Chip Duryea Mulling Supervisor Bid, If Playhouse Is On Track

Perry B. “Chip” Duryea confirmed this week that he is mulling the possibility of finally following his father and grandfather into politics with a bid for East Hampton Town supervisor in 2023.

Duryea, whose grandfather was town supervisor when the Hurricane of 1938 hit Long Island, said he is contemplating running but is dedicated first to his current role as president of the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation, and that he will not take up any other duties until the final phase of the Playhouse’s aquatic and cultural center projects are completed or well on their way to fruition.

“My primary obligation is to the Montauk Playhouse foundation, and I will stay at the helm until we get a shovel in the ground. And if that precludes any other interests in my life, so be it,” he said Monday. “I come from a political family, obviously, so it’s an interesting scenario, given how things are playing out in East Hampton, but it’s something I’m taking a look at from afar.”

Chip Duryea’s grandfather, Perry Belmont Duryea Sr., was town supervisor in the 1930s before being elected to the State Senate in 1941, where he served until 1946. His son Perry B. Duryea Jr. was a state assemblyman for 17 years, including five as the speaker of the Assembly, and was the Republican Party nominee for governor in 1978.

While Chip Duryea has never sought elected office — he ran the family seafood business until it was sold in 2014 — he did serve for more than a decade as the chairman of the East Hampton Town Republican Party.

“I was town chairman from 1988 to 1997, so I know how to run a campaign,” he said. “The elements are there, but it’s very premature, and it would all be predicated on what happens with the Playhouse. We have to build something, and I will not leave until I see significant progress. It’s not a lot of time, but it’s time to deliver.”

Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc’s seat — which he has held since 2018 —will be on the ballot in November 2023, along with the council seats held by David Lys and Sylvia Overby. All three are Democrats. With the election still more than a year away, Van Scoyoc, who served as a councilman for six years prior to being elected supervisor, has given no indication if he intends to run for a fourth term as the town’s top elected official.

Democrats hold a more than 2-to-1 advantage in voter registration numbers in East Hampton Town, putting a steep electoral hill ahead of any Republican candidate, and the Democrats have swept all the Town Board races since 2015.