Featured Story

Throne-Holst wins primary after absentee ballots counted

Throne-Holst-copy

Anna Throne-Holst will be the Democratic candidate in this fall’s 1st Congressional District race against incumbent Republican Lee Zeldin.

In a Board of Elections count of absentee ballots that concluded Friday, Ms. Throne-Holst garnered 1,003 votes to opponent Dave Calone’s 743 absentee votes.

That amount added to the 29-vote lead she held on election night gives Ms. Throne-Holst a 6,479 to 6,160 win, a 319-vote margin.

All of those numbers are unofficial, and will be until they are certified by the Board of Elections some time next week. Officials say that process won’t take place until the absentee ballots are counted in the 3rd Congressional District race as well.

The counting of the absentee ballots began on Thursday and was expected to be done by the end of the day on Friday or possibly Monday.

But after her lead became virtually insurmountable during Friday’s count, both sides agreed to withdrew their challenges to certain ballots, which resulted in the count being done by about 2:30 p.m., officials said.

Ms. Throne-Holst issued the following statement Friday afternoon:

“I am deeply grateful to all who placed their trust and support in me, and I am truly humbled by the privilege it has been to get to know, share the concerns, and my message with so many.

“I want to congratulate Dave Calone on a spirited race, and I share in the respect and support he garnered in the district, as demonstrated by the very close margin and the strength of his candidacy.

“I look forward to working together with Democrats across the district to take back this important seat. Lee Zeldin has shown in every way how out of step and wrong he is not only for Long Island, but for the country.”

Mr. Calone said in an interview that he will support Ms. Throne-Holst moving forward.

“At the end of the day, we were outspent by almost a million dollars and we came within a few hundred votes,” he said. “That says a lot about the Democratic volunteers we had. Now it’s time to focus on beating Lee Zeldin, and I support our Democratic nominee, Anna Throne-Holst.”

While Mr. Calone had the Independence Party line, he said he will ask to be removed from the ballot on that line.
Ms. Throne-Holst will also have the Women’s Equality Party line in November.

While Mr. Calone won the towns of Brookhaven and East Hampton in the election night results, Ms. Throne-Holst had the lead in absentee ballots in each of the sevens towns the district covers except Islip, which had only 17 absentee votes.

Photo Caption: Congressional hopeful Anna Throne-Holst arrives to applause at her campaign gala in Hampton Bays on election night. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

[email protected]