Political Briefs 10.06.16
Independence Party Backs Zeldin
Frank MacKay, chairman of the New York State and Suffolk County Independence Party, has endorsed Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican seeking re-election in New York’s First Congressional District. Mr. Zeldin will appear on the Republican, Conservative, Independence, and Reform Party ballot lines in the Nov. 8 election in which he is challenged by former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst. Ms. Throne-Holst was registered with the Independence Party from 2010 until 2015, when she changed her affiliation to the Democratic Party and launched her campaign for Congress. She will also appear on the ballot on the Working Families line.
“Lee Zeldin is my congressman and I am proud of the many victories he has secured for our Congressional district in just his first term and that is why I am confident he will continue to deliver and fight for us in Washington,” Mr. MacKay said in a statement issued by Mr. Zeldin’s campaign. “He has shown time and again that he works across party lines to pass bipartisan legislation. We need more leaders in Congress like Lee Zeldin.”
Throne-Holst Hosts Gun Forum
Anna Throne-Holst hosted a forum on gun violence on Saturday in Patchogue. Ms. Throne-Holst was part of a panel that included Sue Hornik of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, David Kilmnick of the Long Island LGBT Network, and Long Island residents who have lost family members to gun violence.
Ms. Throne-Holst is critical of Representative Lee Zeldin, calling Mr. Zeldin more extreme than Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee for president, on the issue of guns.
The National Rifle Association’s political action committee has endorsed Mr. Zeldin.
Zeldin Attends Peres Funeral
Representative Lee Zeldin traveled to Israel last week to attend the funeral of former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres. “It was an honor to join President Obama in attending the funeral service of former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres to pay my respects to the last founding father of Israel, and offer condolences on behalf of the First Congressional District of New York and the United States,” Mr. Zeldin, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, said in a statement. “Shimon Peres was deeply committed to preserving peace, security, and democracy in Israel and the Middle East.
U.A.W. Endorses Throne-Holst
The United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America Region 9A has endorsed Anna Throne-Holst in her campaign to represent New York’s First Congressional District. The union has more than 60,000 members who live and work on Long Island and in New York City.
“Anna has always made service to her community and to working families a top priority,” Julie Kushner, the U.A.W. Region 9A’s director, said in a statement issued yesterday by Ms. Throne-Holst’s campaign. “Our members are endorsing Anna Throne-Holst because she has demonstrated a tireless commitment to hard-working families and understands the struggles of everyday working families.”
Other unions supporting Ms. Throne-Holst’s candidacy include the New York State Council of Machinists, the Heat and Frost Insulators Local 112, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen Local 56, and the American Postal Workers Union.