A candidate for local office in New York has been missing for months. He can still win New York

A political candidate in a New York City suburb went for a night swim in the Atlantic Ocean last spring and never returned.

Petros Kromidas’s phone, keys, and clothes were found in the sand at Long Beach on Long Island. The 29-year-old former rower, who was training for a triathlon, had parked his car just off the picturesque boardwalk.

As the months passed, local Democrats tried to present an alternative to running for the Nassau County Legislature seat.

But two Republican electors took them to court and won: A state judge recently ordered that Kromidas’ name be kept on the November ballot, ruling that he should still be considered missing and not officially deceased.

Now, as Election Day approaches, voters in Long Beach and other communities on Long Island’s South Shore have a strange choice: re-elect the incumbent Republican or Democratic candidate who has seemingly disappeared at sea.

James Hodge is among those calling on residents to cast their ballots for Chromidas regardless — hoping to trigger a special election in which Democrats can field another candidate to run against Republican lawmaker Patrick Mulaney.

The Long Beach resident worked with Kromidas on the Nassau County Board of Elections, and Democrats have nominated him to run in his place.

“We need to stand by him and honor his name and his memory,” Hodge told the Associated Press. “Let’s give him this victory. It’s the right thing to do.”

The Republican voters said in their lawsuit that Democrats cannot claim Cromidas’ death because authorities still consider him a missing person. They pointed to a New York State law that stipulates that a person is considered dead after being “absent for a period of three continuous years.”

District Judge Gary Noble agreed, writing in his ruling last month that “‘missing person’ status does not qualify as a vacancy that can be filled.”

The judge noted a similar situation decades ago in Alaska.

Nicholas Begich Sr., a congressman, disappeared in a plane crash weeks before the 1972 election, but won nonetheless. The Alaska Democrat was eventually declared dead, and his Republican opponent took the seat in a special election.

In 2000, Democratic Governor of Missouri, Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash while campaigning for a seat in the US Senate. Although Carnahan was lagging in the polls when he died, he returned to political life after his death, narrowly defeating his Republican opponent, John Ashcroft. Carnahan’s widow, Jane, was appointed to serve in the Senate until a special election in 2022, which she lost.

More recently, Dennis Hof, the Nevada brothel owner featured in the HBO docuseries Cathouse, died weeks before the 2018 election, but still maintains a seat in the state legislature.

In 2020, North Dakota legislative candidate David Andahl died of COVID-19 the month before the election, yet won. In 2022, Pennsylvania Rep. Anthony DeLuca won re-election despite his death from lymphoma the previous month.

Hodge and other Long Island Democrats argue that Republicans have filed the lawsuits only to ensure victory for themselves as they seek to consolidate their majority in the county legislature. They say the lawsuit has only prolonged the Kromidas family’s suffering.

“I understand politics, but there is a time to stop and be human,” said Ellen Lederer DiFrancesco, who met Kromidas through the local People’s Democratic Party. “Petros is someone’s son, brother and friend.”

Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. pledged in a statement that the party and its candidates “will demonstrate the highest level of sensitivity during these difficult times for the Kromidas family.”

Kromidas’ family declined to comment when reached by phone, but his mother and sister called on residents to “honor him and vote for him” in recent Facebook posts.

“Peter cared deeply about people and his community and continues to inspire kindness and unity in our community,” his mother, Maria, wrote.

His sister, Eleni Lemonia Kromidas, described him in her own post as a first-generation American who loved his country and “believed in equality, education, and the power of unity.”

In the days after his disappearance, family and friends joined first responders in scouring a wide expanse of sand in Long Beach, located just east of New York City’s Queens borough.

Some of the missing persons flyers they put up with photos of Chromidas’ young, smiling face are torn and faded but still visible on telephone poles around Long Beach.

Meanwhile, campaign signs for Mulaney, his opponent, are prominently displayed on fences along major roads and on neat residential lawns. The Republican did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Along the Long Beach Boardwalk last week, longtime resident Maude Carione was aghast at the choice facing voters in November.

“It’s crazy to leave his name on the ballot. It’s going to confuse people,” said the 72-year-old Trump supporter, who had no plans to vote in the upcoming local elections. “In fairness, you have to give another Democratic candidate a chance. You have to do that.”

For resident Regina Pecorella, the decision, although bleak, was clear. “If it was between those two, I would vote for the person who is still alive,” said the 54-year-old independent, who voted straight Republican in the previous election. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

Guardian staff contributed reporting