Throne-Holst Defeats Calone

After two days of counting more than 18 thousand absentee ballots, former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst was declared New York’s 1st Congressional District Democratic nominee.

Some of the ballots were considered illegitimate due to blank or inaccurate information, and others were disqualified after being challenged by either of the two campaigns; but, in the end Throne-Holst gained 290 votes, raising her lead over former head of the Suffolk County Planning Commission Dave Calone from 29 to 319 votes.

This victory ensures that Throne-Holst will run against Republican incumbent Lee Zeldin in the November 8 election.

“Lee Zeldin has shown in every way, how out of step and wrong he is not only for Long Island, but for the country,” she told the East Hampton Star, after being declared the winner.

At the same time, her primary opponent, former head of the Suffolk County Planning Commission Dave Calone, commended his supporters for their hard work.

“Unfortunately, we were outspent by nearly $1 million and, in the end, fell short by about 300 votes. That kind of effort would not have been possible without the tremendous group of volunteers supporting me around the district,” Calone wrote in an email to his supporters.

But Calone also immediately endorsed Throne-Holst, and encouraged his supporters to vote for her in November.

“Our current Congressman Lee Zeldin is the wrong person for the job, and so I urge everyone to join me in supporting our Democratic nominee, Anna Throne-Holst, to replace him,” Calone wrote in an email.

Zeldin’s campaign does not appear to be worried about these claims, however.

“Voters are smart enough to sort fact from fiction and reject all the false, negative and partisan attacks our Congressman being spun [by]... Democrats,” the campaign wrote in a statement.

Check out my graph showing the difference in votes from primary day to July 8.