The race for Irondequoit Town Supervisor has been one marked by boisterous rhetoric, the failure of the incumbent to make the ballot, and a healthy dose of corruption claims.
This November, longtime Democratic Town Board member John Perticone is challenging Republican Anthony Costanza for the town’s top elected seat.
The race has been a contentious one, with both sides lobbing allegations of lying and misconduct at one another. Perticone has said Costanza violated town ethics during his time as town assessor by and has referred to him as a “criminal.” Costanza has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor corruption charges in that incident.
Meanwhile, Costanza has lobbed allegations of corruption against Perticone. His campaign website features AI-voiced videos of claims against Perticone, including accusations that Perticone violated labor law during his time as business manager for the Plumbers and Pipefitters UA Local 13.
And then there’s Andraé Evans, the embattled Democratic incumbent who was censured after a town investigation detailed claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. Evans failed to obtain enough signatures to make the ballot but is running a write-in campaign.
Though majority Democratic in its population, Irondequoit has seesawed in leadership, from Democrat David Seely to Republican Rory Fitzpatrick to Evans.
In a heated race, get to know the two candidates on the ballot who are vying to lead Monroe County’s second-largest suburb.
John Perticone
Irondequoit Democrats overwhelmingly voted to designate Perticone as their candidate for the town supervisor seat in February, after the allegations against Evans were made public.
It was a somewhat obvious choice — Perticone has been a mainstay in Irondequoit politics, having served on the town’s planning board before beginning his 17 years on the Town Board. His background in labor has garnered his campaign strong union support as well, with backing from Local 13, the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, and United Auto Workers (UAW).
Perticone was unavailable for an interview for this story but appeared last week on WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson.
He is running with three priorities in mind.
“Public safety is number one, fiscal responsibility, and economic development,” he said. “Those are things that we need in town, and I’m going to work very hard to get to those.”
On economic development, Perticone pointed to the developments at the former Medley Center as a promising piece of the future of the town. The one-time mall now hosts the Irondequoit community center and Skyview Park Apartments for seniors. In October, the Willow Domestic Violence Center broke ground on a new facility at the site.
Perticone said the town needs to work to attract developers for its strip malls and plazas.
“Work with the Chamber of Commerce, let’s get together here and see what we have to do for these spaces,” Perticone said, explaining that reactivating these retail spaces will help boost sales tax revenue for the town. “And that’s a big part of our budget process. So you have to stay on top of that.”
On the charges against his opponent, Perticone said that it shows a lack of integrity.
“The people of Irondequoit deserve a little bit more than what they’re getting, believe me,” Perticone said.
Perticone is running on the Democratic, Working Families, and Conservative party lines.
Anthony Costanza
An Irondequoit native who split his youth between the suburb and Italy, Costanza moved back to Irondequoit in 2022 after a long career in the U.S. Air Force.
Costanza’s first foray into local government was being tapped as assessor in 2024 under Evans. He served 10 months in the job, which ultimately led to the charges levied against him.
The charges brought against him by former District Attorney Sandra Doorley state he “willfully used his municipal position or official powers and duties to secure a financial or material benefit for himself.” Costanza specifically is accused of lowering his own assessment from $200,000 to $170,000.
He denies any wrongdoing and said that the lowering of his own assessment was part of a wider adjustment of overvalued assessments last year.
“It's been very disappointing, because I lead my life with integrity,” Costanza said, during an interview at Little Bits coffee shop in Irondequoit. “I served the nation with integrity for so many years. There was no stunt. I've said this before: The effect to my taxes was inconsequential. The fact that I was fixing assessments for all people, regardless of whether it was mine or not, is the key point here.”
He’s also a recently enrolled Republican, joining the party earlier this year after previously being unaffiliated.
Costanza said the core issues in Irondequoit are a lack of efficiency and fairness to its citizens.
Assessments are still top of mind, and he vows to redo how assessments are performed, if elected. He said he also thinks that the town has not done enough to make itself an attractive place to do business.
“We need to basically think big and have a wide spectrum of people that we are approaching with respect to development,” Costanza said. “And work with these people, because as we invest and bring in commercial entities into Irondequoit, that expands the tax base and lessens the burden on the residential folks.”
Costanza is running on a slate of political outsider candidates, alongside Lisa Barrett and Michael Voigt for Town Board under the banner of “Irondequoit 1st". He said the political establishment in the town has failed its residents, and it’s time for change, and that his career managing finances in the military makes him best suited for the job.
“I bring fresh thought, and I was trained to basically go into organizations and, using my financial experience and acumen, to root out inefficiencies and make things work better,” Costanza said. “No one else has that background, so it's very unique.”
