Long Island Democrats won four State Senate seats Tuesday — including the ouster of GOP incumbents Kemp Hannon, Carl Marcellino and Elaine Phillips, according to unofficials results.
Hannon was unexpectedly defeated by Democrat Kevin Thomas, a Levittown attorney. Hannon had served in the Senate since 1989 and previously served in the Assembly for 12 years.
The results represented a seismic shift from just two years ago, when Republicans controlled all nine state Senate seats on Long Island. If Tuesday’s vote tallies hold, Democrats would control six of those seats — enough to take over from Republicans for the first time since 2010.
“I’ve spent a lot of time out on the Island, and I knew,” said Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who was set to become the next State Senate majority leader. “We knew this would make the difference in our majority and you did it. Look what you’ve done.”….