The Suburbanites Behind the Big Blue Wave

Democrats in several New York suburbs hosted a series of victory parties on Tuesday night, ringing in what many observers say is the beginning of a political takeover in crucial swing districts. Republican candidates lost out to Democratic challengers in Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk.

According to executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, Lawrence Levy, these local races are worth noting.

"The suburbs this week sent a message to both parties about the direction they want to go," he told WNYC's David Furst. "The Republicans are certainly quaking in what could be in store for them in 2018 among these swing voters, these moderate, independent suburbanites. And the Democrats are smart enough now to know that they can't take them for granted."

Levy said that some of these outcomes are historic. Laura Gillen became the first Democrat supervisor for the town of Hempstead in over 100 years. In Nassau County, Laura Curran is the first woman to become County Executive and only the third Democrat to hold the seat. In the Suffolk County sheriff's race Democrat Errol Toulon leads Republican Larry Zacarese by over 1,300 votes, although it remains too close to call. If he wins, Toulon would be the first black countywide elected official in Suffolk County.