Name: Al Krupski

Age: 52

Current Job: Southold Town Councilman

Current Salary: $32,567 (plus $2,000 as deputy supervisor)

Legislative Salary: $93,958

Al Krupski is the Democratic and Working Families candidate to replace Ed Romaine as 1st District Suffolk County Legislator in tonight’s special election.

Mr. Krupski, whose family owns and operates a Peconic pumpkin farm, served as a Town Trustee for 20 years and has now been a Town Board member for eight years. He said the issues he’d face at the county level are similar to those he’s already dealing with as a Southold Town Councilman and Deputy Supervisor.

“In many ways this is the same as the Town Board,” he said. “I understand land preservation, transportation and quality of life issues, plus controlling the size and cost of government. Those are East End issues that should translate well to the rest of the the county.”

If Mr. Krupski were to be elected, county Democrats would have a veto-proof majority in the Legislature. Mr. Krupski pointed out that, as the only Democrat on the Southold Town Board, he had a long history of bipartisan cooperation.

“Once you get elected, you don’t worry about party. You worry about people,” Mr. Krupski said. “I don’t buy into Democrat versus Republican, east versus west. You’re never going to go anywhere in government if you toe the party line.”

“I want to represent the East End,” he said in a debate we sponsored. “I’m not the sort of person who, when something’s broken, you smash it. I like to take it apart, fix it and make it better.”

He also noted during his campaign that he’s be the first Southold Town resident and the first farmer to represent the 1st District in the Legislature.

Born and raised in Peconic, he lives with his wife Mary and three children in Cutchogue. He holds a degree in plant science from the University of Delaware.

He has served on the Peconic Land Trust Board of Directors and is a member of the North Fork Chamber of Commerce.