From collection Candidates
Ida Sammis, a widow, ran for New York State Assembly in 1918 on the Republican ticket and was elected, making her one of the first women in the New York State Assembly. She and Mary M. Lilly of New York City ran in the first state election following New York State women winning the right to vote. Prior to her election, she had been a suffrage leader in New York. While in office, she introduced labor legislation to protect women. Much of her proposed legislation focused on conditions in her district in Long Island rather than statewide issues. In her first two weeks in the Assembly she became the first woman to sponsor a bill, one that became law when Governor Alfred E. Smith signed it. The bill regulated the hunting season for water foul. Sammis supported prohibition.
When she arrived to take up her position on January 1, 1919 she approached the members' door. A guard told her she was at the wrong place and pointed her to the door for visitors. At the time, the previously all male body provided a spittoon for each representative. As she did not chew tobacco, Sammis filled hers with ferns.
