In what can only be termed as an historic election, two Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents to earn seats on the Town of Hempstead Board, which has not seen a Democrat on it since 1917.

Town Supervisor Richard Guardino, Clerk Dan Fisher and Receiver of Taxes Angie Cullin all went home winners after being re-elected but there was some question of who the official winners were for the three at-large town board seats. When everyone left Levittown Hall, the GOP Election Headquarters, it was with the information that the three Democratic challengers Norman Scott Banks, Dorothy Goosby, and Rita Kestenbaum had unseated the three Republican incumbents Robert Barra, Gary Hudes, and Linda Reed. Then in the very early hours Wednesday morning, news came out that Reed, a Wantagh resident in the Levittown School District, had actually received more votes than Bellmore native Kestenbaum. As of press time, the Nassau County Board of Elections had declared Reed the unofficial winner with 56,454 votes over Kestenbaum's 56,136 votes. According to the board of election the numbers are not final until all the absentee ballots are received and counted and the affidavits are checked over. This process, according to the board of elections, takes at least two weeks. With only 318 votes separating the two candidates, it will be a very long two weeks for many.

The unofficial number of votes received by the other town board candidates are: Norman Scott Banks, of West Hempstead- 57,234; Robert Barra, of North Lynbrook- 55,413; Brian T. Evans (L), of Uniondale- 964; Dorothy L. Goosby, of Hempstead- 58,339; Gary A. Hudes, of Levittown- 55,942; and LeeRoy Miller, Jr. (L), of Hempstead- 724.

The other results for the Town of Hempstead are: for town supervisor, Incumbent Richard Guardino's (R) 64,072 votes defeated Mark S. Keefe's (D) 52,534 votes, Paul F. Harper's (L) 847 votes and Michael J. Sheridan's (G) 747 votes. For town clerk Incumbent Dan Fisher (R) had 59,675 votes and Fred Hirsh (D) had 56,374 votes. Receiver of Taxes Angie Cullin (R) had 61,727 votes, to Vincent A. Raimo's (D) 54,385 votes.

An interesting note in the town board elections is that Goosby, who won a seat on the board, is the lead plaintiff in a suit against the town which has been going on since 1988, which alleges that the current at-large voting system is racially biased. The suit alleges that the current voting system prevents minorities from earning places on the board. She is now the second African American to earn a place on the board, joining Curtis Fisher who was appointed to the board in 1993 and has served ever since.

The Second Circuit Court recently ruled against the town and the town is now appealing to the US Supreme Court. This costly appeal process is a criticism that many had for the current town board and may have helped lead to the election of Goosby and Banks.