Anna Throne-Holst admits mistake in mailer
Anna Throne-Holst and David Calone debated before about a hundred people in an Amagansett church on Feb. 3, 2016. Credit: Gordon M. Grant
Democratic congressional contender Anna Throne-Holst’s campaign acknowledged a mistake in a mailer that accuses primary opponent Dave Calone of having been in charge of the LIPA’s emergency storm preparedness a month before superstorm Sandy.
Throne-Holst spokesman Andrew Grunwald blamed a “minor typo” that put Calone in charge of a committee in 2012, instead of the actual date of 2010.
Calone spokesman Rahul Kale said the mailer was “an intentional effort to politicize Superstorm Sandy by manipulating dates and wildly exaggerating Dave’s role.”
The Throne-Holst mailer in the upcoming Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District offers a timeline of Calone’s term on the LIPA board from June 2009 to Oct. 31, 2012.
It says in Sept. 23, 2012: “Calone takes over reviewing LIPA’s emergency storm preparedness.” It then lists Sandy hitting Long Island on Oct. 29, 2012.
Calone in 2010 was appointed to a LIPA subcommittee that had a month to make recommendations about how to bring electricians onto Long Island during a large power outage.
Grunwald said the campaign stood behind the substance of the attack against Calone.
David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.
