East Hampton Has Two Democrats At The Top

Judith Hope, the chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Committee and a former East Hampton Town Supervisor, was elected last week to the executive board of the Democratic National Committee, joining Bill Lynch, a part-time resident of Sag Harbor, who was elected at the same time to the even more powerful position of vice chairman of the National Committee.

Local Democrats said this week they were dumbfounded by the news that East Hampton would have two members concentrated in top spots on the National Committee joining other leaders from all over the country.

"I can assure you it is unprecedented," laughed Ms. Hope on Tuesday. She will continue as state chairwoman.

Field Of Battle

The election of the pair meant this state had been chosen as the field of battle for 1998, observers said.

"Between me and Bill Lynch, you can be sure the interests of New York State will be aggressively represented," Ms. Hope said.

"Having Judith on the National Committee will be very important. I voted for her," said former U.S. Representative Bella Abzug, herself a National Committeewoman and a part-time resident of Noyac in Southampton Town.

The executive board is the policy-maker of the National Committee, where Ms. Hope said the first order of business, starting with a conference call yesterday afternoon, was to "get the fund-raising machinery under control."

Another East End resident, the late Ronald H. Brown, who had a Shelter Island house, had served in the past as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was Secretary of Commerce at the time of his death in an airplane accident.

Party Backgrounds

Mr. Lynch is vice president of McAndrews and Forbes, the Manhattan-based holding company run by Ronald Perelman, the billionaire businessman whose wife, Patricia Duff, has been active in Democratic politics and who has an East Hampton estate.

A veteran of New York City politics, Mr. Lynch was deputy mayor under Mayor Dinkins, was his campaign manager twice, was an adviser for a time to the African National Congress of South Africa, and was the 1992 Democratic National Convention coordinator in New York City.

Ms. Hope was named state chairwoman in 1995, the first woman to lead a major party in New York, but inherited a $750,000 campaign deficit and the legacy of a crushing state defeat at the polls the previous November.

Hope Credited

"Judith Hope has brought this party back to financial stability and political strength" in New York State, said Mr. Lynch.

He and others credited her with delivering 52 out of 62 counties for the Clinton-Gore ticket in November and the largest plurality of any state, as well as increasing the Democratic advantage of the state's Congressional delegation and the State Assembly and shrinking the Republican majority in the State Senate.

Mr. Lynch said his role would be to advise President Clinton and Vice President Gore on mobilizing young and minority voters. Ms. Hope's political expertise is in fund raising, an area that has had the National Committee in considerable hot water these days, and in organizing grass-roots support.

"These next two years are pivotal to both the D.N.C. and the New York State Democratic Party's quest to rebuild and reshape themselves," said Ms. Hope, noting that every statewide seat, from Governor to Lieutenant Governor and Comptroller and every seat in the State Assembly and Senate, will be contested.

"Bill Lynch and I agree that we will join together, and we already have, to get the New York party the resources it needs from the D.N.C. to continue rebuilding," said Ms. Hope.

Additionally, polls have indicated that Senator D'Amato is at his most vulnerable and Governor Pataki's push to "balance the budget by attacking programs that are vitally important to the working class" could make him even more so, she said.

North Fork Origin

Born and raised in Mattituck, where he said he competed against East Hampton in varsity basketball and baseball, Mr. Lynch is vice president of the board of directors of Long Island University, an overseer of its easternmost campus, Southampton College, and on the boards of the Children's Defense Fund's Black Community Crusade for Children and the Harlem Business Alliance. He and his wife, Mary, bought a house in Sag Harbor. His mother, Lillie Lynch, still lives in Mattituck.

"I want to encourage more active participation in the Democratic Party, particularly by young people and minorities. I want to encourage them to take leadership, to be more active, to become candidates, to help us shape a vision for the future," said Mr. Lynch yesterday morning.

He predicted the issues most likely to spark such activity would be "the things that affect them most, education and employment."

Moynihan Link

Ms. Hope is married to Tom Twomey, a senior partner in the Riverhead and East Hampton firm of Twomey, Latham, Shea & Kelley. They live on Two Holes of Water Road in the Northwest Woods section of town.

She served two nonconsecutive terms as Town Supervisor that ended in 1976 and 1989. She was predecessor and mentor to Tony Bullock, a Town Councilman who later was elected to four terms as Supervisor. He is now the chief of staff for U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Local party regulars also were celebrating Ms. Hope's election this week, saying she would strengthen the link between East Hampton and Washington forged a couple of months ago by Mr. Bullock.

"She'll be an additional spokesperson for getting resources and recognition for East Hampton and, more importantly, for the state party. It shows you the great quality of our pool here," said Christopher Kelley, the town party leader.

From Arkansas, Too

He noted that Ms. Hope had been the first female town party leader, before she went on to become an aide to Governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo, a fund-raiser for Senator Moynihan and Mayor Dinkins, and finance director of the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign in New York.

Ms. Hope was born in Little Rock, Ark., the daughter of a former Assembly Speaker there. She said this week that President Clinton, whom she met long after she became involved in politics in New York, "is very proud of my Arkansas connection."

She said the President gave her a big hug during the inauguration celebration last week, shouting over to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, "Hey, do you know who this is? This is the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party."

Seemingly unimpressed, Mr. Jackson shouted back, "So?"

"Do you know where she's from?" asked the President.

"No."