Committees spent $1.6 million in Oyster Bay elections

Campaign spending in Oyster Bay’s elections topped $1.6 million, more than three times as much as was spent in 2015, based on recent reports filed by four campaign committees.

The Republican and Democratic town supervisor candidates’ campaigns and the Oyster Bay party committees spent $1,621,367 in 2017, according to expenses reported to the state Board of Elections by four campaign committees. In 2015, the comparable committees spent $519,912.

Republican Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino’s campaign spent $864,108, and the Republican town committee spent $120,364 for a total of $984,472. The campaign of Saladino’s unsuccessful challenger, Democrat Marc Herman, spent $268,774 and the Democratic town committee spent $368,121 for a total of $636,895. Postelection campaign finance reports filed with the state Board of Elections on Monday show both campaigns spent heavily on television ads in the final two weeks of the campaign: Saladino’s campaign spent $289,000, while Herman’s campaign spent $81,000.

The four campaign committees do not represent the total spending on the races because individual candidates’ campaigns and local political clubs also spent money. The reported expenses may also include transfers among different campaign committees, which means some funds may be counted more than once.