Long Island

:This article is about Long Island in New York State. For other uses, see Long Island (disambiguation)

Politics

Brooklyn and Queens do not have their own functioning county government as they are part of New York City, although both have borough presidents, a largely ceremonial title that holds little political power. Nassau County and Suffolk County do have their own governments, with a County Executive leading both and a county legislature, as well as other countywide elected officials such as district attorney, county clerk and county controller. The towns in both counties have their own governments as well, with town supervisors and a town council.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn - Queens - New York City - Nassau County - Suffolk County

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Politically, Long Island has been controlled by the Republican Party, however, since the early 1990's, the island as a whole has been trending Democratic because of it's growing minority population and moderate to liberal leanings on social issues. Republicans won both Nassau and Suffolk counties in presidential elections from 1900 until 1988, with the exception of the 1912 landslide victor of Woodrow Wilson and the Lyndon Johnson landslide of 1964. In 1972, Richard Nixon won Nassau, Suffolk and Queens and came within 14,000 votes of winning heavily Democratic Brooklyn. In 1992, the counties split with Nassau voting Democratic and Suffolk voting Republican, however since 1996, both counties have been Democratic, although by fairly close margins. In 2004, John Kerry won Suffolk County by just under 14,000 votes. In 2000, Senator Hillary Clinton lost both Nassau and Suffolk to Republican Rick Lazio who had previously served as a congressman from Suffolk County.

Related Topics:
Republican Party - Democratic - Woodrow Wilson - Lyndon Johnson - Richard Nixon - Nassau - Suffolk - Queens - Brooklyn - John Kerry - Hillary Clinton - Rick Lazio

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In 2001, Nassau County elected Democrat Thomas Suozzi as county executive and Democrats took control of the county legislature, marking the first time Democrats had full control over county governments. Republicans still held on to the District Attorney's office and Hempstead town government, which has not had a Democratic majority on the town coucil or held the town supervisor position in close to 100 years. In 2003, Suffolk County followed suit, elected Democrat Steve Levy as county executive, however, the county legislature still remains in Republican hands.

Related Topics:
Democrat - Thomas Suozzi - Hempstead - Steve Levy - Republican

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On the western side, both Brooklyn and Queens are reliably Democratic, although Queens became that way fairly recently, having still been politically volatile through the 1980's.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn - Queens

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All or parts of 15 of New York's 29 congressional districts are located on Long Island. Of them, only two are represented by Republicans; Peter T. King of Seaford represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes most of eastern Nassau County and parts of southwestern Suffolk County. The other, Vito Fossella of the 13th Congressional District, represents parts of southwest Brooklyn as his district is mainly located in Staten Island. The other 13 representatives are all Democrats.

Related Topics:
Long Island - Peter T. King - Seaford - Nassau County - Suffolk County - Vito Fossella - Brooklyn - Staten Island

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