The Suffolk County Legislature is responsible for setting county policies and enacting all county legislation. It adopts the capital, operating and community college budgets. It is responsible for authorizing the issuance of county debt and setting fee schedules for certain county services.
There are 18 legislative districts in Suffolk County and one legislator representing each district.
The First Legislative District encompasses all of the towns of Shelter Island, Southold and Riverhead, areas in western Southampton, including Flanders, Riverside and Northampton parts of Remsenberg and Speonk, as well as a small portion of southeastern Brookhaven, including areas in Manorville and Eastport.
The term of office for county legislator is two years. The candidate elected in 2025, will be elected to a one-year term, in compliance with the Even Year Election Law — unless Ballot Proposition No. 2 is passed by a majority of Suffolk voters. The proposition would expand the term to four years, except in 2025, the winning candidate would be elected to a three-year term, in compliance with the Even Year Election Law.
More coverage: Suffolk voters to decide on four-year terms for legislators amid even-year election law shift
The office of county legislator carries a salary of $111,333 (as of 2024), plus benefits.
Greg Doroski (D)
Greg Doroski, a native of Mattituck, seeks election to the Suffolk County Legislature in the First Legislative District.
He currently serves as a Southold Town Council Member, a position to which he was elected in 2021.
Doroski is a beer brewer who founded a brewery in Brooklyn and currently works at a brewery in downtown Riverhead.
He says as a county legislator, he will work to preserve and protect farmland, protect drinking water and surface waters, fight to hold the line on taxes and demand accountability.
Doroski is endorsed by former First District Legislator Al Krupski, who currently serves as Southold Town supervisor.
Catherine Stark (R)
Catherine Stark was born and raised in Riverhead and has lived most of her life in Riverhead. She is the daughter of former Riverhead Town Supervisor James Stark.
Stark has worked in county government for more than 20 years. Her employment in the county dates back to 1996, when she got a job in the office of the Clerk of the Legislature, She then went to work for the director of Real Property Tax Services, Penny Wells LaValle, followed by work in the administration of former County Executive Bob Gaffney.
Stark was chief of staff to former First District Legislator Al Krupski, a Democrat, since his election to that position in 2013. Prior to that, she was chief of staff to Jay Schneiderman when he represented the Second Legislative District.
Stark says that protecting the environment and agriculture has been at the forefront of her daily activities for all of her nearly 30 years in county government. She has worked to protect more than 200 acres of open space and farmland during her first term, with nearly 750 more acres in the pipeline. She is committed to preserving the East End, she says. She has also worked to create and secure passage of Suffolk County’s Working Waterfronts Program, which allows marine landowners to sell their development rights to Suffolk County.
Stark says she has solid working relationships with officials at all other levels of government, developed through her decades of service in the county.
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