Big Election Year for Southampton Town Government

My paid job was once keeping an eye and reporting on Southampton Town government ”without bias,” which actually meant, please no phone calls to the paper from pissed off advertisers.

I learned to do this, while still saying who I thought was right and wrong on issues like the proposed King Kullen on County Road 39, the bidding for the concession on Coopers Beach, the tragic death at the Publick House, and who can forget “bury the power lines!”

2013 will be a huge year for the Southampton Town government, with Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and key Republican board members seats up for re-election. Councilman Chris Nuzzi, a popular board member is term limited out of running for re-election and has hinted at moving on with life, yet many think he might make an excellent REPUBLICAN Town Supervisor. 

The Independence Party member, popular, hard working Anna Throne-Holst who is the present supervisor, also is a big vote getter, so speculation of a Nuzzi–Throne-Holst face-off at the ballot box would be quite an election. Some who watch the two “work together” at Town Board meetings must be chuckling while reading this last line. LOL.

The balance of power, the voting majority on the Town Board has been Republican for many years; will this be the year that it changes? One question to be unanswered until 2015 is how much damage did Bridget Fleming do to her brand by her defeat in the last election cycle when she attempted to oust the very popular Ken LaValle and was very soundly rejected at the ballot box. A popular councilwoman on the Southampton Board, luckily Ms. Fleming has two more years to patch things locally. Not the case for Councilman James Malone, who four years ago was poised to attempt a run for town supervisor, but wisely aimed lower and was elected to the Town Board. His seat will be very hotly contested by the well oiled, well funded, well organized, growing Southampton Democratic Party, which has been astonishing in its growth since Michael Anthony and now Gordon Herr have lead it back to relevance. However, the Republicans have survived some tenuous Supervisors to remain in control of the board. 

The quest for future control of the Southampton Town Board will be intense. Who will be the candidates? What role will Independence Party Chairman Frank McKay play this time? After all Town Supervisor Throne-Holst is not a registered Democrat; she belongs to Frank McKay’s party last time I checked.