East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez will once again be the Democratic candidate for supervisor come November, after placing first in votes at the Democratic Committee nominating convention Wednesday night.
She won 88 percent of the committee votes.
It is her third time being nominated. She was tapped by the committeeman Jim Lubetkin, before David Goldstein seconded the nomination.
Applause filled the room when Anna Skrenta, the Democratic Committee chairwoman, announced Ms. Burke-Gonzalez as the winner.
"My heart is racing," the supervisor said from the lectern at a cold St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Amagansett. "I'm deeply grateful to all of you, for the support and the trust you've placed in me."
"Being town supervisor is a serious responsibility, and it is one I carry with humility," she continued. "I'm proud of what we've accomplished together, and I remain committed to serving this town with honesty, heart, and respect for the community that we all cherish."
Even though Ms. Burke-Gonzalez won an uncontested election in November, because Gov. Kathy Hochul passed the Even Year Election Law in December 2023, all town and county races outside of New York City have been moved to even-number years to coincide with races for Congress, governor, or president.
The intent behind the law was to increase voter turnout for local elections.
Ms. Burke-Gonzalez faced a challenge from East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, the only other candidate nominated from the floor. He was nominated by Francis Bock, whose nomination was seconded by Barbara Layton. He received 12 percent of the votes.
Mr. Larsen watched from the second row as the town supervisor gave her speech and afterward stood to congratulate her and shake her hand.
"I respect the Democratic Committee's decision to stand with the incumbent, and I appreciate the time and consideration they gave all the candidates who stepped forward," he said in a statement.
"That said, I am running because too many residents feel that Town Hall is not working for them. We are facing real challenges, from housing and taxes to efficiency, accountability, and basic responsiveness. I believe our community deserves a clear choice and a competitive Democratic primary."
The Democratic primary is June 23. Voters must be registered by June 13.
Jeff Bragman, a local land-use attorney and town councilman from 2018 to 2021, was not nominated from the floor despite screening with the committee on Jan. 10. It is not clear if he is considering joining a primary race.
"I feel like I want to acknowledge what's happening, nationally in our country right now, before I do any of our normal orders of business," said Ms. Skrenta, who ran the event. "I feel insincere if I don't. It's on all of our minds. I want to say that the East Hampton Democratic Committee unequivocally condemns what's happening in regards to immigration enforcement. It's really important that we gather peacefully, take care of our neighbors, and do the work of democracy. To that end, we are here tonight to choose our candidates."
There are 19 election districts in the town, with two committee members per district. There are currently two vacancies, in districts one and six.
Each committee member represents democratic voters in their district. However, their ballots are not all equal.
Ms. Skrenta explained: "Each committee person can vote the number of votes equal to 50 percent of the democratic votes cast in their election district for the Democratic candidate for governor in the last gubernatorial election, which was 2022, which was when Kathy Hochul was elected."
So, generally, the committee members representing more populous election districts cast a vote that has more weight. Votes for Ms. Burke-Gonzalez totaled 6,032.5 under this calculation; Mr. Larsen received 823.5.
Committee members themselves are elected during the primary. At the end of February, those interested in a seat can begin circulating petitions and gaining signatures to show up on June's ballot.
The room was full. When it came time to vote, committee members received paper ballots, and filled them out, before lining up to hand them to Andy Harris, the vice chairman of the committee, who tabulated them with Thomas Crouch, its treasurer, and Deb Choron, the secretary.
The only other race served by the nominating convention was for the superintendent of highways. Once again, Stephen Lynch will be the Democratic nominee. In fact, he was the only person who screened with the committee.
He thanked the committee for giving him the opportunity to "continue to keep our roads safe for everybody that comes and travels to East Hampton."
