Kabot Wins Conservative Line by One Vote

Former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot has won her battle for the Conservative Line, ousting the Conservative party's nominee for Southampton supervisor Phil Keith.  

On Tuesday, the Suffolk County Board of Elections deemed all ballots cast for Kabot during the Sept. 10 write-in primary valid — The ballots had been in question because 6 of them did have Kabot's name spelled correctly.

With all the votes deemed legitimate, the finally tally was 73-72 votes. 

Kabot, who also has the support of the Republican party, said of her victory, "I am honored to have the support of rank and file Conservative voters in Southampton Town, who regard me as a viable, serious challenger to the incumbent Town Supervisor."

Kabot will now face off against Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, who holds the Democratic line, in November for the third time. 

In 2009, Throne-Holst unseated Kabot, who then waged a write-in challenge in 2011. Throne-Holst kept her seat in that race from Kabot, who lost with 3,900 votes or 36.4 percent of the total ballots cast.

Of his loss, Keith said, "I would like to congratulate Linda Kabot on her one vote victory in the write-in campaign for the Conservative Party line on the November 5th ballot. This has been a fascinating couple of weeks. I have learned a number of really interesting and useful lessons about the political process via this campaign."

Now, tell us: Do you think Kabot has a chance against Anna-Throne Holst?