Suffolk County Republicans nominate candidates for office

The Suffolk County GOP nominated its candidates for state and federal offices during a packed-out convention at its Medford headquarters on Feb. 13.

Members of the Suffolk County GOP committee formally nominated candidates for State Assembly, Senate, Congress, county comptroller, and judicial positions, with candidates for soon-to-be-vacant seats drawn from lower ranks of Republican politics.

Jesse Garcia, Suffolk Republican Committee chair, led the convention and opened the night, commending committee members for a large turnout that rivaled the state Republican convention in Garden City, which nominated Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman for governor, earlier that week.

Legislator and presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, Anthony Piccirillo, then spoke.

“By selecting our nominees for federal and state office, we put forward not just names on the ballot, but people of unwavering dedication to the principles of individual liberty, limited government and the solemn promise to leave government better than we found it,” said Legis. Piccirillo.

During his address, Piccirillo also said that the Republican slate is among the youngest in Suffolk GOP history and that he was looking forward to putting young people who speak to this generation into office.

For local offices, the Suffolk GOP nominated Jarett Gandolfo, assemblymember from the seventh district, which covers Brightwaters through Patchogue, for the open eighth State Senate race.

Incumbent State Sen. Alexis Weik announced in January that she wouldn’t seek re-election in November for personal reasons. The eighth district covers communities along the South Shore from Massapequa to Bayport, and up to Ronkonkoma.

With the seventh assembly district seat now open, the Suffolk GOP nominated newly elected Town of Islip councilwoman DawnMarie Kuhn for the assembly race.

Kuhn took office on the Town of Islip Council one month ago after winning her first-ever election for public office in November 2025. Before taking office, Kuhn served as the vice chair of the Town of Islip Republican Committee, and the Town of Islip board decided not to amend the Town Code to allow elected officials to serve on major political party committees.

It’s not publicly known if anyone now holds the vice chair position of the Islip Town Republican Committee as of publication, since the executive leadership positions listed on the committee’s website were removed around the New Year, according to archived data. The Islip Town Republican Committee did not respond to a request for comment on the slate of candidates or the vice chair position.

For the fourth State Senate district, the Republicans nominated Brianne Wakefield, who will attempt to flip the seat currently held by Democrat Monica Martinez.

The Republicans nominated Dan Losquadro, the current Town of Brookhaven Highway superintendent and former state assemblyman from the first, then second district, for Suffolk County Comptroller.

For Congress, the Suffolk GOP nominated incumbent U.S. Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino for the first and second districts, respectively, and former state assemblyman Mike LiPetri for the third district.

In accepting his nomination, Garbarino said that, despite running in a midterm election year with a Republican-held presidency, which typically favors Democrats, the Suffolk GOP’s strength would get him and his colleagues into office in November.

“The Democrats, they brought up… they have enthusiasm now, they think they’re going to win. They feel great,” Garbarino said. “You know what? They don’t have two things. They don’t have the issues—we own the issues. And they don’t have the Suffolk County Republican Committee.”