Politics & Government
Wink Narrowly Defeats Gross in North Hempstead Town Clerk Race
Two-term Nassau County legislator defeats incumbent Leslie Gross.
By Rich Jacques
Nassau Legislator Wayne Wink won in a tight race against incumbent Town of North Hempstead Clerk Leslie Gross Tuesday.
Receiving 21,370 votes to 19,659 for Gross, Wink accepted victory at Westbury Manor in a race that was decided late.
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In his acceptance speech, Wink said the Democrats came into the campaign knowing that as a team they would be able to win.
"We were running against an opponent who believed that this team wasn't necessary for her to be the town clerk," said Wink. "We were running against an opponent who made us, our team, the opponent in this race."
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Gross joined the Republicans in May after being first elected town clerk in November of 2007 as a Democrat after being appointed earlier that year to the position by Supervisor Jon Kaiman.
After winning his seat in a special election held in March 2007, Wink is currently serving his second full term as legislator for the Nassau County's 11th District.
Wink, 46, served for more than five years as Town of North Hempstead councilman from 2002 to 2007.
Wink opted out of a legislative reelection bid after Republican redistricting divided his district in four parts earlier this year. Before entering the town clerk race, he dropped out of the Nassau comptrollers race, avoiding a potential primary challenge from Democrat Howard Weitzman.
He resides in Roslyn with his wife, Stacey and their daughter Jennifer.
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