Republican line, but was urged to decline a cross endorsement by Democratic leaders who feared it would help Republican candidates downballot. Republicans nominated Hempstead Town Councilman Gregory P. Peterson, the only individual actively campaigning, to face Dillon in the general election. Dillon was favored throughout the race, but Peterson went on the offensive, criticizing Dillon for his personal opposition to capital punishment, and what he felt was soft enforcement on marijuana and organized crime. Dillon countered by declaring that he would put aside his personal view and enforce any new capital punishment statute should the legislature implement it, and cited his work at the Department of Justice against the Colombo crime family in response to Peterson's claims on organized crime prosecutions. Dillon was ultimately re-elected with 62% of the vote on the Democratic, Conservative, and Liberal Party lines over Peterson, who had only the Republican line Dillon's re-election was one of the few bright spots for Nassau County Democrats, who saw Republicans retain both the County Executive and Comptroller's seats, as well as an overwhelming majority on the county's Board of Supervisors. 1981 election The 1980 indictment of Margiotta led to speculation that Dillon, at the height of his popularity, would seek the Democratic nomination for County Executive against incumbent Francis Purcell, a Margiotta associate. Dillon ultimately declined the opportunity, instead accepting an offer brokered by his friend, then-Hempstead Town Councilman Peter King, of the Republican endorsement and ballot line for re-election as District Attorney. King, with whom Dillon had bonded over their opposition to abortion and support of Irish republicanism, obtained Margiotta's approval for the deal and Dillon received the Republican nomination without opposition. In the aftermath of Dillon's decision, Democrats largely abandoned their countywide effort for the November election, running their county vice chairman John Matthews as a sacrificial lamb against Purcell. This sequence of events led to the Democrats planned nominee for Comptroller, Richard Kessel, dropping out of the race, saying that the electorate would "vote for Purcell on the Republican line, Dillon on the G.O.P. line and then clickety-clack right down the Republican line". In November, Dillon was elected unopposed to a third term, having received the Democratic, Republican, Liberal, and Conservative nominations, as well as that of the Right to Life Party, which first attained statewide ballot access after the 1978 gubernatorial election. Dillon's unopposed re-election came amidst a Republican landslide countywide, with the party