Andrea Schiavoni and Tommy John Schiavoni. (Lisa Tamburini)

Sag Harbor - "Electing Great Women" was the theme of a party hosted by Judith Hope and Dr. Gail Furman on Friday, August 19, 2011 in Sag Harbor.

Seeking local political office are Anna Throne-Holst, running for re-election as Southampton Town Supervisor, Bridget Fleming, a Southampton Town Councilwoman going for a full four-year term after 16 months in office, and Sylvia Overby, who is bidding for an open seat on the East Hampton Town Board.

Hope is a former East Hampton Town Supervisor, referred to a recent statement by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, that "We still have the problem of too few women making policies and laws in America today. Just 17 percent of all members of Congress are women, and less than 25 percent of state legislature seats are filled by women."

Throne-Holst has served for two years as Supervisor of Southampton Town and has cut costs and balanced the books to address inherited deficits, and radically changed local government to be more accountable and transparent.


In Southampton, Fleming, a lawyer who once headed the fraud bureau in the Manhattan DA's office, joined the Town Board after a special election last year. Fleming names her priorities as jobs and economic development, financial responsibility and environmental protection.

Overby is running for an open seat on the East Hampton Town Board, having already served for seven years on the town's Planning Board. She is advocate for preservation in Wainscott, Springs, Amagansett, Northwest, Montauk and East Hampton.

A wide-based and distinguished committee supported the event, including Alec Baldwin, Gail Sheehy, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Adelaide de Menil, and many others.