Southampton, NY always is involved in fascinating political races.
In 2002, Southampton resident Tim Bishop (NY-01) fought what has been called one of the ten most vicious political campaigns in American history to dethrone the Republican incumbent, former Congressman Felix Grucci.
In 2007, a diary here reported of one of the craziest local elections in recent history--one that involved lots of backstabbing and ended in total confusion--the race for Town Supervisor. Alex Gregor, the Independent, took votes that likely would have gone to the Democrat, Jim Henry. The Conservative candidate and incumbent, "Skip" Heaney, who had, and still has, something of a stranglehold on the Southampton Republican Party, split the vote with Republican moderate Linda Kabot after a bruising and close primary. The party establishment desperately wanted Heaney to win. In the end, it looked like a dead-heat between Kabot and Henry; absentee ballots would decide the winner. The final results were: Kabot (R) 32.8% Henry (D) 32.42% Heaney (C) 29.18% Gregor (I) 5.6%
According to 2009 enrollment statistics, Southampton isn't as Republican as those results would lead you to believe. 37% of the registered voters are enrolled in the Republican Party. 31% are Democrats. The rest are unaffiliated or members of third parties. It's safe to assume that Republicans split between Heaney and Kabot, Democrats mostly stuck with Henry, and Independents spread evenly for all four candidates.
Now comes 2008. A Democratic tidal wave sweeps through Southampton. After running a few times for the spot and coming close, Andrea Schiavoni wins her race for Town Justice by double digits. And in a huge surprise for a seat on the Town Board, Sally Pope narrowly defeated Dan Russo, who was appointed to the seat by Kabot because he was supposed to be a shoo-in to win the election.
This year's races look no different, and there's a lot going on. The honchos at the Republican Party want Kabot to go down. They didn't nominate her for Town Supervisor despite being somewhat popular among the people. Instead they chose James Malone, a good little boy who has kissed up to the Republican Party. She fought back and made threats about a possible primary. Republican leaders gave in and nominated her and moved Malone to the Town Board race. The Conservatives, however, refuse to endorse her, even though they endorsed all the other Republican candidates up for election in 2009. The Dems have chosen Town Board member Anna Throne-Holst as their nominee. She's a good and likable leader; she has been endorsed by a few local Republicans (some for noble reasons, some for evil reasons, as I will explain later), the Working Families Party, and the Independents.
But ah! The Independent town committee voted unanimously to endorse Throne-Holst and the two Democratic nominees for Town Board. The party's head had promised that the town committee would decide who to endorse and not the county leaders, but he changed his mind after negotiating in back door meetings with the Republican and Conservative Party leaders. He would stick with the town committee's endorsement of Throne-Holst (since the Republicans want Kabot out and to assuage the angry committee members of his own party) but endorse the two Republican candidates for Town Board. James Malone is one of those two candidates. The Republican and Conservative Party want Malone to win the Town Board seat and then fight Throne-Holst in 2011 for Supervisor. They expect to be unified by then and have Malone endorsed by the Republicans, Conservatives, AND Independents in 2011. They'll have a choke-hold on both the Town Board and want the Supervisor position.
The Republican Party has dominated local politics for many years, despite Southampton voting for Dems nationally. However, recently, there have been signs of change, as seen by the 2008 election results. But were they just a fluke? These type of antics have occurred for a while now, and, if successful, will continue to occur. To stop the Republicans and make them re-think their plans, the Dems have to win at least one Town Board seat (preferably defeating Malone, which seems unlikely). We'll see what happens. Perhaps Malone will lose. Or maybe he'll win by one vote. After all, this is Southampton. Anything can happen.