Endorsements have been rolling in for both sides in the race for New York State’s First Assembly District seat, in which Stephen Kiely, a Republican and Conservative candidate, and Tommy John Schiavoni, a Democratic and Working Families candidate, are vying to succeed Fred W. Thiele Jr.
On Sept. 7, Mr. Schiavoni, who is now a councilman in Southampton Town, announced backing from East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore, and Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski. Mr. Thiele, retiring after 29 years in state office, has also endorsed him, as did former Representative Tim Bishop.
In a statement, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez described Mr. Schiavoni as “tireless, dedicated, and deeply knowledgeable about the challenges we face. His passion for public service and his proven experience make him the strong, effective voice we need in the State Assembly. I’m confident he’ll represent us all with the same unwavering commitment he’s shown to our towns.”
Mr. Kiely, at present the attorney for Shelter Island Town and for the Mattituck Park District on the North Fork, has received the endorsements of State Senator Anthony Palumbo, former State Senator Ken LaValle, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, Shelter Island Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, and every police union on the East End, among others. Two former Shelter Island officials, both Democrats, have also endorsed Mr. Kiely: Gerry Siller, a previous supervisor, and James Colligan, who was a councilman.
“I’m sure many of you are wondering why I, a lifelong Democrat, am supporting a registered Republican,” Mr. Siller said in a statement. “The simple answer is I’ve always voted for the best person for the job, no matter which political party they belonged to. I think now, more than ever, we all need to put party politics aside and vote in the best possible candidates to serve their constituents on all levels of government — local, statewide, and national.”
Before running for office in Southampton, Mr. Schiavoni was a teacher of history and government for 32 years in public schools on the South Fork, and served three years on the Sag Harbor School Board. He has focused his Assembly campaign on water quality, sustainability, and affordable housing.
“On Long Island, we have no viable source to replace our source of drinking water — our aquifer. What we put on the ground has a direct impact on what we drink,” Mr. Schiavoni said in an interview. “That is a top-line priority. I would like to bring Peconic Bay scallops back and revitalize our fishing industry.”
On sustainability, he said, “We as a people need to fundamentally change how we get energy. We’re not going to change our energy use, but we can change the way that we produce it and reduce the carbon in the atmosphere. I believe we can serve as a model for the rest of the country for that.”
Mr. Schiavoni said he supports local government control over how affordable housing is created on the East End; his experience in zoning and housing issues comes from his prior service on the zoning boards of appeals in North Haven Village and Southampton Town; he is also the liaison to Southampton’s housing department. “I believe the towns, the local governments, should be the ones who are driving what we put in our communities to supply the housing that we need.” The plan put forth by Gov. Kathy Hochul in past years “was heavy-handed,” he said.
One aspect of Mr. Kiely’s platform concerns public safety. He said he believes the current court system is too lax, something he’s seen up close as an attorney in private practice and working weekend and holiday arraignments in Riverhead Justice Court.
“You can commit arson, stalk somebody, or possess enough fentanyl to harm thousands of people. You walk into court, get arraigned, and walk right out on your own recognizance,” he said. “We do not have a dangerousness-of-defendant standard,” which hamstrings judges in their ability to assign bail.
Mr. Kiely also said he believes New York’s status as a sanctuary state “sounds good and harmless, but the only thing it does, the only effect of it, is to protect the criminal migrant.”
He is also running on a platform of protecting the East End’s rural character, including supporting local control of housing issues and protecting farmland.
“We can’t build our way out” of a housing shortage. “We don’t have a housing crisis, we have an affordability crisis,” said Mr. Kiely, who helped craft Shelter Island’s community housing fund plan. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to have local control taken away from us. There are other ways we can do responsible, affordable housing that doesn’t change community character and have negative impacts on our environment. . . . We can’t take on more density.”
Mr. Schiavoni is also making education and public health a priority, including ensuring robust state funding for schools, supporting mental health programs, and combating tick-borne illnesses.
“Education is incredibly important. This is an area where others throughout the state might look to hog some money as far as state aid goes,” he said. “We need that money here in the First Assembly District. . . . Schools have become the delivery point for a lot of social services, so that funding is crucial to me.”
When he was an elected official in North Haven, Mr. Schiavoni said, he went door-to-door conducting a tick survey. “I believe in science. I believe that empirical data is a good thing. Seventy-two percent of people had someone in their household who had a tick-borne illness.”
“On the state level,” he continued, “I want to put more money toward the research of tick-borne illnesses. It didn’t go away — we just had a global pandemic that put it on the back burner.”
Mr. Kiely, whose campaign slogan is “right person, right time,” is touting his experience in crafting legislation. “The job of an assemblyman is to write laws and interpret other laws to build on,” he said. “That’s a necessary skill. A lot of the people who are up in Albany just sort of rubber-stamp everything.”
He describes himself as “a true centrist” with and a platform “that appeals to the entire political spectrum.”
Mr. Schiavoni said he hopes to continue building on the legacy of Mr. Thiele and other elected officials who have had a positive impact. “I believe that I am uniquely qualified for this,” he said. “They were champions of the environment at a time when we needed them, and I look to continue their work out here.”
Election Day is Nov. 5.
