OntheWilderSide

Election Day 2025 has passed.

Riverhead Town has news, though all the information is not out.

The Town Supervisors Race was definitely “too close to call” with unofficial results. The Democrat, Jerome Halpin (Jerry Halpin) is in the lead by 21 votes. That will certainly be challenged and recounted. In addition, one of the Democrat council candidates is only 74 votes away from becoming the second winner in that race.

Unrelated to winning or losing, there is some intrigue in the race for Superintendent of Highway. The candidate I endorsed was a “write-in” choice. So, there were a healthy number of write-in votes — 44. And, it will be interesting if more show up and/or how many list the name “Jessica Werner.”

I am writing this post in the hope of getting local media professionals, social media people, and/or activists interested in possibly attending and covering the recount in Riverhead. There will probably be an official, careful recount due to the closeness of the race. It is fascinating to be at the Board of Elections for a recount. And, there are fun things to find in the race this year.

The juiciest part of watching the recount is seeing or hearing mention of any write-in candidates. As a poll watcher this year, I heard only two write-in votes. And, both made me laugh out loud.

Someone voted for “Rosie O’Donnell”. And, someone voted for “Jeffrey Epstein.” Hurrah for two creative protest votes against Donald Trump! (And, hurrah for any win that Rosie O’Donnell — in self-exile in Ireland — has over the orange monster.)

Though, I was so happy to see that in the unofficial election results at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, there were thousands of write-in votes in some races. In the 10th District race (described more below), .16% of the voters — 2,633 ballot spaces — were write-in votes. For one of the county court races, there were .79% write-in votes. That is more votes than many third party candidates often receive. Someone, anyone, needs to do some research into why the high numbers, and who these votes are for.

In a flashback to good and amusing reporting on write-in votes, you can see my blogpost about the 2008 election: Monkey Wrenching with Minnie The Cat. As noted in my story, Newsday — the big, Long Island newspaper — made an interesting report on the write-ins that year.

Back to the 2025 election:

Jessica Werner

Of course, I want to know more about Jessica Werner’s vote count. How many people in the Town of Riverhead decided it was not worth their time to vote for the “one-candidate-semi-automatic winner” in the Superintendent of Highway election? How many woman heard about the mom and tradesperson who was running, and decided to give her their approval?

In more geographically widespread election news: Did you know there was a New York movement to vote for “Bad Bunny” in the unfair judicial races?

As many people who watch NY elections know, a lot of the judicial races are a kind of powerplay and political trade deal made among the candidates and party leaders before election day. So, in the Justice of Supreme Court Judicial Race/10th District, for example, there were only 9 candidates for 8 positions. There was some room for “voter choice”, in that one person had to lose. But, every, single candidate was on the ballot line of “The Conservative Party.” I am not sure if that is a result of a process that mostly included candidate’s wishes, or mostly the wishes of party leaders. Though, it is a sad thing for the people of New York — especially the women — that every judge has an ounce of “beholden” to the Conservative Party.

In other races, there were no actual choice, option, or democracy left for the voters, because there were only the same amount of candidates on the ballot as there were who could win. And, in many places in New York, those candidates were crossed endorsed by the Democratic and Republican Party. (In the discussion on this topic, a party loyalist was trying to brush away accusations that the parties had any will in that. Though, the process of cross-endorsement includes a “Wilson Pakula” certificate that party leaders need to sign.)

So, someone had floated the idea for people to write-in “Bad Bunny” (or his real name, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) in for judges in these unfair cases. I can’t wait to see if Bad Bunny shows up in some election reports. We may only know if some interested journalists watch the recounts. New York does not have a very careful way of reporting write-in ballots. It is mostly up to journalists and activists to seek out the bold voices of these protest voters.

There are ways to get into the Board of Elections near you in order to see the regular “recanvass” of votes and/or the more official “recount” of votes, which happens when certain criteria calls for it. As a journalist, a social media activists, a party committee person, or a candidate’s supporter, you should see if you can find a way to get the correct certificate and see what the politicos are really up to, and what your fellow voters are really thinking — especially the write-in voters!

Filed under: elections, grassroots democracy, independent politics, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, new york, New York State Politics, News, political satire, politics, progressive politics, rants, suffolk county, US Politics, write-in vote Tagged: | 2025 Judicial Races, Bad Bunny, Bad Bunny for judge, Election Results 2025, Jessica Werner, Jessica Werner for Superintendent of Highway, Judicial Races in New York, Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie O'Donnell vs Trump feud, Rosie O'Donnell write-in, Town of Riverhead election, Town of Riverhead Recount, Voting Bad Bunny, Write-in Bad Bunny