Election 2021

The Suffolk Board of Elections certified the results of East Hampton Town's June 22 Democratic primary on Tuesday, with little change to the outcome.

After absentee ballots had been counted on Tuesday, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, who is seeking a third term, had held off a challenge by Councilman Jeff Bragman, winning the primary by 1,102 to 864 votes, or 56 percent to 44 percent.

Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc is the apparent winner in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary election, holding off a challenge from Councilman Jeff Bragman, and his running mates, Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Cate Rogers, chairwoman of the East Hampton Democratic Committee, also prevailed in the three-way race for the Democratic nomination for town board.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Councilman Jeff Bragman, who is challenging him in a Democratic Party primary on June 22, argued at length about the since-vacated 2019 settlement with the owner of Duryea's in Montauk during a debate on Saturday sponsored by the East Hampton Group for Good Government, Mr. Bragman charging the supervisor with "at best misjudgment, at worst improper conduct" in the matter. 

Unlike the Democratic candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor, the three Democratic candidates vying for two seats on the East Hampton Town Board offered nary a contrary word during two debates last week. Rather, they professed a raft of similar goals and philosophies and offered only positive messages in their respective pitches to Democratic voters. 

Three weeks before a Democratic Party primary in which East Hampton Town Councilman Jeff Bragman will challenge Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, a furious argument broke out among the town board, with Mr. Bragman seizing on a letter from the town's board of ethics that criticized town board members for having taken guests to a May 7 event at the Clubhouse in Wainscott honoring pandemic frontline workers and food pantry staff and featuring a performance by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jon Bon Jovi.

The East Hampton Town Board unanimously passed a resolution in support of a home rule request concerning companion bills in the New York State Legislature that would stagger the terms of office for the nine-member town trustees and increase the trustees' terms from two to four years.

The East Hampton Independence Party submitted nominating petitions with around 500 signatures to the Suffolk County Board of Elections last week, far more than the 277 valid signatures required in order for its candidates to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The East Hampton Independence Party has endorsed the Democratic candidates who were rebuffed by their own party but successfully petitioned to force a June 22 primary election.

Nominating petitions for three East Hampton Town Democrats who hope to force a primary election in June — Jeff Bragman, John Whelan, and Rick Drew — were delivered to the Suffolk County Board of Elections last week, and the would-be candidates, two of them incumbents, were upbeat this week about their prospects. 

Passed over by the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee for a second run town board run, Councilman Jeff Bragman announced this week that he will seek to challenge Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc in a primary.

At its nominating convention Wednesday night, the East Hampton Democratic Committee snubbed Councilman Jeff Bragman, a Democratic incumbent who has frequently clashed with his colleagues, and instead endorsed Cate Rogers, the committee’s chairwoman, for his seat on the town board. 

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez both announced their intention to run for third terms this week.