Dem Reflects on ‘New World Order’
“I leave with only positive thoughts,” former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said on Friday, three days after her campaign to unseat Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District ended with a loss. Mr. Zeldin, a first-term Republican, easily prevailed over his challenger, winning 59 percent to Ms. Throne-Holst’s 41 percent of the vote.
Reflecting on the campaign, the Democratic candidate called it “an amazing process to be part of” and “an incredible privilege. I felt this very strong sense that this wasn’t me: I was just the body that spoke for and represented the people that cared about the issues that we cared about. You feel that responsibility very strongly. You hope you carry the message as well as you can and that it is truly reflective of the people you want it to be reflective of.”
Ms. Throne-Holst’s campaign worked to tie Mr. Zeldin to Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s controversial, and ultimately successful, nominee for president. The effort apparently did nothing for her campaign, with Mr. Trump winning more votes in Suffolk County than his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in his surprise victory. “This was one of his absolutely strongest districts,” she said of Mr. Trump. She called Mr. Zeldin “a well-liked guy by his base” who “also had the advantage of the Trump wave.”
“We need leaders who are clear that we need to understand there’s a new world order here,” she said of Mr. Trump’s election. “There is certainly a new paradigm in the world of public service and representation that is only beginning to become clear to us. Tuesday night laid it very bare. . . . If I can be of help there and in any way a positive force, I would welcome that. But most of all, understanding that whoever and whatever it is, it has to be reflective of a very new world order and a very new generation that does not look like what got elected on Tuesday.”
In a larger context, Mr. Trump’s election is part of a broader, even global trend, exemplified by the June referendum in which British citizens voted to exit the European Union and the rise of nationalist parties in much of Europe. This demands new thinking, Ms. Throne-Holst said. “Leadership has to rise to the top here, but what that looks like and how it leads is what has to come from a deep and deeply intellectual place. I do think that what did get elected on Tuesday lacks that intellectual depth and breadth of understanding for what did bring it, first of all, to victory, and how it is going to address what did bring it to victory.”
On the other hand, she said, “In adversity there is opportunity, and shame on us if we don’t understand that and also try to build from that. In this case, I think we have a very important job to do as a nation. I do think that those who won on Tuesday are also going to have to lead now; it’s going to be on their shoulders to actually govern and try to solve these problems.”
With that said, she was noncommittal as to future plans. “There are a lot of ways to be a public servant. Elected office is only one of them. . . . My dreams and aspirations have always been to be a public servant, to do good work, to be part of advocating for people who need advocacy. Building policy has always been interesting to me, too.” She is not, she said, “a serial candidate.”
She will not miss the negative tone of the campaign, she said, and complained about “an element of dishonesty” that infects political campaigns. “My kids, for instance, were really upset when they saw some of these negative missiles launched at me that were not true. . . . But I hope we were able to help most people see that they may not have agreed with our policy positions or my ideological positions, but hope they know I was always honest and just wanted to put this side of the story out, put my best foot forward.”
“That part of it is a relief to shut the door on, but other than that, it was an experience of a lifetime and truly a privilege. I felt really fortunate to have been given the opportunity.”