Election results: GOP maintains control as McKevitt, Muscarella re-elected

For the third time since his first term in 2017, Republican Thomas McKevitt, a former Assemblyman, was re-elected to the Nassau County Legislature on Tuesday night. His top priority in his fourth term, he said, would be safety in the community. 

“Whenever I go and have community meetings, I’ll say the biggest issue you have, more than anything else, is people running stop signs,” McKevitt told reporters at a recent Herald Roundtable session. “It’s not some sort of stranger from somewhere else — it’s people in your own neighborhood.”

The East Meadow resident is already a familiar face to many of his constituents in the area he will be serving, but come January, with a redrawn district, he will be serving a slightly different area. District 13 now includes all of East Meadow, Salisbury, and part of North Levittown.

Aside from safety, McKevitt has plans for upgrading Eisenhower Park, increasing resources for the Nassau County Correctional Center, and working on infrastructure to combat the effects of climate change.

“What it came down to was, we have a positive message — protect our families, our taxpayers, communities,” McKevitt said of his win Tuesday night.

McKevitt maintained his seat with 66 percent of the vote. Biju Chacko, his Democratic opponent, did not participate in a Herald Roundtable. Chacko could not be reached for comment.

Thomas Muscarella, the incumbent councilman in Town of Hempstead’s 2nd district, was also re-elected to a second term. He stressed the issue of taxation in Hempstead, where the town held the line. With ramped-up costs of food, utilities and rent caused by inflation, Muscarella said the town needs to look into creative revenue generators to help alleviate the financial burden on constituents.

Muscarella was appointed to the Town Board in 2019, filling the seat left open when Republican Ed Ambrosino resigned. Based on the unofficial results, Muscarella won re-election with 66 percent of the vote, receiving 13,526 votes out of the nearly 20,400 ballots cast.

“Another great victory, another red wave in Nassau County,” Muscarella said.

Throughout his tenure, he said, he has focused on “good government.” During a Herald Roundtable, he described good government as one that pays attention to and participates in activities of the communities it serves.

Muscarella’s opponent, Lawrence Nedelka of Garden City, is an active-service volunteer firefighter who previously worked as a finance commissioner for the town. Nedelka ultimately conceded after receiving only 34 percent of the vote. He was happy, he said, to have raised issues of concern in the community through his campaign.

“I embraced a couple of issues — the casino, transparency, accountability in government,” Nedelka said. “I pointed out areas where, instead of just holding the line on taxes, we could make some serious cuts and reduce bloated patronage. We could’ve probably lowered the line on taxes.”