Scheuerman reappointed 1 year early; Suozzi running hard, Where's Pilip?

Democratic elections commissioner reupped

The Nassau legislature, at its last meeting of the year on Monday, approved Nassau and State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacob's reappointment of James Scheuerman as the county's Democratic elections commissioner.

The appointment came a year early.

Scheuerman's current term expires at the end of 2024. The new appointment is for two years beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

State law says Republican and Democratic election commissioners must be nominated by their party chairman. The legislature routinely ratifies the chairman's selection.

Jacobs did the same thing two years ago, though it's still not certain why. In January of 2022, he reappointed Scheuerman to a two-year term beginning Jan, 2023. 

But it certainly shows a great faith in Scheuerman of Glen Head. Last year, at Jacob's recommendation, Scheuerman's wife, Jaclene Agazarian was cross endorsed for District Court judge, ensuring her election.

Agazarian had been a principal law clerk for a Supreme Court justice.

Jacobs first nominated Scheuerman as elections commissioner in 2019 after David Gugerty resigned to run for Supreme Court.

So far Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo has not moved to renominate Republican Elections Commissioner Joe Kearney a year early. But Kearney is a close political associate of Cairo so it is assumed he will continue in the job so long as he wants it.

Election commissioners earn about $180,300 a year.

Suozzi vs Pilip

Nassau Republicans officially announced that Nassau Legis. Mazi Pilip would be their nominee in the special election to replace Republican Congressman George Santos, who was expelled by the U.S. House for his history of lying and alleged campaign finance violations.

Nassau GOP Chairman Joe Cairo held the announcement last Friday at the Massapequa American Legion Post jam-packed with Republican supporters and officials.

The kick-off came after former U.S. Congressman Peter King on Thursday contacted all interested media to tell them that the Republican nominee would be  Pilip of Great Neck. Pilip was born in Ethiopia but was airlifted  to Israel as part of a rescue mission when she was 12 years old. She later served in an Israeli paratrooper unit. 

Newsday reported that King characterized Pilip as “a great candidate. She's really the American success story, the American dream.”

The untold story was that King was making the announcement to convince his conservative white supporters in Levittown and Massapequa to back a black Orthodox Jew from Great Neck who is also a registered Democrat. 

King only half-joked to reporters: “We have to get out there that she is not your typical overweight, white male Republican — the caricature of the party — guys like me.”

Former Congressman Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove had already announced he again would be seeking the office he relinquished in a failed bid to run for Governor. 

Suozzi has seemed to be everywhere since then, including fund-raising emails on the evening of Pilip's kick off.                                                                   

 Unlike Suozzi, Pilip has not been seen much since last Friday's kick-off, though Republican spokesman Michael Deery insists she has been "out and engaged every day." Deery, however, has done most of the answering to reporters' questions for Pilip.

Meanwhile, the Massapequa kick-off at the American Legion Hall was an obvious "must attend" for Republican foot soldiers. The parking lot was full and the streets were jammed with parked cars for blocks around.

And King was not wrong.

The most striking feature of the Cairo crowd at the American Legion Hall last Friday was the large number of young people in attendance, mostly trim white males, wearing sports jackets or suits. But there were also some women and minorities.

In comparison, crowds at events hosted by the late Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello, who headed the party for more than 30 years before becoming an ambassador in 2018, were mostly the old, white, often overweight men described by King.

At least that's how it looked to an unaffiliated observer.