City, town & village

Riverhead Town Supervisor

Vote for: 1
Candidates: 2
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The town supervisor is the town's chief executive and financial officer and presides over the town board.

Candidates Compare by issue

Kenneth T Rothwell

Republican, Conservative

The gist

Pledges to focus on lowering residents' taxes.
Supports making town departments more self-sustaining.
Supports attracting high-tech development to broaden the tax base.
Opposes closed-session handling of the retirement incentive proposal.

More about Kenneth

View sources (2)

Pledges to focus on lowering residents' taxes.
Riverhead GOP nominate Kenneth Rothwell for town supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“what we can do to lower the cost of taxes — that’s the biggest concern for residents in town”
Supports making town departments more self-sustaining.
Riverhead GOP nominate Kenneth Rothwell for town supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“How we can make each department within the town of Riverhead more self-sustaining”
Supports attracting high-tech development to broaden the tax base.
Riverhead GOP nominate Kenneth Rothwell for town supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“attracting high-tech developments that can bring in a more sustainable tax base”
Opposes closed-session handling of the retirement incentive proposal.
Riverhead supervisor pitches early retirement program for town workers
News coverage · RiverheadLOCAL · May 27, 2026 · riverheadlocal.com
“You want to do this, you want to have these discussions, then you do it in the open”

Jerome Halpin

Democratic, Taxpayers FirstIncumbent

The gist

Secured an $8,000-plus cut to his own salary.
Pledges to lessen the tax burden on homeowners.
Proposes an early retirement incentive for town employees.
Proposes supervisor office hours for residents.

More about Jerome

View sources (2)

Secured an $8,000-plus cut to his own salary.
New year, new leadership: Jerry Halpin sworn in as Riverhead Town Supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“will cut his pay by more than $8,000 from the $118,919 approved in the 2026 adopted town budget”
Pledges to lessen the tax burden on homeowners.
New year, new leadership: Jerry Halpin sworn in as Riverhead Town Supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“paying our town employees better, and lessening the tax burden on each home”
Proposes an early retirement incentive for town employees.
Riverhead supervisor pitches early retirement program for town workers
News coverage · RiverheadLOCAL · May 27, 2026 · riverheadlocal.com
“Halpin is proposing an early retirement incentive program for town employees”
Proposes supervisor office hours for residents.
New year, new leadership: Jerry Halpin sworn in as Riverhead Town Supervisor
News coverage · Riverhead News-Review · riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com
“he intends to set office hours where residents can meet with him directly about their concerns”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 3 issues covered in this race.