GOP's Brown wins Assembly seat over Marcantonio

ALBANY — Republican Keith Brown has held the open seat in Suffolk County’s 12th Assembly District that Democrats had hoped to flip their way, county election officials said Thursday.

Democrat Michael Marcantonio made up ground this week in the counting of absentee ballots, but didn’t overcome the 7,730-vote edge Brown had on Nov. 3 when the ballots cast on machines were counted, according to a Suffolk County elections official.

There were 15,581 absentee votes, including more than twice as many cast by Democrats as Republicans. In the end, Brown won by 2,833 in the unofficial vote, election officials said.

"I am so excited to get started and be a vigorous advocate for Long Islanders in the halls of our state Capitol," Brown said in a Facebook posting.

Assembly Republican leader Will Barclay called Brown a welcomed addition to the Assembly’s minority conference.

Marcantonio conceded Thursday.

"I just called Keith Brown to congratulate him on winning this hard-fought race and wish him the best of luck," Marcantino said. "My goal was to fight for working families and to protect our community, and I’m proud of the race we ran and can confidently say we never lost sight of that goal."

The district, which includes the towns of Huntington and Islip, had been represented by Republican Assemb. Andrew Raia until he was elected Huntington town clerk.

"Keith worked hard and had tremendous support throughout the district — especially from the law enforcement community," Barclay said.

Marcantonio, 33, said he would comment once he gets the final numbers.

Brown, 52, of Northport is a former state assistant attorney general who now is a partner in a private law firm. His father, the late Harry Brown, was a state Supreme Court justice in Suffolk County.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.