Suffolk County Legislator Greg Doroski has introduced legislation directing the county attorney to seek recovery of more than $230,000 in legal fees and expenses paid by the county for a federal challenge to New York’s Even Year Election Law — litigation that is now continuing without Suffolk County or any other government entity as a plaintiff.
“We deserve our money back,” Doroski said at the beginning of an Instagram video he posted Friday announcing the proposed measure.
Doroski said U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown “dismissed every claim Suffolk County brought in the Even Year Election lawsuit with prejudice” and argued that the Republican political committees leading the litigation — not taxpayers — should have borne the costs of the suit.
“This isn’t about debating the merits of the Even Year Election lawsuit,” Doroski said. “This is about the misuse of taxpayer dollars for political purposes.”
His resolution was laid on the table at the Suffolk County Legislature’s meeting today in Riverside.
The measure, if adopted, would rescind a 2024 resolution relied upon by the county to participate in litigation challenging the Even Year Election Law and direct the county attorney to pursue reimbursement of the legal fees and expenses Suffolk paid in connection with the federal case.
Doroski also called on the town boards in Riverhead, Brookhaven, Islip, Huntington and Smithtown — the other governmental plaintiffs from Suffolk County in the original federal action — to introduce similar measures seeking recovery of their legal expenses.
The municipalities Doroski named were among the government entities that shared the cost of the federal lawsuit.
As previously reported, the New York Republican State Committee, joined by the Nassau and Suffolk county Republican committees, Suffolk, Nassau and Orange counties, Riverhead and seven other Republican-led Long Island towns, filed the federal action Oct. 30, 2025.
All of the plaintiffs were represented by Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors at Law. The governmental plaintiffs collectively incurred $1.65 million in legal fees and expenses from June through Dec. 31, 2025, according to documents obtained by RiverheadLOCAL through Freedom of Information Law requests.
More: L.I. taxpayers paid $1.6M-plus in Even-Year Election Law case led by GOP committees
In March, the law firm entered into a new agreement with Riverhead and six other municipalities, including Suffolk County, limiting their collective fees and expenses to $50,000 per month from January through March. The amount was divided evenly among the seven municipalities, according to records obtained through FOIL.
Riverhead Town paid $207,958.79 for legal services and expenses covering June through December 2025. Records obtained through a subsequent FOIL request showed that Riverhead paid another $21,426 at the revised rate for services and expenses incurred from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2026.
Doroski said last month that he had confirmed Suffolk County paid at least $230,000 in legal fees connected with the federal case.
All of the governmental plaintiffs except Suffolk County and the Town of Huntington voluntarily dismissed their claims and withdrew from the lawsuit June 10.
More: Riverhead withdraws from Even-Year Election Law case after paying at least $207K in legal fees
Brown dismissed the action June 29. He dismissed the governmental plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice, ruling that their lawsuit was barred by an Oct. 16, 2025 decision of the New York Court of Appeals, which upheld the Even Year Election Law and dismissed complaints brought by multiple parties, including Suffolk County.
Brown also ruled that the governmental plaintiffs lacked standing and had no cause of action under the federal civil rights statute known as Section 1983.
More: Federal judge dismisses challenge to New York’s Even Year Election Law
Although he dismissed the claims against New York State, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Board of Elections, Brown gave the remaining non-municipal plaintiffs permission to file a new complaint against the board’s individual commissioners or assert other claims consistent with his decision.
The non-municipal plaintiffs have now done so.
On July 9, the New York Republican State Committee, the Nassau and Suffolk county Republican committees, the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways and individual Republican candidates and elected officials from Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties filed an amended complaint in federal court in Central Islip, naming the four individual commissioners of the State Board of Elections as defendants in their official capacities.
The new amended complaint continues to allege that the Even Year Election Law violates the First Amendment rights of candidates and political organizations by forcing local races onto ballots dominated by state and federal contests. It alleges that the change will increase campaign costs, reduce candidates’ visibility and impair their ability to communicate with voters about local issues.
It seeks a declaration that the Even Year Election Law violates the First Amendment and an order barring the state election commissioners from enforcing it.
Alternatively, the plaintiffs ask the court to allow affected localities to opt out of the law, which moves most town and county elections to even-numbered years to coincide with state and federal elections.
Doroski acknowledged Monday that bipartisan support for his bill to recover the legal fees is “unlikely.”
The 2024 resolution authorizing legal action to challenge the Even Year Election Law was introduced by the Legislature’s presiding officer at the request of County Executive Ed Romaine. It passed along party lines, with Republican legislators voting in favor and Democrats opposed.
Doroski said “there may have been some uncertainty among our Republican colleagues in what they were signing up for.”
“This is an opportunity for us all to make it right and stand up for hardworking taxpayers,” he said.
The county executive’s office did not respond to questions emailed Monday about the authorization for Suffolk’s participation in the federal case or Doroski’s proposal to recover the county’s legal expenses.
Doroski’s bill was referred to the legislature’s Ways and Means Committee.
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