Kabot runs for supervisor as write-in

Former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot is mounting a write-in campaign for her old job.

"What is driving me is not only to provide that ballot choice and a challenge to the sitting supervisor, but to come back into the arena," Kabot said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Until Kabot announced her intentions, Independent Party candidate and current Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst was unopposed for her position. Throne-Holst is also endorsed by the town's Democratic Party. The Republican Party does not have a nominee.

Since Kabot was not chosen to run on a party line, and that deadline has passed, the only way to win is through a write-in campaign.

Kabot, a registered Republican, was a town board member from 2002 through 2007, and won the supervisor seat in 2008, only to lose it in the November 2009 election to Throne-Holst.

"As part of our democratic process, citizens have the right to seek elective office -- and voters have the opportunity to decide," Throne-Holst said.

Kabot blames her election loss on her drunken driving arrest during the campaign season, on Sept. 7, 2009, by Westhampton Beach Village police. She was acquitted in February of this year.

Kabot said she has filed a notice of claim against the village, which preserves her right to file a lawsuit, but has made no decision whether to proceed with it.

The past few weeks, Kabot said, she has been approached by residents in places like grocery stores and the post office, and more recently at 9/11 memorial services, who asked her to run. She said she decided Wednesday that the time was right.

"People want a race," Kabot said. "That's why I'm stepping up as a viable write-in."

Kabot, a Quogue resident, said part of her campaign involves educating voters how to write in a candidate's name, including making sure that name is spelled correctly. In Kabot's case, she said, that means making sure it's spelled with a "K" and not a "C."