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Updated: November 4, 2009, 1:35 pm	Share    Print    Email

Now supervisor-elect, Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst (center) was the sole Democratic Party winner for Town Board, defeating Linda Kabot with 60 percent of the vote. Photos by Aaron Boyd

Southampton - Southampton has elected a new supervisor, as incumbent Linda Kabot conceded to challenger Anna Throne-Holst shortly after 11 p.m. on Tuesday night. With over 90 percent of the vote counted Throne-Holst held the lead with nearly 60 percent, 6,884 votes to Kabot's 4,990.

"It feels great," Supervisor-elect Throne-Holst said on Wednesday morning, "I'm excited that I won by the margin that I won by, it's a real mandate," she said, adding that she was "honored to get the broad range of support that I got."

Supervisor Linda Kabot receiving the grim news as Throne-Holst took an early lead.

In her concession speech, Kabot thanked the people of Southampton for giving her the opportunity to serve and assured them that she would continue to work tirelessly through the next two months. At times holding back tears, Kabot pledged to find another way to serve the community, possibly hinting at a run in the special election for supervisor-elect Throne-Holst's council seat. "You haven't seen the last of Linda Kabot yet," she stated. According to Throne-Holst, Kabot called her opponent shortly after conceding, however Throne-Holst was without her phone at the time.

Councilman Chris Nuzzi will keep his seat with 29.57 percent of the vote and will be joined by fellow Republican Jim Malone, who maintained a slight lead over incumbent board member Sally Pope leading into the late-night hours, 24.78 percent to 23.18 percent, respectively, which held up with all districts reporting. Democrat Bridget Fleming took the fewest votes, garnering 22.54 percent.

"The Democrats just didn't show up like we needed them to," Throne-Holst said of the town council results, referencing elections from East Hampton to Virginia and New Jersey where Republicans took big wins, "I'm sorry for Sally, she put in a year of good work, and for Bridget. I'm sorry for them that it wasn't a better night." The two Republican candidates elected to the town board will be joining Republican Nancy Grabowski, an early and ardent Kabot supporter, and the eventual winner of January's special election.

Throne-Holst, nominated by the Democrats, though technically not affiliated with any party, may have a difficult time of managing a board made up of the opposition, where three votes control the board. "I hope that we will be a common sense board and begin by trying to find consensus and common ground," Throne-Holst, who ran on a platform of coalition building, said, "And I hope my colleagues will work with me on that. I'm very hopeful that this is a group that will do that."

With Throne-Holst's current seat soon to be vacant, a special election will be held between 60 and 90 days from November 3, and the supervisor-elect is hopeful that her Democratic Party colleagues will run in that election. "I'm hoping that Bridget or Sally, or both, stay interested and consider running for that," Throne-Holst stated, "I would urge both of them to really stay with the process."

The night was bitter-sweet for Southampton Republicans watching the results, as the loss of the supervisor's chair was balanced with the retention of Councilman Chris Nuzzi and Jim Malone's win over incumbent Sally Pope.

Highway, Justice and Trustee Races
Democrat Alex Gregor held a 10-point lead over John McGann for Superintendent of Highways through to the final count and incumbent Justices Deborah Kooperstein and Barbara Wilson both held their seats, soundly defeating challenger Steven Lynch.

Southampton Town Trustees Ed Warner, Jon Semlear, Eric Shultz and Fred Havemeyer, all Republicans, all secured another term and will be joined by Democrat Bill Pell. Incumbent Trustee Brian Tymann placed sixth in the five-seat race with 12.06 percent of the vote, 500 votes behind Pell.