The East Hampton Independence Party has endorsed the Democratic candidates who were rebuffed by their own party but successfully petitioned to force a June 22 primary election.
Elaine Jones, the party's chairwoman, said on Monday that the Independence Party has endorsed Councilman Jeff Bragman, who did not receive the East Hampton Democratic Committee's endorsement but is challenging Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc; John Whelan, an architect and chairman of the town's zoning board of appeals who is seeking a seat on the town board, and Rick Drew, an incumbent trustee who also did not receive the committee's endorsement.
Party officials are carrying nominating petitions to submit to the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Their success would ensure that Mr. Bragman, Mr. Drew, and Mr. Whelan would appear on a ballot line in the Nov. 2 election even if their primary challenges prove unsuccessful. The party needs 277 valid signatures in order to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, according to the board of elections.
The Independence Party has also endorsed the incumbents Stephen Lynch, highway superintendent; Eugene DePasquale, assessor; Carole Brennan, clerk, and Steven Tekulsky, justice.
Ms. Jones said that the endorsements, which include just one candidate, Mr. Drew, for the nine-person trustee board, were made solely because "we want people who are qualified for the position. Republicans and Democrats have chosen people who are not qualified this year." She referred to both Republican and Democratic candidates, as well as to the 2019 discovery of an audio recording, apparently made surreptitiously, on which several incumbent trustees are heard. "I don't endorse them because of what they've done," she said of some in the latter group.
At their February nominating convention, no member of the Democratic Committee would nominate Mr. Bragman, who was elected to the town board in 2017. Mr. Drew, who was elected to the trustees in 2015, was nominated for endorsement by Francis Bock, the trustees' clerk and a member of the committee, but finished 10th, far behind his fellow incumbents and another nominee, David Cataletto. Mr. Whelan, an architect and chairman of the town's zoning board of appeals, was also nominated but did not receive the committee's endorsement, finishing well behind Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Cate Rogers, the committee's chairwoman, both of whom won the committee's endorsement.
"The Independence Party would like to endorse me," Mr. Whelan said on Monday, "and I'm pleased about this. I'm hoping to get elected, and if I am, obviously I will be serving all members of the town, no matter the party they're affiliated with. I look forward to collecting the required signatures and being endorsed by the Independence Party."
"We appreciate the Independence Party nominations," Mr. Bragman said on Tuesday. "They selected candidates who can listen and lead with candor and courtesy."
"You want the voters to have the ability to choose the people they feel are qualified," Ms. Jones said. "We've chosen the best. I am not endorsing anyone who is not qualified."