Election 2026

Voters in the First Congressional District need to get off their keisters on Nov. 3 and vote for Christopher Gallant. 

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen is under no illusions about his chances as a write-in candidate for town supervisor, and he hasn’t been actively campaigning, but still, “If it was successful, it would be wonderful,” he said.

The next in the “No Kings” series of nationwide protests against the Trump administration’s policies and executive overreach, amid fears of democratic backsliding, happens on Saturday.

Incumbent state senator and his challenger dig into affordability, environment, tax relief, data centers, health care, and cooperating with ICE in virtual debate.

There will be attempts to undermine the midterms but they will fail, one election expert said at a forum last week. Another pointed out that the Trump administration doesn’t care what the law says. Both urged strong voter turnout.

The League of Women Voters will sponsor a virtual debate between candidates for the New York State Senate’s First District on Monday on SEA-TV, and election threats will be examined Wednesday. 

Rich Schaffer, the Suffolk County Democratic Committee’s controversial chairman, on Tuesday retained the position he has held for 26 years, fending off a challenge from Kathryn Casey Quigley, chairwoman of the Southold Town Democratic Committee.

Into the unsavory world of oppo research.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule imminently on the legality of the Trump administration’s effort to restrict voting by mail, a plan that as of yesterday remained in limbo due to lower court rulings. Should the Supreme Court side with the administration, critics say, massive voter disenfranchisement is the likely outcome. 

With Election Day fewer than eight weeks away, the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will cover the East End with voter information tables this month and has issued a schedule of debates. 

When the Suffolk County Democratic Committee holds its 2026 convention this month, committee members will vote on who will lead the committee going forward: its longstanding chairman, or a challenger who pledges to end what she calls a culture of patronage and corruption. 

In threatening to wield the big stick of federal money, Nick LaLota gets government backward.

Chris Gallant, who won the Democratic primary election last week and will face Representative Nick LaLota in November, calls CD-1 “a very flippable district.”

“I don’t know how to respond,” Jerry Larsen said after hearing about the effort taking shape a little over a week after his Democratic primary loss to Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez. “I don't want to discourage them, but I’m not actively campaigning."

She was endorsed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, County Legislator Ann Welker, and by three of four East Hampton Town Board members, and on Tuesday night, Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez won the endorsement of Democratic voters.

Chris Gallant, an Army National Guard pilot, former air traffic controller, union leader, and volunteer firefighter, is the apparent winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for New York’s First Congressional District, having defeated Lukas Ventouras.

A list of voting spots by election district.

In an uncommon local political occurrence that will shape the immediate future of East Hampton Town’s Democratic Party, Democratic voters are faced this month with a choice for the two committee members in each of the town’s 19 election districts. 

Former East Hampton Town Councilman Jeff Bragman, who screened with the Democratic Committee over the winter to be considered as its nominee for town supervisor this fall, has endorsed Mayor Jerry Larsen in his primary race against the incumbent, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

Ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for East Hampton Town supervisor, both campaigns came under fire for separate matters related to water contamination by “forever chemicals.” 

Early voting in advance of the June 23 Democratic primary begins on Saturday and will continue through June 21 at the Windmill Village community room.

The two Democratic candidates vying to challenge Representative Nick LaLota in New York’s First Congressional District did not criticize each other, but rather were in near-total agreement and pledged to work together in the midterm election campaign, in a sedate debate on June 8.

East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight and Francis Bock, the town trustees' presiding officer, endorsed Jerry Larsen's campaign for town supervisor on Sunday in Montauk, a potentially seismic event in a campaign that pits the incumbent supervisor, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, against the East Hampton Village mayor in the June 23 Democratic primary.

With less than a month before the primary that will provide the Democratic Party with its nominee for East Hampton Town supervisor, both candidates are similarly funded.

A mostly cordial debate on May 13 that centered on affordable housing and recent woes at the East Hampton Town Building Department likely gave both Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and her Democratic primary challenger, Mayor Jerry Larsen, an opportunity to claim victory. 

According to recent filings made to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, East Hampton Mayor Jerry Larsen has returned $33,000 in donations made to his Jerry Larsen for Town Supervisor campaign following the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee’s accusation after his January filing that he had accepted donations over the legal limit.

Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez Monday morning, just two days before her high-stakes debate with East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, who has run a tough Democratic primary race against the incumbent.

The New York State Democratic Committee issued a list of elected officials in Suffolk and Nassau Counties who have endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul for re-election, in an announcement that coincided with the launch of an effort to tie Nassau Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican opponent, to President Trump.

It’s unclear who will win the June 23 Democratic primary for East Hampton Town supervisor, but one thing about the 2026 supervisor race became clear last week: As in 2025, there will be no Republican candidate on the November ballot.

The challenges were many for the scores of candidates seeking to fill 38 slots on the Democratic Committee when they gathered signatures between late February and early April as the June 23 primary looms.