Fred Thiele Wins NY Assembly District 1 Race

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The voters have spoken: Longtime incumbent New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele has emerged the winner and retained his 1st Assemblyman District seat after an Election Day fraught with voting result delays.

"My thanks to the voters for supporting my re-election. It was a heartening victory in a difficult environment on Long Island," Thiele said. "I look forward to continuing to serve the East End in Albany.

A delayed Suffolk County vote count has led to a longer wait to declare a winner in the race between Thiele, a Democrat who has served the 1st Assembly District since 1995, and his challenger, Republican Peter Ganley.

On Wednesday morning, Unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections indicated that Thiele was ahead by a wide margin, 28,441 votes compared to Ganley's 23,475, with all districts reported.

The fight was fierce on the East End for Dems, Thiele reflected. "It was a real headwind out here," he said.

Democrat and current Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming lost her bid for the 1st Congressional seat to GOP candidate Nick LaLota and Democrat Sklyer Johnson, challenging incumbent GOP New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo, was defeated in the race. GOP incumbent Jodi Giglio was also victorious in the bid to keep her Assembly District 2 seat despite a challlenge from Dem Wendy Hamberger.

The night was plagued by tally delays.

As of midnight Wednesday, Suffolk County Board of Elections workers had difficulty loading memory cards needed to tally the vote, and reports have gauged the wait time anywhere from hours to Wednesday night. All the 1,400 memory cards from each voting machine need to brought back to the BOE’s Yaphank headquarters and then uploaded to indicate an accurate count.

In 2020, Thiele defeated Heather Collins, a Republican, by a vote of 40,689 to 29,133.

Thiele has served as Suffolk County legislator from 1988 to 1991, Southampton Town Supervisor from 1992 to 1995, and New York State Assemblyman from 1995 to the present time.

"My career has been dedicated to improving the quality of life on the East End of Long Island. For example, I authored the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund, which has protected more than 10,000 acres of land across the East End. I wish to continue that work particularly in the areas of the environment, water quality, public transportation, affordable housing, and education," he said.

Ganley, of Cutchogue, who formerly served on Rep. Lee Zeldin's staff, spoke to Patch about his reasons for running. "I am running for NYS Assembly to improve and protect my community. I am running to be an independent voice and advocate for the East End of Long Island. I am running to cut reckless taxes and spending, preserve and protect our environment, increase public safety, repeal cashless bail, implement term limits and change the culture of corruption in Albany."

Assembly District 1 covers the East End towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Shelter Island, and Center Moriches, as well as some of eastern Brookhaven Town.