Mangano Defeats Suozzi in Nassau, Pending the Court Stuff

It appears Democratic Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi has lost the November 3 election to Republican challenger Edward Mangano. A recount of the votes, including paper, absentee and affidavit ballots, shows that Suozzi's 237-vote margin has faded and Mangano holds a 390-vote lead -- this out of a quarter of a million votes cast, which Newsday says is a drop of 50,000 from the last Executive election in 2005. This climaxes a stunning reversal for Democrats in the county, in which Republicans retook the County Legislature. National Review's Jim Garaghty has cheered this return of white suburbanites to the Republican Party after the 2006-2008 doldrums. It remains to be seen what they will do with the tax issues that presumably animated their renaissance.

The Suozzi camp has not indicated whether they will challenge the result at State Supreme Court in Mineola, where the votes will be certified tomorrow. Objections have been filed to hundreds of the ballots, on which the Court will rule.

Update: Suozzi has conceded.