griffin (D-Kings Park) in the general election, who earned her party’s nomination without a primary.
However, Griffin suspended her campaign in July. Since her name cannot be removed from the ballot, she will still appear as a candidate in the general, but that still leaves a Wehrheim nominally unopposed.
But the Smithtown Democratic Committee has approached a familiar face to stage a write-in campaign – Legislator Trotta himself.
“We’re promoting a write-in candidacy for Mr. Trotta,” Smithtown Democratic Committee Chair Phyllis Hart told The Messenger. “Rosemary Griffin withdrew in July for personal reasons. She did not tell me the reason why.”
Hart says that the write-in campaign was the logical step to fill the void about two weeks after Griffin dropped out.
“His [Trotta’s] platform aligns with us. He is enthusiastic about it. We’re all in agreement,” said Hart.
Hart says that the Democrats and Trotta align on issues like development and creating a first-time homebuyer program to assist in downpayments. Suffolk County already has a similar program. She says that if the IDA and other development-funding agencies have enough funds to set up such a program. Suffolk County already leverages such a program to first-time homebuyers.
Smithtown Republican Committee Chair Bill Ellis told The Messenger that the policy is not a “conservative” one, as Hart says, but one typical of the Democratic platform.
“When you have too many dollars chasing too few goods, it leads to inflation,” said Ellis (pictured right). “The truly conservative perspective is to not hand out money and ‘free’ goods – which are never truly free. Supervisor Wehrheim has been the true conservative all along in terms of increasing the housing supply to cool prices and open up single-family homes that the younger generations can get into.”
Ellis also took issue with Trotta’s past of “abandonment of Republican values” and even going so far as to meet with members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to discuss police reform. Ellis’ chagrin is rooted in a 2021 article’s portrayal of Trotta and his fraternization with DSAs.
A 2021 New York Times op-ed penned by Farah Stockman wrote that the phrase “defund the police” makes Trotta’s “skin crawl”, and that when it comes to race, “he sounds like he’s stuck in the 1980s.”
Yet, Stockman described Trotta as a “cranky” Legislator who “might be the unlikeliest voice for police reform in America”, given his history challenging the police unions. Stockman documented Trotta’s watching of a Legislature livestream, pointing out his fellow Legislators who, according to him, received funds from the police unions to help each one get elected.
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America, according to Stockman, met with Trotta in his Smithtown office. He advised to them to drop the word “socialist” from their name and recommended they “avoid the phrase ‘defund the police.’”
“‘You should say what I say: We would love to pay them $500,000 a year, but we just can’t afford it,’” reads a quote from Trotta in Stockman’s op-ed.
“He’s behaved more like a Democrat than a Republican,” said Ellis. “It’s appropriate he forms an alliance with them.” Ellis also takes issue with Trotta’s recent admission that he’s not a “Trump fan” on a Facebook livestream.
The Messenger discussed the campaign shake-up with Legislator Trotta.
“I can’t confirm that anyone is writing me in. It would be a miracle if I won a write-in campaign,” said Trotta. “I am not actively campaigning on that. I am not spending a dollar. If people want to write me in, God bless them.”
It’s Hart’s hope that Trotta would endorse the Democratic slate for Town Council, consisting of Jesse Phillips (D) and former Smithtown Central School District Board President Michael Catalanotto (D), to give the candidates an edge in solidly-Republican Smithtown against incumbents Lynne Nowick (R-St. James) and Thomas J. McCarthy (R-Nissequogue).
Trotta, however, says he is not endorsing anyone, at least not yet.
“I’ll watch and see what the candidates say,” said Trotta, hinting he might just back a Democrat for Town Council. “I’m going to personally vote for the people looking out for the suburban lifestyle in Smithtown. Democratic or Republican, it doesn’t matter, as long as we’re looking to preserve the lifestyle.”