While town Republican Party leaders announced that Councilman Tim Mazzei would be their candidate last month, Democrats confirmed this week that Mark Lesko will be their choice to replace newly sworn in State Sen. Brian Foley as Brookhaven Town supervisor.
Mr. Lesko, 41, of East Setauket resigned his post as an assistant U.S. attorney Dec. 31 to pursue the supervisor's seat. He attributed his inspiration in part to last November's presidential election.
"With Obama being elected president it got me thinking that maybe it was time for me to make a change in my life," Mr. Lesko said. "I weighed my options and I met with [Suffolk County Democratic Committee chairman] Rich Schaffer and he asked me what I thought of the town supervisor job. I thought about it and I said, 'Well that would be one helluva challenge.'รขâ"
That might be an understatement. Only three Democrats -- and only one not named Foley -- have been elected Brookhaven Town supervisor in the past century. Republicans have held the majority on the Town Board for 94 of the past 100 years. And if history isn't enough of a challenge to overcome, Mr. Lesko, a political newcomer, will be opposed by the most senior member of the Town Board in Mr. Mazzei, who has been re-elected three times with double-digit wins.
Said one local resident, who asked not to be identified in this story: "I'm a registered Democrat and I've never even heard of Mark Lesko."
Mr. Lesko said he won't be deterred and that he looks forward to introducing his campaign agenda to the residents of Brookhaven.
"I'm a fighter," he said. "A challenge doesn't get me down. It inspires me."
He cited his recent successful prosecution of the "Muttontown Slave Couple" trial as an example of overcoming a difficult challenge.
"We were going up against people who had a lot of money to fight [those charges]," Mr. Lesko said. "We were the underdogs. I'm used to that."
Before serving the past 10 years in the Department of Justice, Mr. Lesko, a Yale graduate and a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., had worked in private law firms.
While he's never held public office and is a newcomer to Brookhaven politics, he said he's worked several high profile cases in and around the town while running the U.S. attorney's Long Island office. He prosecuted a paving cartel price-fixing case in Brookhaven and he also said he an assistant in Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota's investigation into wrongdoings by officials in the William Floyd School District.
He said that if he were elected supervisor, and if Democrats could secure the majority in November's general election, he would restore some of the cuts made by the Republican/Conservative majority in 2008, citing the elimination of four constituent advocate positions in the supervisor's office and the allocation of community enhancement grants as examples of changes he would look to make.
Mr. Lesko said he views the fact that he's a relative outsider to Brookhaven politics as a positive, saying he believes he has a certain freedom his opponent does not.
"Mr. Mazzei is beholden to party bosses," he said. "I'm not beholden to anybody."
Mr. Mazzei, however, has said he will look to reach across party lines if elected supervisor, something he said he's been doing with little reciprocation as the Town Board's majority leader. He also said last month at a rally to launch his campaign that he will look to cut taxes and reduce waste as supervisor. He said he would like to be an "advocate for the taxpayer."
"In my experience, I've seen how government in Brookhaven works and how it works not so well, quite frankly," Mr. Mazzei said Dec. 9. "We need to fix that."
But Democratic leaders have called Mr. Mazzei, 54, a part of the problem. Town Democratic Party chair Marsha Laufer said Wednesday that Mr. Mazzei represents the "old guard."
Ms. Laufer said that while Mr. Mazzei has been popular in his own district, which stretches west along the South Shore from East Patchogue to the Islip town line, she feels he's not very well known throughout the rest of the town.
"We have the resources and the energy to win this election," Ms. Laufer said.
The special election date was set for March 31 by acting supervisor Lori Baldassare. Ms. Baldassare, who previously served as chief of staff to Mr. Foley, was given the interim post when former Deputy Town Supervisor Jim LaCarrubba resigned Dec. 31 to serve as chief of staff to Mr. Foley in Albany. Thalia Bouklas has been named chief of staff to Ms. Baldassare, who by law is not given a vote on resolutions and other measures before the town while she serves until the elected supervisor is sworn in in April.
Democrats will officially nominate Mr. Lesko at their nominating convention at 10 a.m. Saturday in Mastic, followed by a rally. Republicans, meanwhile, will host a rally at the opening of Mazzei headquarters in Medford at the same time Saturday. No date has been given yet for the Republican nominating convention.
gparpan@northshoresun.com