The Suffolk County Democratic Committee is accusing East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen of "party raiding," as he mounts a primary challenge for the Democratic nomination for town supervisor against the incumbent, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
"At a time when trust and transparency is critical in our democratic process, the recent actions from Jerry Larsen — encouraging voters to change their party enrollment solely to influence the outcome of a Democratic primary and sway the results in his direction — are deeply troubling," Rich Schaffer, the chairman of the committee, said in a press release issued Friday afternoon. "Through a concerted media campaign including traditional media and social media, as well as mailers and letters to local papers, Mr. Larsen is attempting in bad faith to perform what is referred to as party raiding."
Party raiding has been in the news lately. Back in November, Newsday reported that in Huntington and Southampton, the Working Families Party line was hijacked by Republicans and Conservatives, which led to the charge that votes were being siphoned away from Democratic candidates.
"The Suffolk County Democratic Committee does not support party raiding in any form," wrote Mr. Schaffer. "Our primaries exist to allow Democrats to choose their candidates, not to be manipulated by outside interests seeking to game the system. I am calling on Mr. Larsen to cease this activity once and for all."
This is the second time in as many months that the county Democratic Committee has tangled with the mayor. In December, it sent him a "cease and desist" letter over a group he formed called "East Hampton Town Democrats for a New Town," arguing it was a "misuse of the Democratic Party name" that could confuse voters.
Mr. Larsen is, however, a registered Democrat. Is it possible to raid your own party?
Anna Skrenta, the chairwoman of the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee, said it was indeed possible and, like Mr. Schaffer, she was skeptical of Mr. Larsen's campaign behavior.
"There's more nuance to what he's doing, versus what happened in Huntington and Southampton," she said, "but at the end of the day it's a manipulation in order to win an election. That's the bottom line."
Mr. Larsen disagreed. "The Suffolk County Democratic Committee's statement is disappointing, misleading, and wrong," he said.
"Encouraging eligible voters to participate in a Democratic primary is not 'party raiding.' It is democracy and is explicitly permitted under New York State election law. If party leaders were truly concerned about the integrity of the process, they would not allow 38 insiders to effectively make a decision on behalf of almost 10,000 registered Democrats in East Hampton."
Mr. Larsen was referring to the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee's nominating convention, held on Jan. 14, at which 88 percent of the committee votes for the supervisor's spot on the 2026 ticket went to Ms. Burke-Gonzalez.
Each committee member is allotted half the number of Democratic votes cast in an election district for the Democratic candidate for governor in the last gubernatorial election. So, while there are currently only 36 committee members, at the convention they represented 6,856 votes.
"I'll just say that it is quite literally the job of the Democratic Committee members to act as representatives of the Democratic voters in their district and to nominate candidates," Ms. Skrenta said. "Further, we will continue to do our job by preparing for the June primary where voters will have the final say over who the Democratic candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor will be in the November general election."
She took issue with Mr. Larsen urging non-Democratic voters to change their voter registration to Democrat so they can vote in the primary. To make her point, she shared a screenshot of his Facebook page from Jan. 21 with a graphic that read, "You need to register as a Democrat if you are: Independent. Republican. Unaffiliated."
She said that since Sept. 1, when word began to get out that Mr. Larsen was considering a run for supervisor, town Democrats have gained 140 new registrations.
"It's in bad faith, and he is being explicit about his intention and purpose. It's unfortunate. Right now, there is a huge ideological divide between the two major parties. If you're not asking people to change their registration based on their principles, or issues or priorities and the outrage in our country about what the Republican Party currently stands for and the damage they're doing, then that is something to be condemned."
"If he were saying, 'We're doing a voter registration drive, and we want people to be engaged. If he were appealing to people and talking about what the Republicans are doing and how it's so damaging, that would be another thing," she continued. "But he's not saying that. He's saying, 'If you want me to win, then you need to change your registration and vote for me in the primary.' "
"I am not a Republican, nor am I targeting Republicans. That's the furthest thing from the truth," said Mr. Larsen. "I cannot stand what our country is going through right now, with the leadership and what's being done around immigration and how that's affecting our communities."
Ms. Burke-Gonzalez offered a text statement on the letter from the Suffolk County Democrats: "Mr. Larsen's goal to register Republicans and Conservatives as Democrats so they can vote for him in the Democratic primary shows his true colors," she wrote. "He cannot win on his record, and he cannot win amongst Democrats. So, he is turning to a campaign of negativity and vitriol and seeking Republican support along the way."
"I intend to run on my record and continue to earn the support of voters the right way," she added.
"My campaign has not sent a single mailing to registered Republicans," Mr. Larsen said. "Any outreach conducted by my campaign has been directed only to unenrolled and independent voters, which is both lawful and entirely appropriate in a Democratic process."
When asked about the Facebook post, he said, "Okay, that's fair. However, no mailings went to Republicans," and he shared an image from a mailer targeting independents.
He also said Ms. Burke-Gonzalez could benefit from re-registrations as much as he could.
"There are well-known examples of registered Republicans who have recently switched their enrollment to the Democratic Party," he said, naming members of the supervisor's own administration.
"Democratic primaries exist for one reason: to give Democrats a choice, not to protect incumbents, not to silence challengers, and not to discourage participation. No committee owns a nomination. No insider group speaks for every Democrat," he added.
Ms. Skrenta said when Mr. Larsen screened with the Democratic Committee, "He was given four opportunities to give us his three top priorities. What he told us did not persuade us that he was the right candidate," she said, without getting into details, saying the screenings were confidential.
When asked if she thought his supporters might mount a challenge to sitting committee members, given his recent statements and now that he was not chosen as their candidate (committee members are elected), she said, "We have reason to believe that's happening."
When asked, Mr. Larsen said he told the committee, "There are a lot of unhappy people out there and I have a huge following. I can tell you that if this committee endorses Ms. Burke-Gonzalez, that you can bet a lot of people will be running for your seats. I reminded them that they would be endorsing someone who has failed us and that these seats are elected positions."
Mr. Larsen said if he didn't win the primary in June he would "absolutely not" try to gain the Republican endorsement or go after the Working Party line.
