The East Hampton Independence Party submitted nominating petitions with around 500 signatures to the Suffolk County Board of Elections last week, far more than the 277 valid signatures required in order for its candidates to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot. No challenges to the signatures’ validity had been received by the board as of Tuesday morning, an official there said. Challenges can be sent by mail with a postmark no later than Tuesday, or filed by 5 p.m. that day.
The Independence Party has endorsed all three Democratic Party candidates who were rebuffed by the East Hampton Democratic Committee but who successfully petitioned to force a June 22 primary election, led by Councilman Jeff Bragman for supervisor. Mr. Bragman, an attorney, was elected to the town board in 2017. He will face Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, who is seeking a third term, in the primary.
The Independence Party also endorsed John Whelan for a seat on the town board. Mr. Whelan, an architect who chairs the town’s zoning board of appeals, sought but did not receive the Democratic committee’s endorsement. He will compete in the primaries for one of two Democratic ballot lines against Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who is seeking a third term, and Cate Rogers, who is chairwoman of the Democratic committee.
Rick Drew, a town trustee who is seeking a fourth term, also won the Independence Party’s endorsement. Like Mr. Bragman and Mr. Whelan, he sought the Democratic committee’s endorsement but did not get it. The committee nominated all the other eight incumbent trustees and David Cataletto, a teacher at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton, for the nine-person body.
Regardless of the outcome on June 22, the Independence Party endorsements assure the candidates a ballot line in the Nov. 2 general election, provided its nominating petitions are deemed valid.
Rounding out the party's slate of candidates are the incumbents Stephen Lynch, superintendent of highways; Carole Brennan, town clerk; Eugene DePasquale, tax assessor, and Steven Tekulsky, town justice.
“We want people who are qualified for the position,” Elaine Jones, the Independence Party chairwoman, said last month. “Republicans and Democrats have chosen people who are not qualified this year.”
