They’re With Hillary
Hillary Clinton, who reportedly took in $52.3 million in contributions last month, will look to grow her presidential campaign fund during a visit to the South Fork this week.
Her campaign has at least seven parties planned between tomorrow and Tuesday including events in East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Southampton, Quogue, and Sagaponack, all of which are close to being sold out, according to Barbara Layton of East Hampton, a Clinton activist. With tickets starting at $1,000 and rocketing all the way up to $100,000, this promises to be a lucrative visit for Mrs. Clinton and Democratic political committees. In July, according to NPR, she raised $15.6 million more than her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. An Aug. 20 Newsday analysis showed Mrs. Clinton had raised $17.8 million in New York State alone last month, including $353,800 from Long Islanders, compared to just over $751,000 across New York and $209,452 on Long Island for Mr. Trump, who paid a visit of his own to the South Fork two weekends ago.
Monetarily, Mrs. Clinton will do well here, “that’s definitely a given,” Ms. Layton said, “but what will also happen as she is here through this next week, week and a half, is people will get a firsthand experience of who Hillary Clinton is. They’ll get a sense of this leader. I think people are really excited about that.”
While this will be her first time here since winning the Democratic nomination for president, Mrs. Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have been frequent visitors to the South Fork, renting houses for part of August for several years running, most recently in Amagansett. She counts a number South Fork residents as close friends, advisors, and longtime supporters, among them Judith Hope, a former East Hampton Town supervisor and chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Committee, who helped organize Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaign in 2000.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with her,” said Ms. Layton. “Getting to know her is a thrill. You leave a conversation with Hillary and you roll up your sleeves and say what’s next, lets go.” Ms. Layton’s East Hampton restaurant, Babette’s, has proven a favorite stop for the Clintons year after year, and the people who know how involved Ms. Layton is with the campaign “come into the restaurant literally every day or call on the phone and say, ‘What can I do?’ There’s a lot of passion for this election for the obvious reasons. I know firsthand on the South Fork, but I think generally speaking as well.”
“She has shown support for a lot of the local issues we are concerned with, from the environment and climate change to children’s issues and economic issues,” said Hilary Leff. Ms. Leff and her husband, Elliot Groffman, hosted a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton last summer at their house in East Hampton. “Hillary was inspiring,” Ms. Leff wrote earlier this month. “Her command of the issues on both a macro and micro level was dazzling.”
“She’s the best candidate,” Ms. Leff said. “The idea of a Donald Trump presidency is so frightening. Despite all the stuff we’re hearing on television about the emails and overlap between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, I think none of that affects what a fabulous president she will be.”
This year’s fund-raiser schedule begins tomorrow with an evening party with Chelsea Clinton at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. Tickets to that event are $1,000, $2,700, or $10,000. Mrs. Clinton herself is to be on hand at fund-raisers on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
The first of these is an afternoon garden party on Sunday in Sag Harbor hosted by Barbaralee Diamonstein Spielvogel, chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts, Carl Spielvogel, former U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic, and Adam Sender, a hedge-fund manager and art collector. Family pass tickets, which cost $10,000 and include a photo with the candidate, have already sold out and are now waiting-list-only, according to the event website. Remaining tickets cost $2,700, $33,400, or $100,000 for a “host.”
Also Sunday, Mrs. Clinton will offer remarks at a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. in Southampton at the estate of Marcia Riklis, a philanthropist and former advertising executive. Tickets start at $1,000, but those who spend $33,400 and up are included in a special reception with the candidate.
Mrs. Clinton will appear Monday at an East Hampton event at the home of Karen and Charles Phillips, the C.E.O. of Infor Global Solutions, a software company, who served on President Obama’s economic recovery advisory board. That party is co-hosted by Susan and Alan Patricof, longtime Clinton supporters. Mrs. Clinton will head to Quogue that evening for a dinner hosted by Jeff Levine, a developer who serves as national president of the Jewish National Fund, and his wife, Randi.
Mrs. Clinton will be back in Sagaponack on Tuesday afternoon for a cocktail party at the home of Jonathan Sheffer, a composer and conductor. Tickets went for $5,000, $10,000, $33,400, or $100,000.
The finale will be dinner and dancing on Tuesday night at Jimmy Buffett’s North Haven house. Mr. Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band and Jon Bon Jovi will perform, and “other special guests” are said to have plans to attend. Tickets for this one start at $10,000, but “changemakers” who give $100,000 get dinner, premium seating, and a private reception with the candidate.
With Reporting by Carissa Katz