WHO WE ARE: DEMOCRATIC PARTY STRUCTURE

Under New York’s election law, political parties in the state are organized by county and within the county by town, and within the town by election districts. Each of these election districts is represented by two enrolled Democratic voters who have been chosen in a local petition/primary election process or have been elected by the Dutchess County Democratic Committee (DCDC) after recommendation by the town committee co-chairs.

RHINEBECK DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

Local Committees are made up of members of the County Democratic Committee within each town. The Rhinebeck Democratic Committee is made up of 14 members, two from each of our seven election districts. These 14 representatives are expected to attend County Committee meetings and events, representing the Democratic constituency within their respective election districts. They have a voice and a vote on party matters at the county level. They select the county committee officers and vote on procedural issues. They also endorse candidates at the town, county, state and national level.

The Chair or Co-Chairs of the Town Committee are members of the Executive Committee of the County Committee. They work with leadership of the County Committee to make sure that:

• The county committee positions are filled
• The polls are run in an orderly fashion on election day
• That the party's required poll worker positions are filled
• That judicial delegate positions are filled

Current Committee Members:

ED1: * Barbara Hugo 876-6686 bhugo2@gmail.com
Andrea Replansky 876-6565 andrea.replansky@gmail.com

ED2: * Warren Smith 876-0885 wtsaia@frontier.com
Michelle Donner 917-533-8685 Michelle@MichelleDonner.com

ED3: Virginia Schein 516-4206 VESchein@gmail.com
Daniel Rushton 876-2964 dlrushtons@aol.com

ED4: Ward Stanley 876-8074 wstanley@hvc.rr.com
Stephen Jenkins 876-0758 stevejenkins@frontiernet.net

ED5: Tess McKellan 876-8841 tmac1337@aol.com
Barbara Kraft 516-4016 bk2@ix.netcom.com

ED6: Kathy Kinsella 876-1648 kathykinsella@juno.com
Elizabeth Spinzia 876-2808 els@ping23.com

ED7: Jeffrey Romano 876-1273 dispatcha@gmail.com
Kerri Yamashita 282-3996 kerrilyamashita@gmail.com

* Co-Chair of the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee

DUTCHESS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

The County Democratic Committee is comprised of members of town committees. They vote within that body to elect the county chair and to endorse candidates for elective offices within the county (including judicial offices), as well as state-wide and national offices and then work to help elect those candidates. They also work to develop and adopt platform policy and to promote such to the State Committee.

Candidates for County Committee petition to be on the ballot. Because it is a party position, unless one is challenged in a primary, collecting enough signatures is sufficient. If the challenger(s) has also collected enough signatures, there is a primary election and the candidates appear on the ballot in September. For more information, visit the County Committee’s website at www.dutchessdems.com.

NYS DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

State committeepersons are the Democratic Party's representatives to the New York State Democratic Committee. In New York, the Assembly District is the central organizing principle. Each Assembly district within a county has a male and a female State Committeeperson. They attend meetings of the NYSDC and the State Democratic convention and vote on party policy and platform issues as well as make endorsements of candidates for state office. The Town of Rhinebeck's Democratic State Committee Representatives are Warren Smith and Kathy Kinsella.

Similar to the County Committee positions, candidates for State Committee petition to be on the ballot. As it is a party position, unless one is challenged in a primary, collecting enough signatures is sufficient. If the challenger(s) has also collected enough signatures, there is a primary election and the candidates appear on the ballot in September. For more information, visit the NYS Democratic Committee's website at www.nydems.org.