“I love what I do,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, a 64-year-old mother of two, said over coffee the day before she won another term, with an unofficial vote total of 4,853 votes — an approval rate greater than 95 percent in an uncontested race.
In 2023, when she had a challenger, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez received 4,462 votes.
Her victory speech at Rowdy Hall in Amagansett, to a room full of East Hampton Democratic Committee members and her family, was short and forward-thinking, almost entirely focused on the next election.
New York State changed its election laws in 2023 to move local elections to even-numbered years, bringing most county and town elections in line with state and federal races. To get the town on the new cycle, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez will be forced to run again next November. The winner of that race will have a two-year term, ending in 2028.
“With this new, even-year election law, I am going to start campaigning for 2026, starting tomorrow,” she told the room while standing on a dining-booth cushion. “I’ll need all of you to help get me across the finish line.”
“I want everyone to know that our campaign is going to be motivated by the power of love,” she continued. “Love for our neighbors. Love for our fragile environment, and love for our storied history here. It won’t be motivated by the love of power. That’s because our East Hampton is a community, not a commodity.”
Even before the votes were counted Tuesday, there were signs that it might be a good night for East Hampton Town Democrats. They swept the four major races on the ballot: town supervisor, two town board seats, and the town clerk position. (The town board and clerk races are covered in a separate article.)
Early voting totals skewed heavy and favored Democrats. When they were updated on the Suffolk County Board of Elections website on Tuesday night, two-thirds of the votes were in the blue column.
“I think about what happened [last] Thursday at our special meeting when we voted to give an extra $30,000 to the three local food pantries,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said Monday. “It really drives home the point that local elections matter. Who sits on the town board matters. Our town board is both incredibly competent and extremely compassionate. We have our finger on the pulse of where our community stands on the issues.”
Despite the lack of opposition in this year’s contest, a leaked announcement from East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen at a fund-raiser in October, stating his intention to run a 2026 primary campaign to challenge her as the Democratic Party nominee, means the election for supervisor will effectively be held in June.
“If you want control of your town, you have to vote in the primary,” Mayor Larsen told his audience. “It is the only way we can win this. If you go back to the sign-in desk, give us your information, we will get you registered as a Democrat. Give us your cellphone and name and we will seek you out.”
According to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, in East Hampton Town there are 9,671 registered Democrats and 4,079 registered Republicans. There are nearly 6,000 voters unaffiliated with either major party, however, representing a potential swing block.
Brad Billet, the chairman and C.E.O. of the East Hampton Village Foundation, speaking at the October fund-raiser as a friend of Mr. Larsen and not in connection with the foundation, had urged attendees to write in the mayor. “It would be great if we could send a message,” he said at the time.
It was unclear Wednesday morning how many of the 224 write-in votes for supervisor Mayor Larsen received. A Freedom of Information Law request to the County Board of Elections had not been answered by the time The Star went to press.
If most went to the mayor, as a percentage, it was a good haul for a candidate who wasn’t officially running. Only one other race in Suffolk, the supervisor race in Smithtown, had a higher write-in total — and that was an orchestrated effort. Closer to home, in the Southampton Town supervisor race, where Maria Moore also ran unopposed, she received over 99 percent of the vote, with less than half a percent, or 42 votes, going to write-in candidates.
“I appreciate Kathee’s remarks and her stated love for East Hampton,” Mayor Larsen said yesterday morning. “We all share that love. But true love for a community means protecting taxpayers, delivering competent leadership, and ensuring that every decision is driven by accountability and results. In this next election, residents will have a clear choice between emotional words and proven performance.”
“We both have records to run on,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said by way of rebuttal. “I’m proud of mine, including building a roundabout at a dangerous intersection, expanding a popular recreation facility, opening a new Emergency Department and Imaging Center, rebuilding the beach in downtown Montauk, reconstructing the dunes at Ditch Plains, preserving 66 Main Street in Wainscott, and renovating the Montauk Playhouse. And the voters will decide, just like they did last night.”
Anna Skrenta, the chairwoman of the East Hampton Town Democrats, wasn’t prepared to talk about the 2026 primary just yet, but said she was thrilled with the outcome on Tuesday.
“Against the backdrop of the national political landscape, I respect the campaigns that J.P. Foster and Jeff Miller ran and respect what they do for our community,” she said. “I haven’t felt hopeful in a while. Last night made me feel like it was okay to feel a little bit hopeful. It was a definite repudiation of President Donald Trump and his policies.”
