Riverhead Town and seven other government plaintiffs have withdrawn from the federal lawsuit challenging New York’s Even-Year Election Law, leaving Suffolk County and Huntington Town as the only government plaintiffs still pursuing the case.
The withdrawing plaintiffs filed notices of voluntary dismissal June 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The notices do not state a reason for the withdrawals.
Riverhead’s withdrawal came after the town paid $207,000 to Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors for legal fees and expenses incurred from June through December 2025, records obtained by RiverheadLOCAL through a Freedom of Information Law request show.
The town’s total cost is not yet known. A separate May 8 FOIL request to the town attorney’s office seeking Brewer invoices for services since Jan. 1 has not yet received a response from the town attorney’s office.
Brewer billed Riverhead and seven other Long Island government entities a total of $1.656 million through Dec. 31 under a joint retainer agreement entered into last summer. Each of the eight governments agreed to pay an equal one-eighth share of the firm’s legal fees and expenses.
Town Attorney Erik Howard did not respond to a request for comment. The decision to withdraw from the lawsuit was not publicly discussed by the Town Board before the notice of voluntary dismissal was filed.
Prior story: L.I. taxpayers paid $1.6M-plus in Even-Year Election Law case led by GOP committees (June 4)
The lawsuit, New York Republican State Committee et al. v. Hochul et al., challenges the 2023 Even-Year Election Law, which moves most town and county elections to even-numbered years. Democrats say the change will increase turnout in local races. Republicans say it will bury local contests beneath federal and state races and advantage Democrats.
The federal case followed unsuccessful state court challenges to the law. Republican-led plaintiffs won at the trial court level, where the court found the law violated the home rule provisions of the state constitution. But the Appellate Division reversed, and the N.Y. Court of Appeals upheld the law. The U.S. Supreme Court later declined to review the state court case.
More coverage of the Even-Year Election Law controversy
The federal case now proceeds only on First Amendment claims. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their Voting Rights Act claim June 10, and their opposition memorandum says the state’s arguments about that claim are moot.
The state and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s motion to dismiss is scheduled for oral argument Thursday, June 18 before U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown in Central Islip.
Who withdrew and who remains in the case
The government plaintiffs who withdrew are Riverhead, Brookhaven, Islip, Hempstead, Oyster Bay, North Hempstead, Nassau County and Orange County.
Suffolk County and Huntington Town remain as plaintiffs.
Seven individual plaintiffs also withdrew from the lawsuit. All seven are Orange County officials.
The remaining plaintiffs are the New York Republican State Committee, the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways, the Nassau County Republican Committee, the Suffolk County Republican Committee, Suffolk County, Huntington Town and nine individual plaintiffs. Those nine individual plaintiffs, all Republicans, are five elected officials in Nassau County, one elected official in Orange County and three candidates for Suffolk County Legislature.
RiverheadLOCAL reported June 4 that campaign finance disclosure reports filed by the three Republican Party plaintiffs did not show payments to Brewer, liabilities owed to the firm, or in-kind contributions identified as legal services connected to the lawsuit.
The motion to dismiss
The state and Gov. Hochul moved to dismiss the case, arguing the plaintiffs are attempting to relitigate issues already decided in state court and that some plaintiffs lack capacity or standing to sue.
The state also argues the Even-Year Election Law does not violate the First Amendment because it merely changes the timing of elections and imposes no restriction on speech or ballot access.
Plaintiffs oppose dismissal, arguing the remaining plaintiffs are not barred by the prior state court litigation and that the party committees, highway superintendents’ association, remaining government plaintiffs and individual candidates have standing to sue.
They argue the law burdens political speech and association by forcing local races onto crowded even-year ballots dominated by federal and statewide campaigns.
The New York State Board of Elections has not joined the motion to dismiss. In a June 11 letter to the court, the board’s counsel said the board’s Republican commissioners align with the plaintiffs’ position and its Democratic commissioners align with the state defendants. The board said it does not intend to make any filings on the pending motion and asked that its representatives be excused from appearing in person at the June 18 oral argument.
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