Two vie in Republican primary Tuesday for First Legislative District nomination

Republican voters in Suffolk’s First Legislative District will go to the polls tomorrow to pick the party’s nominee for county legislator.

Catherine Stark of Riverhead and Greg Williams of Cutchogue face off in tomorrow’s party primary election.

The winner will face Democrat Catherine Kent of Baiting Hollow in the Nov. 7 general election.

Stark, the Suffolk County Republican Committee’s pick, is hoping to fend off the challenge by Williams.

Williams, a lifelong resident of the North Fork, has owned a bicycle shop in Mattituck for 25 years. He previously served one term as a Southold Town trustee. Williams says he will bring the perspective of a small business owner to the legislature and is focused on managing the growing traffic problems that plague local roadways, fixing a “broken” permit process that he says stifles small business, and protecting the region’s character and quality of life through continued land preservation and conservation efforts. He also says as a legislator he would focus on reducing the county’s debt burden while improving public safety.

Stark is a native and longtime resident of Riverhead. She has worked in various positions in county government for more than years, with the last 10 years spent as an aide to First District Legislator Al Krupski, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election in order to run for Southold Town supervisor. She previously worked as a legislative aide to former Legislator Jay Schneiderman. She stresses the value of her long experience in and knowledge of county government and the importance of constituent service.

Williams slightly out-paced Stark in campaign fundraising, according to the most recent campaign financial disclosure filings with the State Board of Elections. As of the end of the last reporting period, which closed on June 12, Williams raised $44,401, an amount that includes $7,000 in loans from the candidate. Since June 12, Williams has reported another $3,000 in contributions, coming from three contributions of $1,000 each. State election law requires candidates to file a notice within 24 hours of the receipt of any contribution of $1,000 or more made within 30 days before an election.

Williams has so far reported expenditures totaling $37,866 — most of it, $29,877, in legal fees and expenses fighting a lawsuit brought by Stark to nullify his designating petitions and knock him off the ballot. Williams eventually prevailed in the court action, but it significantly depleted his campaign war chest. His committee reported a closing balance of $13,935 on the 11-day pre-primary disclosure, which is the last one due before the election.

Stark raised a total of $34,600 as of the June 12 cutoff date for the last disclosure report required before the election. Her campaign committee has so far reported expenditures of just $3,789 and reported a closing balance of $31,061 the 11-day pre-primary report.

Stark did not report expending any campaign funds on legal fees in connection with the lawsuit brought against Williams. There were no records of expenditures this year by any committee in the State Board of Elections database to either of the law firms that represented Stark in the litigation, McGreevy & Henley of Riverhead and Daniel Lawrence Pagano of White Plains.

Stark has had at least two campaign mailers paid for by the New York Republican State Committee, according to statements on the mail pieces. The state committee has so far reported spending $3,069 on behalf of her campaign.

The Suffolk County Republican Party committee, SCGOP, reported $6,300 in transfers to the state committee earlier this month, in two separate transfers of $3,150 each, made on June 8 and 9. The disclosure reports do not indicate whether those transfers were made for the benefit of a particular candidate or campaign.

The First Legislative District is the only Republican primary contest in Suffolk County this year.

Both candidates said in interviews this weekend that they have focused their campaign efforts on visiting likely Republican voters at their homes.

“I’ve worked hard,” Williams said. “I’ve attacked it with honesty, integrity and hard work,” he said. The response has been very good and very encouraging, Williams said.

Stark called the response she’s gotten knocking on doors “wonderful.”

“I’m focusing on my long experience behind the scenes and my belief that we can work together and work across the aisle,” she said. “Everything doesn’t have to be partisan,” Stark said, noting that she was an aide to a Democratic legislator, Krupski, for a decade.

“It’s all about constituents, not party,” Stark said.

The First Legislative District takes in the whole of towns of Riverhead, Southold and Shelter Island, the north shore of Brookhaven Town from the Riverhed town line to Sound Beach, the portion of the Calverton hamlet that lies within Brookhaven Town and part of Manorville in Brookhaven. It also takes in part of Flanders, Riverside, Northampton and Remsenburg-Speonk in the Town of Southampton. See district map here.

Polls are open tomorrow from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters should report to their regular polling place to cast a ballot. Check your poll location here.