General Election Day is scheduled for November 4 this year, with early voting starting on October 25 and ending on November 2. Although 2025 does not include a Presidential Election, a midterm election, or a gubernatorial race, our local officials can greatly influence our lives through their decisions and policies.
This year, the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, and Islip each have open council seats, as well as other elected positions. Additionally, several key legislative races are happening within the Great South Bay District.
TOWN OF BABYLON
Our westernmost town in Suffolk County, located in the Great South Bay area, has the most active election roster, with the town supervisor, clerk, and two council seats all up for consideration.
Town Supervisor: Incumbent Rich Schaffer is seeking reelection for another term. He is running on the Democratic and Conservative party lines. He has held this office since 2012, after being appointed to fill the remaining term left by Steve Bellone, who became Suffolk County Executive. Schaffer previously served as a county legislator in 1987 and as Babylon Town Supervisor from 1992 to 2001.
His challenger, Douglas Sutherland, currently serves as Acting Chief Deputy Comptroller with the Suffolk County Comptroller’s Office. He is running on the Republican party line. Sutherland began his public service career as a legislative aide to Angie Carpenter in 1992 and became her Chief Deputy when she was elected County Treasurer in 2006. When Carpenter took office as Islip Town Supervisor, Sutherland served as Acting Treasurer during the interim period before the county treasurer and comptroller offices were merged in 2016.
Town Clerk: Babylon Town Clerk Gerry Compitello is the current officeholder, serving since 2018. She is running on the Democratic and Conservative party lines. Compitello actively volunteers with United Way, the Ujima Program, First Company Pink, the Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
Her challenger, Christopher Como, is running on the Republican party line. He is a licensed attorney practicing in North Babylon. He currently serves as a title Examiner at the Suffolk County Clerk’s Office.
Town Council: Two individuals are running for the two open town council seats in Babylon, which means both candidates are running unopposed. Tony Martinez and Anthony Manetta are both incumbents running on the Democratic and Conservative party lines. Martinez is the Deputy to Supervisor Rich Schaffer and has held the town council office since 2008. Manetta has held the office since 2018 and is the Chairman of the Town of Babylon Small Business Committee.
TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN
In the town furthest east in the Great South Bay Long Island region, there is only one seat up for election, and that is for Brookhaven Town Clerk. Kevin La Valle is the incumbent in the race, running on the Republican and Conservative party lines. He has held this office since 2023. Before this, he served in the Brookhaven Town Council 3rd District since 2014.
Tricia Chiaramonte is challenging him, running on the Democratic party line. In 2024, Chiaramonte ran for the New York State Assembly, 2nd District, but her bid was not successful. Multiple news outlets report her as not actively campaigning for the Town Clerk seat. In 2023, she also ran an inactive bid for the office of Brookhaven Receiver of Taxes.
TOWN OF ISLIP
The Town of Islip has two town council seats up for election this year, with four candidates vying to fill those offices.
Islip District #1 (Brentwood, Central Islip, North Bay Shore): incumbent Jorge C Guadrón, running on the Democratic and Working Families party lines, is being challenged by Manny Troche on the Republican and Conservative party lines. Guadrón took office in 2022, following the settlement of a federal lawsuit that replaced Islip’s prior at-large system and established Council Districts for more equitable representation on the Islip Town Board. He is also a four-term President of the Salvadoran American Chamber of Commerce. This is a rematch race. Troche ran for the district #1 seat in 2021, but was defeated by Guadrón, who took 64% of the vote. He also ran for the New York State Assembly 6th District seat against Philip Ramos in 2012, but that bid was unsuccessful as well.
