The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee elected Anna Skrenta as its new chairwoman and Michael Koegler as its vice chairman on July 20. Frederick Brooks, representing the town’s Election District 18, in Montauk, was elected secretary of the committee.
Ms. Skrenta, who was the committee’s vice chairwoman, succeeds Jeremiah Mulligan, who was chairman for the last year. Mr. Mulligan left his post owing to professional obligations, he told The Star. He remains on the committee, representing Election District 8 in Wainscott.
An Amityville native, Ms. Skrenta moved to Amagansett seven years ago with her husband and three children. She was elected to the committee in 2018, serves on the town’s Anti-Bias Task Force, and is a board member of the Neo-Political Cowgirls nonprofit theater company. She served on the board of the Amagansett PTA from 2016 to 2018. As a committee member, she has been involved in the voter registration, communication, and campaign subcommittees.
There are no local elections this year. The committee, she said, is focusing on the race to succeed Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District and the referendum that will ask voters to approve a .5-percent real estate transfer tax that would go toward affordable housing opportunities for residents.
“We have a fantastic subcommittee working on” the referendum, she told The Star. “That will be a major priority for November, to get that passed. We think it’s critically important. It’s an opportunity we can’t let slip away.”
The committee is developing messaging to get out the vote for Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, in the First Congressional District. “Obviously, we want to plan to work with Bridget Fleming’s campaign,” Ms. Skrenta said. “Again, there’s a sense of urgency that I can’t overemphasize. It’s not hyperbole to say democracy is really on the ballot in November.”
Mr. Koegler has been a full-time resident of Sag Harbor for more than five years, with two daughters attending the Sag Harbor Elementary School. Before joining the committee this year, he served on the Southampton Town Democratic Committee, for which he organized fund-raisers, participated in its outreach subcommittee, and served as treasurer for judicial campaigns. He serves as co-chairman of the East Hampton committee’s community housing subcommittee.
“I’m really excited to work with Michael Koegler,” Ms. Skrenta said. “He was very active in Southampton. We’ve got a lot of new, exciting faces on the committee, as well as the old guard, and we are ready to work really hard.”
The primary election for candidates for Congress is on Aug. 23. Election Day is Nov. 8.
