Independence Party Chairman Endorses Wilkinson

In a reversal that stunned local officials, Suffolk County Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay on Monday chose East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson to run on his party’s line, after local party officials had previously supported his challenger Zachary Cohen.

Mr. MacKay authorized Mr. Wilkinson, a Republican, to run on the Independence line with paperwork he filed at the Suffolk County Board of Elections on Monday morning, according to Mr. Cohen and Elaine Jones, the chairwoman of the East Hampton Independence Party. The move represents a split between Mr. MacKay and Ms. Jones, whose committee nominated Mr. Cohen as its candidate in May.

As a result of the filing, Mr. Wilkinson will now appear on the Independence Party line this November, instead of Mr. Cohen.

“Our party line has been kind of like stolen, and we don’t have a chance to have a primary,” Ms. Jones said.

Mr. MacKay did not answer his phone on Monday or Tuesday, and his voice mailbox was full.

An authorization known as a Wilson Pakula is needed for a candidate who is not a member of a party to run on that party’s line. Both Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Cohen, who is not a member of a political party but has been endorsed by Democrats, needed such authorization from Mr. MacKay to run on the Independence line. If both had received the authorization, a primary would have had to be conducted.

Monday was the deadline for the authorization, leaving no time for local officials to attempt to force a primary.

Ms. Jones and Mr. Cohen were not alone this week. In Southampton Town, Councilwoman Bridget Fleming, a Democrat who is running for reelection this year, also did not receive the Wilson Pakula she had expected from Mr. MacKay. It was granted instead to one of her opponents, Republican Christine Preston Scalera.

“I don’t know whether the leadship of the party overrode local decisions elsewhere, but it really looks like the leadership has really been acting as an extenstion of the Republican Party throughout the county,” Ms. Fleming said on Tuesday.

Ms. Jones said she had been assured by Mr. MacKay that he would follow her committee’s endorsement and file a Wilson Pakula for Mr. Cohen, but learned on Monday morning that he had apparently thrown his support to Mr. Wilkinson. She said she could not reach Mr. MacKay on Monday.

Ms. Jones also said she would continue campaigning for Mr. Cohen.

“We have our candidates on the Independence Party line,” she said. “Whether or not we’re happy about what happened, we will work for them and I will work for Zach Cohen.”

Mr. Cohen said on Monday that he had heard the switch was the result of a backroom deal between Republicans and Independence officials, which he said could backfire on Mr. Wilkinson, although he said he had no proof of such a deal. He also noted that Mr. MacKay chose not to allow a primary by signing Wilson Pakulas for both candidates.

“I think the thing there is they don’t want a primary because I’d probably win a primary,” he said.

Mr. Wilkinson said on Tuesday that he has still received no formal notification that he will be allowed to run on the Independence line, and denied that any deal took place. He said he did not have know ahead of time that he would receive the nomination.

“I don’t make deals, I don’t know how to make deals,” he said. “Politics isn’t my thing.”

Mr. Wilkinson said he solicited 83 signatures from Independence Party members for a nominating petition in June, even after Mr. Cohen was endorsed by the local committee, because he felt the party was too important to not actively court. He said he had no specific intention to force a primary at the time.

“I didn’t even think that far,” he said. “Again, it was a group of people that I had in the past. When I ran last time, I had Republican, Conservative and Independence support, and I thought it was too big a group to omit this time. It was that simple.”

Ms. Jones said she received about 80 signatures for Mr. Cohen. Forty-seven signatures of East Hampton Town’s 944 Independence Party members are needed for a candidate to run on the party’s line.

Other Independence Party candidates for East Hampton Town Board will remain the same. Bill Mott, who is running for a Town Board seat, is a member of the party, and did not need a Wilson Pakula. And Mr. MacKay signed a Wilson Pakula for Marilyn Behan, a Democrat whom the East Hampton Independence Party chose to run on their line for another council seat, Ms. Jones said.

Mr. MacKay did not authorize Mr. Wilkinson’s Republican running mates, Steven Gaines and Richard Haeg, to run on the Independence line, she said.

This year is not the first time the Independence officials at the county level split with their local committees. In 2009, the Southampton Independence Party endorsed Democrats Sally Pope and Ms. Fleming for Town Board, but Mr. MacKay nominated Republican Chris 
Nuzzi and Conservative Jim Malone instead, surprising local officials, who said they were assured the decision would be up to them.