Independence Party endorsements cause rift

In what could prove to be a factor in November’s general election, the Southampton Town Independence Party has announced its slate of candidates—but the process of how those candidates were picked has caused a rift between the party’s county and town leaders, with the latter saying they will step down as a result.

According to Alex Gregor, the town’s Independence Party chair, the town committee unanimously voted Wednesday evening to endorse Democrats Sally Pope and Bridget Fleming for Town Board, and, for town supervisor, Anna Throne-Holst, who is not affiliated with a party but is the Democratic nominee for supervisor. However, party’s county leaders overruled the local committee, honoring the committee’s choice of Ms. Throne-Holst but nominating Republicans Chris Nuzzi and Jim Malone for Town Board instead.

With the lines for the November ballot evenly split, with the Republican/Conservative nominations on one side and the Democratic/Working Families nominations on the other, the Independence line could give a candidate an edge, especially in a close race. Also, the Independence Party’s registration in Southampton Town has grown steadily each year since 2000, from 782 that year to 1,731 this year.

The announcement of the Independence Party endorsements came just two days after Frank MacKay, the party’s county chairman, had said the party’s nominees for Southampton Town offices would be chosen by town—and not county—leaders. Reached on Tuesday, Mr. MacKay declined to comment about the party’s pending slate, but he did say the choice of candidates for town races were “decisions [that] will be made at the town level.”

On Thursday, however, Mr. MacKay maintained that he “never made such assertions”—despite statements from Mr. Gregor, and others, who said they were told the same thing.

According to Bill Pell, the vice chairman for the town’s Independence committee, Mr. MacKay told him directly that the county would go with the local committee’s choices. “I was told face to face that it would be left to us,” Mr. Pell said. “He told me years ago that he didn’t know anything about the East End.”

Mr. Pell added that there was an agreement that the county leaders would let the town committee select town candidates, and that the town committee would let the county leaders select the county candidates. “It’s very disappointing that it comes down to deals, and that we have to tell all the people who have worked for our party that their hard work means nothing,” Mr. Pell said.

Mr. MacKay defended his position and said the candidates who received the party’s endorsements were worthy candidates and the best choices for the people. “I have a great deal of respect for both Chris Nuzzi and Jim Malone, and I think they are the best candidates,” Mr. MacKay said Thursday. “I also think Anna Throne-Holst will make a wonderful supervisor. She’s a special person and provides a clear alternative to the current supervisor for Republican voters.”

But a disillusioned Mr. Gregor said Thursday the county’s disregard for the committee’s vote is why people are turned off from politics. “Why even bother screening candidates, conducting exhaustive interviews, having a well thought out process to find the best candidates, only to be overruled?” Mr. Gregor said.

Mr. Gregor and Mr. Pell said they both plan to step down from their leadership positions in the coming weeks. “I’m proud to be a member of the Independence Party,” Mr. Gregor said. “But politics is a rotten business.”

Southampton Town Democratic Committee Chairman Gordon Herr said Mr. MacKay had also informed him that local party leaders would be calling the shots. “I met Frank MacKay at the Independence Party spring reception on Monday, April 27, at the Venetian Yacht Club in Babylon,” Mr. Herr said. “And he told me that Mr. Gregor and the local committee would be running the show.”

Mr. Herr added that the recent turn of events affecting Southampton politics amounts to a “back-room” deal by up-island party leaders. “It’s unsettling that the local committee conducted a transparent, thorough screening process, which, unfortunately, was negated by a back-room deal between the county Independence and Conservative party bosses and the Southampton Republican Party chairman, Marcus Stinchi.”

Mr. Herr, and Mr. Gregor, both said the intent behind the deal is to get rid of Town Supervisor Linda Kabot, but to retain a Republican/Conservative majority on the Town Board. “They can live with Anna for two years,” Mr. Herr said of Ms. Throne-Holst. “But by keeping control of the board they will essentially make her ineffective.”

Mr. Gregor said the committee’s desire to endorse Ms. Throne-Holst, Ms. Pope and Ms. Fleming was not an anti-GOP move. “We simply didn’t believe that the Republicans deserved our endorsements based on the past five or six years and the current state of the town’s finances,” Mr. Gregor said. “Had the Democrats run the town against the rocks then the situation would be reversed.”

Despite the disconnect, Mr. MacKay emphasized his faith in Mr. Gregor, both as a party leader and as a candidate. “I think Alex is going to make a terrific highway superintendent,” Mr. MacKay said.