Democrats made strong gains across the North Shore on Tuesday night, with unofficial election results showing commanding leads in races for governor, Congress, the state Legislature and Nassau County Legislature.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, in her bid for another term. With 53.39 percent of the expected vote counted, Hochul received 2,436,557 votes, or 67.3 percent, compared with Blakeman's 1,175,094 votes, or 32.5 percent.
“You win some, you lose some,” Blakeman said. “The fact of the matter is that now we pull together, we move forward, we have the best interests of the people in our heart.”
In New York's 3rd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi defeated Republican Mike LiPetri, receiving 87,712 votes, or 59.1 percent, compared with LiPetri's 60,224 votes, or 40.6 percent, with 49.8 percent of the expected vote counted.
“The good news is democracy works,” Suozzi said.
Suozzi emphasized affordability as a priority for his next term, calling for cooperation between Democrats and Republicans to address rising costs.
“They don't want the blame game,” Suozzi said of voters. “They don't want the finger poin...