Port Jefferson Mayor Lauren Sheprow keeps seat, Franco and Juliano are trustees
By Sabrina Artusa
In the Village of Port Jefferson, Mayor Lauren Sheprow retains her seat for a second term, defeating challenger Kathianne Snaden by 82 votes. Sheprow had 903 votes while Snaden had 821.
Trustee Robert Juliano was also reelected for a second term with 1196 votes while newcomer Mathew Franco took the seat of Stan Louks with 911 votes. Julie Vitrano had 624 votes.
John F. Reilly will serve as Village Justice. Unlike the mayors and trustees, the Justice has a term of four years.
Sheprow wrote in a Facebook post from her campaigning account, “There is so much more work to be done, and I am ready to stay the course.”
Addressing Snaden, she wrote, “Thank you for your continued enthusiasm in this Village and for your support of the school district.”
For the past two years, the Village Board of Trustees have been confronted with issues pertaining to the Port Jefferson Country Club, the persistent erosion of East Meadow Beach Bluff, parking, and flooding. Further, the decreasing revenue from LIPA continues to diminish the tax base of both the village and school district, which has experienced decreased enrollment over the past decade. Franco will now join the board in tackling these issues for the village.
Franco, the freshman candidate, said, “I congratulate Mayor Sheprow for winning reelection. Now we have to get to work for the people of Port Jefferson.”
Running a grassroots, “policy-based” campaign, Franco said walking door-to-to–door was a “fun, amazing experience to reengage the community”, though he criticized the “acrimony” of the race. Among his chief concerns as trustee is the East Meadow Beach bluff and quality of life issues like noise pollution.
Coming off of the intense months leading up to the election, Juliano is excited to continue as trustee, particularly in working to revitalize uptown and addressing bluff erosion and flooding.
“It was a long haul,” he said, “but I feel truly honored and humbled to be reelected. There are still things that need to be done.”
He added that although campaigning “got a little heated”, he knows the board will work collaboratively towards their common goal of improving the village. “That is why everyone does this,” he said. “To make Port Jefferson better.”
In 2023, Sheprow won as a write-in candidate. This year, she had a spot on the ticket and won by 7% of votes. In 2023, she won by 9%.
For the trustee race, there were 767 undervotes, meaning voters did not vote for two candidates, but either one or zero. There were 25 undervotes for the mayoral race. There were 73 absentee votes and one early voter submission.
