Democrat Runs as ‘Unbought and Unbossed’

Jonathan Estreich says Suffolk County voters learned something important about him before he ever had the chance to hold public office: He would not be pushed around.

The Democratic candidate for Suffolk County comptroller found himself at the center of an extraordinary intraparty battle after party leaders pressured him to leave the race as part of a broader cross-endorsement deal involving Democrats, Republicans and Conservatives.

Estreich refused.

“I was actually in uniform at the time at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and I said it was a matter of honor and integrity,” Estreich recalled during an interview with the South Shore Press Editorial Board. “There’s honor in winning, of course. There’s honor in losing. But there’s no honor in withdrawing.”

For Estreich, a Dix Hills father of four, Army Reserve major, former Suffolk County prosecutor and former investigator with the MTA Office of Inspector General, the episode became a defining moment in his campaign.

“I’m unbought and unbossed,” he said. “I’m gonna be the watchdog over every single tax dollar in this county.”

Estreich had initially agreed to run for State Senate before being asked by Suffolk Democratic leaders to switch to the comptroller’s race. Then came pressure to step aside, which would have cleared the field for Republican/Conservative candidate Dan Losquadro.

Estreich said he was never part of any agreement to do so and therefore felt no obligation to honor one.

“I didn’t consider myself to be bound by a deal I wasn’t privy to in the first place,” he said.

His refusal came as Suffolk Democrats were already wrestling with deep dissatisfaction over cross-endorsement agreements and what critics called political “horse trading.”

That anger nearly toppled Suffolk’s longtime Democratic Chairman Rich Schaffer. Southold Party Chair Kathryn Casey Quigley mounted a serious insurgent challenge to Schaffer, who has controlled the county organization since 2000. The leader, who is also Babylon Supervisor and the town’s Democratic chair, survived, 113,010 weighted votes to 84,234, but nearly 43% of the party vote went against him.

Quigley’s supporters objected to arrangements that left some races without meaningful opposition and accused party leadership of sacrificing competitive elections through deals with Republicans and Conservatives.

Another flashpoint involved the county clerk’s race, where nominee Anthony Portesy, the chairman of the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee, withdrew, leaving incumbent Clerk Vincent Puleo without a Democratic opponent.

Estreich’s situation was different. He stayed.

The decision, he said, helped turn what is usually a low-profile race into a broader argument over political independence, voter choice and the role of the comptroller.

“What was normally a down-ballot race has become something much more,” he noted. “It’s become about democracy and about choice and about integrity and honor.”

Estreich argues his professional background fits the office. At the MTA Inspector General, he reviewed complex procurements, including major equipment purchases, and learned how to follow contracting decisions through piles of documents. As a Suffolk prosecutor, he handled criminal cases and appeals.

As comptroller, he said he would closely examine sole-source contracts, consultant agreements and other areas where waste or favoritism could hide.

“If there’s corruption in this county, we’ll find it, and we’ll expose it, and we’ll end it,” he said. “Corruption costs money to the Suffolk County taxpayers.”

But Estreich also said independence means being willing to report when government is working properly.

“I’ll be the first guy in the world, if I don’t find anything, I’ll scream it from the rooftops,” he said. “Because I want people to believe in government.”

His plans include developing a real-time, searchable county spending database so taxpayers, legislators and reporters can see where public money is going.

Estreich describes the comptroller as a check on government rather than a policymaker and says that distinction is central to his candidacy.

“There’s nobody I’m taking orders from,” he said. “I have no boss other than the Suffolk County taxpayer.”

Estreich said his concern about county spending is also personal. He pointed to families leaving Long Island because of the cost of living, including two of his son’s close friends who recently moved away.

“Young families can’t afford to be in New York,” he said. “My son started school in September without two of his best friends because one of them moved to Jacksonville and the other moved out of the country. It’s just too expensive.”