Tim Bishop, who last week endorsed Anna Throne-Holst in her bid for the Democratic nomination for Congress, will speak at a breakfast hosted by the Southold Town Democratic Club March 19 on the topic “Taking back the First Congressional District.”
The former congressman, who lost to Republican Lee Zeldin in 2014, will discuss the importance of Democrats regaining the seat he held for 12 years, according to a Feb. 24 press release issued by the Southold Town Democratic Club.
“This summer, two very qualified Democrats, Dave Calone and Anna Throne-Holst will face off in a primary to unseat Republican Lee Zeldin in November,” Southold Town Democratic Club co-president Debbie O’Kane said. “This breakfast is a great opportunity to learn more about the importance of the upcoming congressional race.”
The Southold Democratic Club has not endorsed any candidate in the primary race, club co-president Damon Rallis said. The club is planning to host a debate early next month between Throne-Holst, the former Southampton Town supervisor and Calone, an East Setauket venture capitalist and former federal prosecutor who served as chairman of the Suffolk County planning commission for seven years.
“This is an important election year and this is the first in a series of events aimed at a renewed commitment to informing the voters of Southold Town, regardless of their political affiliation,” Rallis said.
The breakfast is a pre-cursor to a planned debate between Dave Calone and Anna Throne-Holst, tentatively scheduled for early April, Rallis said.
Three days after the club announced the breakfast, Throne-Holst’s campaign announced Bishop’s endorsement.
“I’m proud to support my fellow Democrat and friend Anna Throne-Holst in her campaign for Congress here in Suffolk County,” the former congressman said in a Feb. 27 press release issued by the Throne-Holst campaign.
“Over her years in public office Anna has consistently demonstrated her ability to earn bipartisan support. She has demonstrated her ability to work productively in a divided government and has spent her entire career using her position to solve problems, two attributes that our current Congress desperately needs.”
Throne-Holst said she was “grateful” for Bishop’s support.
“Tim Bishop spent years fighting for working families and small businesses throughout our district and we need to have a representative in Congress again who will actually work to rebuild our middle class, provide opportunities for our children and families and protect a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions,” Throne-Holst said.
Calone has picked up the endorsements of South Fork County Legislator Bridget Fleming, a Democrat who served on the Southampton Town Board alongside Throne-Holst for four years, East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and three town board members there and Brookhaven Democratic chairwoman Lillian Clayman.
Throne-Holst has been endorsed by Southold Democratic Committee chairman Art Tillman, Southampton Town Democratic Committee chairman Gordon Herr and a host of Democratic elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Steve Israel, Assemblyman Fred Thiele and her successor in the town supervisor’s office, Jay Schneiderman.
The primary election is scheduled for June 28. Each candidate’s campaign had about $1 million in its war chest at the close of 2015, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
Bishop, who served as provost at Southampton College prior to his election to Congress in 2002, is a Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and Public Service at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue
The March 19 breakfast with Bishop will be held at CJ’s American Grill in the Mattituck Shopping Plaza, from 9 to 11 a.m. Tickets are $20 per person and include a full breakfast featuring assorted Goldberg bagels, scrambled eggs, French toast, home fires, sausage, bacon, assorted juices, and mimosas.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.southolddems.com or call Rallis at 516-633-4852.
