After dropping out of race, former Republican candidate for highway superintendent will run write-in campaign

The former Republican candidate for Riverhead Town highway superintendent has announced he will run a write-in campaign, five months after he dropped out of the race “for personal reasons.”

William Van Helmond, a Jamesport resident and business owner, was nominated as the Republican candidate for highway superintendent in May, but pulled out of the race and forfeited the nomination in June. Republicans did not pick a replacement candidate for the position after Van Helmond’s withdrawal.

Though he will not be on the ballot due to his withdrawal from the race this summer, Van Helmond said he did not feel comfortable letting incumbent George “Gio” Woodson run unopposed.

“I just don’t feel that’s very American,” Van Helmond said in an interview last week.

Van Helmond founded a landscaping and property management business in 1981, which is located on Main Road in Jamesport. His experience as a landscaping contractor would make him a good fit for highway superintendent, he said in a phone interview.

“I’ve developed roadways, installed them, paved them, put in the drainage – I’ve been very blessed to have the opportunity to work in a lot of different areas,” Van Helmond said.

He attributed his decision to pull out of the race in June to “personal reasons,” but added that he “never really wanted to leave [the race] in the first place.”

With Woodson running unopposed this November, Van Helmond said he wanted to give residents an alternative in the voting booth.

“As a Riverhead resident and taxpayer myself, I feel that every position should have a choice,” Van Helmond said. “I want to let Riverhead have another option.”

“Running as a write-in is a constitutional right that I’m going to exercise,” Van Helmond said. “And if people believe in my philosophy, my business background and my attitude toward working with people, writing my name in should not be a difficult decision.”