McCaffrey Takes Close Victory in County Legislator Race

Kevin McCaffrey will represent the 14th Legislative District in Suffolk County after a close victory on Tuesday, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections website.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting on Tuesday evening, Kevin McCaffrey, the Republican candidate and current deputy mayor of Lindenhurst, took the majority of the legislative district with 5,334 votes, or 52.47 percent.

Democratic candidate Thomas Dolan had 4,823 votes cast in his favor, or 47.45 percent.

The mood was celebratory for McCaffrey and company, who celebrated what he called a "hard-fought but well deserved victory" at Suffolk County Republican Headquarters.

"We worked very hard but I always felt I had the experience to go on," McCaffrey told Patch. "I am going to show that experience and independence for the district."

He added that he was proud to be representing the district.

Dolan will not concede the election tonight, according to Babylon Town Democratic officials, citing what they called "polling irregularities."

An additional seven votes were write-ins, only representing 0.06 percent.

The 14th Legislative District seat came up for grabs after current Legislator Wayne Horsley (D–Babylon) announced he would not run for re-election this year and accepted a position with the New York State Department of Parks. A Democrat had held the seat since 1987 when Rich Schaffer served as the legislator.

Election results from the county's Board of Elections are considered unofficial with absentee ballots not yet counted.