On November 4, 2025, voters across Suffolk County and the United States headed to the polls to elect local officials and, in the cases of Virginia and New Jersey, governors and other state leaders. Democrats triumphed, winning all of the marquee races and improving handily in many local contests.
For the 5th District in the Suffolk County Legislature, incumbent Steve Englebright soundly defeated Republican challenger Laura Endres in what was expected to be a close race. Despite stories of Endres outraising her opponent and vigorous campaigning suggesting close margins, Englebright won with 62.6% of the vote, a more than 25-point lead over Endres’ 37.4%. Even more surprising was Englebright’s dominance at the precinct level: out of 60 in the district, Endres only won one, and even then with less than 51% of the vote.
Englebright’s victory was indicative of a larger blue wave both on Long Island and nationwide. In the 1st district, Democratic challenger Gregory P. Doroski ousted one-term incumbent Catherine L. Stark, flipping the seat and changing the makeup of the Suffolk County Legislature to 11(R)-7(D). As a result, Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature. No other seats were flipped, although Democratic challenger Craig G. Herskowitz came close in the 18th district by winning 49.2% of the vote.
In Brookhaven, the only other contested race was for Town Clerk, where Republican incumbent Kevin J. LaValle easily kept his office with 54.8% of the vote. However, other towns in Long Island chose to replace certain leaders. Most notably, Democratic challenger Jerome Halpin is currently 21 votes (0.25%) ahead of incumbent Timothy C. Hubbard in the Town of Riverhead Supervisor election. However, the result has been deemed “too close to call,” and a recount will be conducted. To the west in Huntington, Democratic challenger Cooper Marco almost won 48% of the vote for Town Supervisor, demonstrating a blue wave even in solidly Republican areas where incumbents retained their seats.
Democrats also had a good night nationally, with Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherill cruising to victory in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections, respectively. Spanberger’s victory was widely expected, but Sherill outdid expectations and defeated Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points in a closely-watched race. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani captured more than 50% of the vote (with approximately 91% of the vote in), delivering a progressive rebuke to Andrew Cuomo and the city establishment. Finally, California’s Proposition 50 passed with a wide margin, delivering a victory for Governor Gavin Newsom and allowing the state to redraw districts in an attempt to counter mid-decade redistricting efforts by Republicans in Texas, Ohio, and elsewhere.
All local election results were sourced from the Suffolk County Board of Elections and Newsday; other results were taken from the Associated Press and the New York Times.