Islip District #2 (Bohemia, Central Islip, East Islip, Great River, Hauppauge, Islip Terrace, North Great River, Oakdale, and West Sayville): Present District #2 Town Councilman James P. O’Connor will be vacating this office, which means two newcomers are coming to the plate to capture the vote. David Chan is running of the Democratic party line, while DawnMarie Lentz-Kuhn is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines. Chan is a retired New York City Detective, a former police investigator at MacArthur Airport, and the founder of the Idle Hour Neighborhood Watch Group, which patrols the former Dowling College campus to deter trespassing and vandalism. Lentz-Kuhn presently is Chief of Staff in the office of Suffolk County Legislator Anthony Piccirillo.
SUFFOLK COUNTY
In Suffolk County’s General candidate list, District Attorney Raymond Tierney (Republican/Conservative) and Sheriff Errol D Toulon Jr. (Democrat/Conservative) are both running for their next terms unopposed. Legislative district boundaries changed in January of 2024. Those outlined in this guide —the Great South Bay region terrain —are Districts 7 through 11, as well as 14.
7th District: The 7th District includes Blue Point, North Patchogue, East Patchogue, Patchogue, Bellport, North Bellport, and the eastern tip of Fire Island. Incumbent Dominick Thorne runs for another term on the Republican/Conservative party lines, and challenger Jawaan Sween runs on the Democratic party line. Thorne first took office in 2022, after over 30 years of dedicated local fire and EMS first response service in Patchogue. Sween of Medford has served on the Suffolk County Youth Council.
8th District: The 8th District includes the hamlets of Oakdale, West Sayville, Sayville, Bayport, and up north into Holbrook, with incumbent Anthony Piccirillo on the Republican/Conservative party lines being challenged by Kelly Perry-Hyland on the Democratic party line. Piccirillo first took the office in 2020. Earlier in his career, he had served as an aide to Suffolk County Legislator Steve Flotteron. After earning her PhD, Perry-Hyland became a military spouse; her husband was an Oakdale native. After he retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Colonel, they settled in the Bayport-Blue Point neighborhood and raised their children there.
9th District: The only district on the list that does not have coastline defining its southern border, the 9th district includes northern portions of Bay Shore and Islip hamlets, as well as Brentwood, Central Islip, and a small portion of Hauppauge. Incumbent Samuel Gonzalez, running for another term on the Democratic and Working Families party lines, is being challenged by Guy Leggio on the Republican/Conservative party lines. Gonzalez was first elected to the office in 2019 after a career in labor negotiations. Leggio is a multi-generation Bay Shore resident, a U.S. Navy veteran, and a longtime volunteer with the Bay Shore Fire Department.
10th District: Incumbent Trish Bergin, running for another term on the Republican/Conservative party lines, is being challenged by Leigh-Ann Barde on the Democratic party line. Bergin was an award-winning investigative journalist before pursuing elected office when she first started serving on the Islip Town Council in 2010, where she served for 12 years before transitioning to the County office in 2022. Barde is a mother of four, two of whom have special needs. By becoming an advocate, she entered public life, having made an unsuccessful bid for the Islip Town Council before seeking this office. The 10th District includes Islandia, Central Islip, East Islip, and Great River.
11th District: Incumbent Steve Flotteron runs for another term on the Republican/Conservative party lines against challenger Lucas Deitch on the Democratic party line. Flotteron presently serves as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Legislature, and was elected to his first term in 2017; before that, he served several terms on the Islip Town Council beginning in 2005. According to multiple news outlets, Deitch, 31, a resident of West Babylon, is not actively campaigning. The 11th District encompasses North Babylon, West Islip, South Bay Shore, Islip, and central Fire Island.
14th District: The 14th District includes Copiague, Lindenhurst, Babylon, West Babylon, and the furthest western tip of Fire Island and neighboring Gilgo Beach barrier island. Richard Renna (aka RJ Renna) is running unopposed on the Republican/Conservative party lines. Renna is currently the Deputy Mayor of Lindenhurst Village, having held a village Trustee seat since 2017. The presumptive Legislator-elect will replace Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, who has met his 12-year term limit.
Find your polling place, registration status and more by visiting the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
