Republican primary: Walter and Giglio in squeaker; it’s Hubbard and Wooten for council, Hulse for justice

It’s too close to call.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio and Supervisor Sean Walter are locked in an party primary election that will be decided by absentee ballots.

With all 22 election districts reporting, Giglio is ahead by just 29 votes, 1,085 to 1,056.

“There are 105 absentee ballots out, which will be counted tomorrow,” Riverhead Republican chairman Mason Haas told committee members and supporters tonight.

Tim Hubbard walked away with a big victory in the Republican town council primary, polling 1,561 votes as the top vote-getter in a three-way race for two council seats. Incumbent James Wooten came in second with 1,154 votes. Bob Peeker finished third with 1,065 votes.

Lori Hulse won the nomination for town justice, defeating the party committee’s pick, Robert Kozakiewicz, 1,247 to 864. Hulse also won the Conservative and Independence party lines today, defeating Kozakiewicz and Jeanmarie Costello in the Conservative primary and Costello in the Independence primary.

“It’s been a humbling experience, that’s for sure,” Giglio said, after the roller-coaster ride of returns came to a halt tonight at Digger’s Ales and Eats in downtown Riverhead, where the Republican party regulars gathered to watch the results come in. Early returns showed Giglio winning decisively, but the districts that reported later in the evening — including three large districts in Wading River, Walter’s home turf — closed the gap between her and the incumbent.

“It’s very hard to defeat an incumbent,” Giglio said. “We all worked very hard, right up till the end,” she said.

“It was a difficult race,” Walter told his crowd of supporters at Mazi across the street from Giglio’s gathering. “When you consider they outspent us probably three to one – the Suffolk County PBA was clearly spending at a rate that the Town of Riverhead has never seen before in an effort to take over the Riverhead Police Department.”

He was referring to a series of mailers, phone calls and advertisements funded by a well-financed super PAC created by the Suffolk County Police Benevolence Association, attacking Walter and supporting Giglio.

Walter has the Conservative Party line and and vows to stay in the race, regardless if he receives the Republican nomination. He recognizes his role in a three-way race may be that of spoiler, which could propel his one-time paid political consultant, Anthony Coates, who’s running for supervisor on the Democratic line, to victory in November.

However the election turns out, Giglio says she will continue to work hard for the taxpayers of Riverhead, whether as a councilwoman or as town supervisor.

She thanked her supporters and congratulated Walter for running a good campaign. “It’s a close race,” she said.

“I thank my family, especially my husband, for their support throughout this campaign,” Giglio said.

“Thank you for sticking with us. I hope you’ll stick with us right till the end,” she said.

Lori Hulse, who won the town justice nomination, arrived at Republican headquarters at the invitation of the chairman to greet the committee. “She’s part of our ticket now and we will work hard to get her elected,” Haas told the crowd, which gave the challenger a warm reception.

“I respect Bob very much,” she said, referring to the committee’s designee.

“I think the Republican ticket brings it home,” Hulse said, predicting victory.

Suffolk County Republican chairman John Jay LaValle arrived in Riverhead to give the candidates and the committee a pep talk.

“I stood behind Jodi from day one,” he said, complimenting Hass “for getting behind the right candidate.” Though he predicted ultimate victory for Giglio, LaValle urged unity going forward whatever the result.

“That’s the only way we win in November,” LaValle said. “Sometimes primaries get a little messy. But as the winners, we need to reach across and be unified as a party.”

Wooten, who challenged the party designees and came out ahead of one of them, said he was feeling “really great” about the result.

“I was nervous coming in tonight because I didn’t know if I had the support of the community” he said. “People were very receptive to me. I’ve been representing the taxpayers my whole life and I respect the taxpayers. In my work as a councilman, I’ve always tried  to be their voice in government. I think that resounded with the voters.”