Spin Cycle

Kabot, Malone and Southampton Republican chairman Marcus Stinchi, with whom Kabot had been warring, all appeared at the Suffolk Board of Elections in Yaphank and Malone, an attorney, even notarized Kabot’s acceptence of her place on the ballot.

Town board member Anna Throne Holst, who is running onthe Democratic, Independence and Working Families Party lines, said the Republicans’ last-minute turnabout shows the party is “desperate to retain control.

"One minute they are mud-slinging and eating their young and the next they are renominating,” she said.

Stinchi and Kabot could not be reached immediately for comment. But Edward Walsh, Suffolk Conservative chairman said, “It was going to be a bloody primary which might have let the Democrat walk in. I’d much rather we put together a united front going forward.”

The recounciliation occurred after Kabot last week filed petitions not only to run a GOP primary against Malone, but also to challenge Stinchi for his own party committee post as well as former supervisor Patrick “Skip” Heaney and several other prominent party committee members. Kabot has dropped her committee challenges to Stinchi and Heaney, and one source said she has agreed to back Stinchi’s re-election as town GOP leader in September.

“I think they all realized they needed each other," said Ryan Horn, Kabot’s spokesman, noting that Kabot originally tried to recruit Malone for the town ticket. “Everyone took the long road but they all finally got home.”

--Rick Brand