Polls closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday night in the Sag Harbor Village elections, but it wasn’t until after midnight that Kate Locascio, the village clerk, wrote the totals on a dry erase board, revealing that Carl Irace, a lawyer and village resident, had gathered 327 votes, to beat out East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky, who ended with 141 votes, for a four-year term as Sag Harbor Village Justice. Mr. Irace will replace Lisa Rana, who is retiring.
With 470 total votes cast in the election, it seemed by the 468 cast in the justice race that it was that race that brought people out to vote. It was the only contested race of the evening.
Mr. Irace was encouraged to run by Thomas Gardella, who ran unopposed as mayor. “Thanks Tom, for asking me to do it,” he said to Mr. Gardella after the votes were totaled. “It’s a great opportunity for us to jump-start our life here. It’s really great for us as a family.”
Mr. Gardella received the most votes of the night with 376 and will succeed James Larocca, for whom he served as deputy mayor for two years. Before Mr. Larocca was elected, Mr. Gardella served as deputy mayor for Kathleen Mulcahy, whom Mr. Larocca beat in a hotly contested race two years ago.
“I’m very happy with the vote and it shows a lot of the residents are putting their confidence behind me,” said Mr. Gardella. “I’m looking forward to a new challenge. We have 10 or 11 days to fill a bunch of positions. I’m starting tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock with Ed Haye, and Kate [Locascio] will be there, and we’ll start to discuss who we’re going to get to fill my trustee position. Also, we have a number of positions on the boards that have to be replaced.”
Bob Plumb ran unopposed and was elected to his third term as trustee with 315 votes. Aidan Corish, also running unopposed, was elected to his fourth term with 289 votes.
Mr. Tekulsky has served as a town justice alongside Ms. Rana, since 2014, and as associate justice in Sag Harbor since 2019. But his experience wasn’t enough to beat out Mr. Irace, who succeeded in convincing residents that he had the right temperament for the job, and that it was important to elect a resident of the village. He also ran a very strong signage campaign, the subject of conversation among residents in the days before the election, though he admitted to a purchasing error.
“I intended to buy 20-by-30-inch signs but accidentally purchased two foot-by-three-foot,” he explained as the votes were counted, and recounted.
“Gardella, Corish, Plumb, Carl. Gardella, Corish, Plumb, Steve,” said one of the workers, reading off the votes to another who tallied. Ms. Locascio said the totals were delayed for so long because the poll workers had to agree on the totals, and there had been discrepancies.
“These people have been here for 18 hours,” said Mr. Gardella, just before the totals were revealed.
Voters also approved two propositions. One would increase the credit that volunteers with the Sag Harbor Fire Department can earn for their years of service from 40 years to 50 years and would drop the age at which they become entitled to payment of their service award from 65 to 62. This passed with 402 “yes” votes and 37 saying “no.” The second proposition offered the same changes for volunteers with the village’s ambulance corps and passed with 408 approving and 28 voting “no.”
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Note: This article has been updated since it originally appeared online.
