This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Throne-Holst Returns Contributions Above Legal Limit

Political opponent Kabot says money is making it back to Throne-Holst anyway through Democratic committees.

Former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot, waging a write-in campaign to regain the seat, recently accused incumbent Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst of accepting more than $10,000 above the legal limit for campaign contributions set by the New York State Board of Elections this year.

But Throne-Holst said that she had refunded the extra money to the donors and that for the most part, the donors had reissued the funds to the town and county Democratic committees.

In a letter delivered to the supervisor's office on Oct. 14, Kabot, who is currently running a write-in campaign for Southampton Town Supervisor, stated that Throne-Holst's campaign “appears to be in violation of New York State Election Law for over-the-limit contributions to the tune of $10,119 for the 2011 and 2009 election cycles.” The letter further states that Kabot refrained from reporting her complaint to the New York State Board of Elections in the hope that Throne-Holst would rectify the error on her own.

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Currently, the maximum an individual or corporation can donate for an individual candidate committee is $1,880 for the 2011 General Election Cycle. Corporations are further limited to a total of $5,000 annually for all political donations to candidates and parties cumulatively.

When reached for comment, Throne-Holst said that while the county Board of Elections had originally given her campaign the opinion that they could accept corporate checks of up to $5,000, they have since reversed that decision and ordered her to reimburse the donors who gave more than the $1,880 limit.

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We have reimbursed the donors the difference,” she said, adding that most of the money was then donated back to the Democratic committees for Southampton Town and Suffolk County, which, she said, is used “to fund any number of our collective campaign activities.”

In the letter, Kabot stated that three contributors — Smith & Wollensky Operating Corp. of New York City; Stonebrook Fund Management of New York City; and Edlene Management of Riverhead — went over the limit by donating $5,000 each to Throne-Holst's campaign. She further states that seven other contributors went over the limit by amounts ranging from $403.10 to $9.95. Additionally, in 2009, Kabot said Throne-Holst accepted up to $403.10 in donations that were over the limit set by the county that year from three separate donors.

“I'm happy,” Kabot said when reached on Wednesday, adding that she did not file a complaint with the State Board of Elections. “The goal of writing the letter was to encourage her to comply. It's not the first time she has gone over the limit.”

Nevertheless, she said she was troubled that the money was funneled back to the town and county Democratic committees. “It's unsettling to say you're going to funnel money through Democratic committee of the town, or ask [a donor] to issue a new check to the Democratic committee of the town,” she said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?