A wonderful aspect of local elections is being able to know each candidate more deeply than through ads — whether on TV, social media or in print. Many of you know me as your lawyer, as Alexa and Jason’s mom, David’s wife, a friend, or as someone who comments at Town Board meetings and writes letters to the editor. Others of you don’t know me at all. I’d like to share some of my professional experience with you, both because it’s relevant to the Town Clerk role I’m running for and because it shows my character.
When I met David, I was the legislative advocate for New Jersey PIRG. In that role, I helped pass and block laws on behalf of ordinary people — up against corporate lobbyists. In fact, I wrote and helped pass what was then the strongest identity theft protection bill in the nation, which led Consumers Union to invite me to co-author their model bill.
I built and led the coalition that stopped then-Gov. Jon Corzine from doing a deal that would have given a for-profit company control of toll rates and highway maintenance for many decades, in exchange for a ginormous check that the governor could spend. As part of that campaign, I published an op-ed in the Newark Star-Ledger that I encourage you to read to get a feel for how I stood up for the public interest.
From 2019 to 2023, I co-created a 50-state voting and election legislation database for the nonpartisan Voting Rights Lab. Each entry in that database was “just the facts, ma’am,” indexed to make data analysis easy. Our data were used by major media outlets and advocacy organizations working to expand and defend voting rights across the country. I was performing an operations-type role, creating the high-quality database that enabled other people to do their policy jobs. That’s part of what the clerk does: keep and organize the records to help everyone else in Town Hall do their jobs.
(Incidentally, I closely witnessed the 2020 election in 17 states, including Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin and New York. If you ever want to chat about it, I’m happy to.)
I started working as a poll worker at Cutchogue East in 2020. After a couple of years, I became co-coordinator with Republican Bob Bitner. That’s also an operations job — managing staff performing an important public-facing government process. Bob and I work well together. I can’t co-run Cutchogue East this year because I’m on the ballot, and I’ll miss it.
In April 2024, I started an operations role at the Mattituck Park District. Originally hired as a 10-hour-per-month recording secretary — agendas, meetings and minutes only — I was quickly asked to take on one-off projects to improve operations, public communications and institutional memory. I’ve had no role in setting policy, but I’ve helped the district get policy made and documented. I also co-create and produce the district’s monthly newsletter and some of its emails to residents.
Because of my background, I’m also helping the district save Bailie Beach. Working with Chairman Byrne, district staff, community members, and local groups, we’re getting our elected representatives and administrators at the local, county, state, and federal levels to move the project forward.
If elected, I will bring my commitment to good government and my operational skills to Town Hall. On Nov. 4 (or earlier, if you’d like to vote early), please vote for Abigail C. Field for Southold Town Clerk.
Abigail C. Field is running as a Democratic and Working Families Party candidate for Southold Town Clerk.