He claims he hasn’t made a decision to run, but East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen is certainly acting like a 2026 candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor.
After he responded to rumors of his intention to run last week, he took umbrage at comments made by the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee chairwoman, Anna Skrenta, that the town Democrats were under no obligation to support his campaign if he were to beat current Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez in a primary for the nomination.
Because of a state change in the election calendar to shift local elections to even years, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez — who is running unopposed in November — will serve only one year when she wins, and will need to run again in 2026.
“I am concerned that Ms. Skenta’s comments about supporting Supervisor Burke-Gonzalez do not reflect the Democratic Committee’s established process for fairly screening candidates at next year’s democratic convention,” he wrote in an email. “I am worried her comments have compromised a fair, impartial process for me, should I decide to screen for East Hampton Town Supervisor.”
“Her second comment is even more concerning as she states that should I win the Democratic primary, her committee has no obligation to support me when I am challenged at the general election by a Republican candidate,” he wrote.
Each election, the town Democrats seek qualified candidates who are screened by a group of committee members before being recommended for nomination to the full committee. There are 38 committee members representing the 19 election districts in the town. Each committee member is awarded 50 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in their district.
Committee members confer ahead of a nominating convention. Multiple nominations may be made from the floor, and the nominee is the candidate who receives the most votes.
Mr. Larsen, who said he switched his party affiliation to Democrat in 2019, screened with the town Democrats in 2023 for the position of town councilman.
An email to the Suffolk County Board of Elections to confirm the party affiliation history of each candidate for town office this year was unanswered.
“I’m not interested in public spats and political drama,” Ms. Skrenta said in a text, when told of Mr. Larsen’s comments. “We have enough of that at the national level. I stand by my comments and the Democratic Committee’s support for our current supervisor, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.”
“Our screening and nominating process remain the same,” she continued. “Mayor Larsen is welcome to participate in it again in 2026 just as he did in 2023, after he switched his party registration to Democrat. He is also very welcome to attend our monthly meetings and to help the committee get out the vote for the Nov. 4 election. I further encourage him, as a fellow Democrat and popular mayor of the Village of East Hampton, to endorse our 2025 slate of excellent candidates.”
The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee has seen its share of drama in years past. In 2018, then-member Rona Klopman sued, alleging that its membership had been manipulated to favor another candidate for chairperson, a role she sought.
Her suit was dismissed.
Ms. Skrenta has been on the Democratic Committee since 2018 and its chairwoman since 2022. She has been unopposed in that role.
“I would just tell Jerry, ‘Give me a shout,’ ” she said.
