Tuesday’s supervisor primary elections for the Republican line in two Suffolk County towns may be more competitive than the November general elections, at least if the old political adage "money is the mother’s milk of politics" is applicable.

The race seems tightest in Smithtown where incumbent Supervisor Ed Wehrheim is facing a challenge from longtime Suffolk Legis. Rob Trotta, who is term-limited. The primary race, according to campaign finance filings, has resulted in at least $100,000 in spending.

In Huntington, incumbent Supervisor Ed Smyth is being challenged for the GOP line by Councilwoman Brooke Lupinacci. That race has also led to about $100,000 in spending on TV and online ads, mailings and lawn signs. Smyth has also spent more than $32,000 on campaign consultants.

The campaign spending is far from equal. According to 11-day preprimary campaign finance filings with the New York State Board of Elections, Wehrheim has spent more than $90,000, including $50,000 for television ads dated June 2, and $21,500 for digital ads dated June 5. Records show Wehrheim spent more than $7,600 on lawn signs and $2,500 on print ads dated June 8.

Trotta, in his 11-day preprimary campaign finance filing, spent $3,300 on lawn signs in May and June; $2,271 for campaign literature and postage; and $900 on print ads. He is campaigning the old-fashioned way – knocking on doors.

Smyth, according to 11-day preprimary and 32-day preprimary filings, spent $34,250 on TV ads; $13,270 on mailings and postage; $13,899.39 on lawn signs and campaign literature; and $4,037.93 on print and online ads. His supporters, listed under "Friends of Ed Smyth," also spent $32,553.96 on campaign consultants to three firms: Strategic Planning, Inc. of Bohemia; Nextgen Advertising of Ronkonkoma; and Meyer Consulting of Louisville, Kentucky.

Lupinacci’s campaign, based on a 32-day preprimary filing under "Save Huntington," spent $25,513.97 on campaign mailings and $11,884.92 on campaign literature.

So where is the money coming from?

For Smyth, a Jan. 22 fundraiser at Larkfield Manor in East Northport netted several big donors. Event sponsorship was advertised for $7,500 and gold-level sponsorship for $4,000. Among those contributing, according to campaign finance filings, were 9th Street Auto Collision of Huntington Station ($4,000); Plumbers Local Union #200 ($4,000); Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Political Action Committee ($2,500); and the International Union of Operating Engineers ($2,500).

Harvinder Singh, founder and CEO of Bolla Oil, gave $7,500 to Smyth on Jan. 23.

Other notable contributors to Smyth’s campaign include IBEW of New York; Hawkins Delafield & Wood; and Picard Chiropractic of Huntington. Each contributed $1,000 with June 6 dates.

Lupinacci’s campaign finance filing notes three donations for a total of $575 from three entities: M&M Twins, Inc., GMA Mason, Inc., and Mulvey Contracting, Inc. Lupinacci’s campaign filing lists three loans of $5,000 from individuals.

In Smithtown, Wehrheim’s campaign finance filings list $4,000 contributions from DC Plumbing & Heating of NY Corp. and Caj Li Realty Associations of Commack.

Notable contributors to Wehrheim’s campaign for $2,500 include: the International Union of Operating Engineers; Dejana Realty Holding, LLC.; Conquering Cancer of Alexandria, Virginia; Site Specialists, Ltd.; and Concrete Craftsmen. All Island Excavating Corp.; Kings Park Materials, LLC; and the Long Island Builders PAC each contributed $1,500.

Wehrheim also received substantial contributions from Friends of Lynne Nowick and Friends of Tom McCarthy. Nowick, a current Smithtown councilwoman and former Suffolk legislator, and McCarthy, the current Smithtown deputy supervisor, each contributed identical totals of $5,006.18. McCarthy and Nowick are facing primary challenges for the GOP line for town council from Robert Semprini and Joann Tierney-Varello. The top two vote-getters will earn the GOP line. Both Semprini and Tierney-Varello's most recent campaign finance filings state "No-activity."

Friends of Sal Formica gave $1,289.45 to Wehrheim, and Friends of Anthony Manetta gave $250. Formica, who is supported by the party, is facing Frank Black, a Trotta ally, for the GOP line for Suffolk’s 13th Legislative District, which Trotta is vacating.

Manetta is a Babylon Town councilman who was elected in 2021 on the Republican, Democrat and Conservative party lines.

For Trotta, four contributions were noted in his campaign’s 11-day preprimary filing. Those were: $1,875 from Stalco Construction, Inc.; $1,500 from GEC Contracting, Inc.; and $500 each from Oakwood Building Group, Inc. and North Shore Golf Car Repair Service, Inc.

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The security detail that sometimes forms an attention-getting entourage for Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, is well known among media people, politicos and observers — anyone who closely follows local politics.

That includes Blakeman’s appearances at Republican dinners in such venues as the Crest Hollow Country Club as well as ceremonial occasions. Even the official black SUVs that escorted Blakeman during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last summer attracted notice, one witness told The Point.

Of course, no police personnel at the command of an elected official discuss details of that official’s security arrangements with the news media.

But when Blakeman, who faces reelection in November, recently showed up at Rao’s, a well-known East Harlem restaurant, and basked in the celebrity, the Manhattan-oriented New York Post Page Six found Blakeman’s security presence glaring enough to mention. Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle, however, told The Point: "There was security there for others. We don’t comment on threats or security (concerns). County Executive Blakeman is the highest elected Jewish Republican in America by population representation and as such, precautions are taken."

The focus of the Post item was that entrepreneur Andrew Murstein, who’s a board member of the Hamptons International Film Festival, hosted a VIP dinner attended by megastar Leonardo DiCaprio, featuring Leo’s photo alongside Blakeman.

Page Six quoted a source as saying: "A lot of security was there — but not for Leo. There were five security detail people for Blakeman," a claim that some county sources privately dispute.

Rao’s, which has a fabled mobster past that led to sales of jarred pasta sauce, also has a small slice of recent Nassau political history. The last GOP county executive, since-convicted Ed Mangano, was known to schmooze at Rao’s, where it is very hard to get in, through the courtesy of cop-turned-security businessman and actor Bo Dietl. As it happened, the Mangano administration also paid Beau Dietl & Associates for several months in 2014 as a "special adviser on public safety," Newsday reported at the time.

More than a decade later, Dietl appears to have no official relationship with the county. DiCaprio starred in the 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street," about the famous financial fraudster Jordan Belfort, who started out as a "door-to-door meat and seafood salesman on Long Island," according to Forbes magazine.

Rao’s is featured in the movie, and so is Dietl, who played himself. As he frequently has in the past, Blakeman reportedly sought at the dinner to tout Gold Coast and Grumman studios in Bethpage as job producers. 

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