Following an open, well advertised and transparent candidate screening process the East Hampton Democratic Committee held its nominating convention on Thursday, February 13, 2019 to select its candidates for November’s election. Well attended by almost 80% of the 36 committee members they cast their votes for a full slate of candidates.
Nominated for Town Council are incumbents Sylvia Overby, who will be seeking her third term on the Town Board, and Councilman David Lys who was appointed in January of 2018 and successfully won victory in the September 2018 Democratic primary and was elected with over 71% of the vote in the November 2018 general election.
For Supervisor the Committee selected incumbent Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc who will be seeking his second 2-year term as Supervisor. Van Scoyoc was previously elected twice to the Town Council and before that served as Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals and as a member of the Planning Board.
Selected to run for Trustee were incumbents Francis Bock, Bill Taylor, Susan McGraw-Keber, John Aldred and Rick Drew. Also nominated was Republican Jim Grimes from Montauk who is an incumbent trustee. In addition, Democrats Tim Garneau, Zach Cohen and Mike Martinsen were nominated to run for Trustee. Tim Garneau is a member of the East Hampton Democratic Committee and Mike Martinsen is a Montauk resident, oyster farmer and fisherman. Zach Cohen, another member of the Democratic Committee, has previously run for Trustee and Supervisor and is Chairman of the Nature Preserve Committee.
For Town Justice, there was a contest between Conservative Party member Trevor Darrell and Democratic Committee member Andrew Strong. Andrew Strong won the nomination with overwhelming support from the Committee. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Northwestern University Law School and has worked as an Assistant DA in Manhattan as well as human rights lawyer in The Hague. He is 39 years old and lives in East Hampton with his wife who is also a lawyer and their three young children. He is currently an advocate for immigrant civil rights as general counsel to OLA of Eastern Long Island (The Organization of Latino Americans).
The Committee also selected incumbent Democrat Steve Lynch for Highway Supervisor and tax assessors Jeannie Nielsen and Jill Massa.
Committee Chairman, Cate Rogers said, “We are very proud of our slate and the strength of their combined experience and accomplishments. This group of candidates has a proven track record of promoting renewable energy, affordable housing and clean water and I know they will continue working to achieve those goals.” Supervisor, Peter Van Scoyoc said, “This is a great team; we have a great slate running. Everybody who has been in office before has shown that they are a hard worker and are keenly attuned to what their constituents are thinking. They are open minded and fair as well as driven by the best values and ideals of promoting good government. It should be a great campaign.” Given the new state electoral calendar, the Democratic Committee will be carrying nominating petitions for its candidates from the end of February to the end of March.
