{"id":2452340,"date":"2025-06-26T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/local-gop-primary-descends-into-bizarre-chaos-incumbents-daughters-boyfriend-busted\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T12:03:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T16:03:00","slug":"local-gop-primary-descends-into-bizarre-chaos-incumbents-daughters-boyfriend-busted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/local-gop-primary-descends-into-bizarre-chaos-incumbents-daughters-boyfriend-busted\/","title":{"rendered":"Local GOP Primary Descends into Bizarre Chaos: Incumbent&#8217;s Daughter&#8217;s Boyfriend Busted"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flocal-gop-primary-descends-into-bizarre-chaos-incumbents-daughters-boyfriend-busted%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2452340&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A local Republican primary in Smithtown, long Island, New York, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alleged-firebomber-behind-attack-on-local-tesla-shop-hit-with-federal-charges\/\" title=\"Alleged Firebomber Behind Attack on Local Tesla Shop Hit with Federal Charges\">captured national attention due<\/a> to a bizarre sequence of events leading up to the election. Incumbent supervisor Edward Wehrheim successfully defended his position against challenger John Trotta, winning 55% of the vote amid allegations of harassment involving Wehrheim&#8217;s daughter&#8217;s boyfriend, Joshua Smith. Smith was arrested for stalking Trotta, with accusations that he had been intimidating Trotta by driving into his driveway and revving his engine late at night. Initially, Wehrheim&#8217;s camp denied any connection to the incident, but their stance shifted after Smith&#8217;s arrest, prompting a focus on the situation post-election. Despite the controversy, Wehrheim secured his victory, allowing him to continue his role as supervisor for a seventh year. Trotta expressed disbelief over Wehrheim&#8217;s attempts to downplay the allegations, noting the police had evidence linking Smith to the harassment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A small, local Republican primary for a township&rsquo;s supervisor position is normally not worth national coverage.<\/p>\n<p>A GOP primary in Smithtown, a town on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/republicans-paint-long-island-completely-red-political-earthquake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Long Island<\/a>, New York, bucked that conventional wisdom with one of the more bizarre lead-ups to a primary imaginable.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, voters in Smithtown voted to keep incumbent supervisor Edward Wehrheim in his position, per <a href=\"https:\/\/longisland.news12.com\/results-long-island-2025-primary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News 12 Long Island<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wehrheim beat challenger John Trotta in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/two-principals-indicted-alleged-electioneering-attempt-disrupt-gop-primary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the primary<\/a>, winning 55 percent of the votes to his opponent&rsquo;s 45 (the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-democrats-want-buffalo-mayor-stripped-of-dnc-position-after-his-re-election\/\" title=\"Progressive Democrats Want Buffalo Mayor Stripped Of DNC Position After His Re-...\">incumbent won<\/a> by about 700 votes).<\/p>\n<p>That victory, however, came in the wake of allegations that a man dating Wehrheim&rsquo;s adult daughter stalked Trotta and tried to intimidate him in the lead-up to Tuesday&rsquo;s primary.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>According to a New York Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/06\/24\/us-news\/person-close-to-long-island-town-supervisor-stalked-and-menaced-political-challenger-days-before-gop-primary-police\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exclusive<\/a>, 47-year-old Joshua Smith &mdash; dating Wehrheim&rsquo;s daughter, Kellie Ann &mdash; was arrested Monday night on charges of stalking and menacing Trotta.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For three straight nights beginning on June 16, Smith allegedly pulled into Trotta&rsquo;s driveway late at night, blasting his brights and loudly revving his engine in a string of back-to-back incidents,&rdquo; the Post reported, citing both Suffolk County police and Trotta himself.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One night I&rsquo;m in bed and all of a sudden I hear this loud revving, almost like thunder,&rdquo; Trotta told The Post. &ldquo;I go to the window, and I can barely see anything until they drove away.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That was apparently just the first night of this bizarre experience.<\/p>\n<p>Initially, Wehrheim&rsquo;s team vociferously denied any connection to this <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >apparent harassment campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But after Smith was arrested and charged with stalking Monday night, just hours before polls opened, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/orange-county-supervisor-removed-from-committees-over-accusations-of-stealing-covid-19-funds-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Orange County ... removed from committees over accusations of stealing COVID-19 funds - Washington Examiner\">supervisor&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s camp changed its tone,&rdquo; the Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/06\/24\/us-news\/long-island-politician-vows-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-claims-his-daughters-boyfriend-stalked-election-rival\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re focusing on getting through the election today,&rdquo; a campaign representative said Tuesday morning. &ldquo;After that, the Supervisor and I plan on getting to the bottom of this entire situation. No one wants to get to the truth in this matter more than him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trotta&rsquo;s not buying it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It boggles my mind how [Wehrheim] can sit there and call this an allegation and try to ignore it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/capitol-police-arrest-man-accused-running-republican-congressman-off-road-threatening\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">when the police<\/a> set up a plate reader and caught him at his house,&rdquo; Trotta said.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps due to that close connection, Wehrheim&rsquo;s campaign felt compelled to distance itself from the supervisor&rsquo;s daughter&rsquo;s boyfriend.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Anyone who has ever worked with, or has met Ed Wehrheim &hellip; knows that he is a man who treats everyone with dignity and respect and lives every day to serve his community,&rdquo; a campaign representative said.<\/p>\n<p>The rep added: &ldquo;He would never condone or tolerate any sort of behavior that defies basic decency.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite this sordid tale, Wehrheim won his primary Tuesday, boosting his bid to keep a job he&rsquo;s had for seven years.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A local Republican primary for a township supervisor is typically not significant enough for national attention. However, the GOP primary in Smithtown, Long Island, New York, defied this norm with an unusually strange lead-up. On Tuesday, Smithtown voters chose to retain incumbent supervisor Edward Wehrheim, who defeated challenger John Trotta by securing 55% of the votes compared to Trotta&#8217;s 45%, winning by approximately 700 votes. This victory followed allegations that Joshua Smith, who is dating Wehrheim&#8217;s adult daughter, stalked and attempted to intimidate Trotta before the primary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2452341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Candidates-and-the-boyfriend.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[57954,32773,37990,35743,4633],"class_list":["post-2452340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-election-chaos","tag-gop-primary","tag-local-politics","tag-political-drama","tag-scandal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Candidates-and-the-boyfriend.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452344,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452340\/revisions\/2452344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}