RHINEBECK DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
Local Committees are made up of members of the County Democratic Committee (see below) within each town. The Rhinebeck Democratic Committee is made up of 18 members from our five election districts. These 18 representatives are expected to attend Democratic County Committee meetings and events, representing the Democrats 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
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,
to endorse candidates for elective offices within the county (including judicial offices), as well as state-wide and national offices and
to work with other Democrats to help elect those candidates,
to develop and adopt platform policy and to promote that platform/policy to the State Committee.
All 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 who have collected sufficient petitions appear on the primary ballot in June.
For more information, visit the County Committee’s website at www.dutchessdems.com.
Interested in Joining the Committee? Learn more here.
POLITICAL PARTIES IN NEW YORK
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 the 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.
Here is a description of the structure of the Democratic Party in New York, starting on the local--village and town--level.
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 entity. Each Assembly district within each county has a male and a female State Committeeperson. Those Committeepeople attend meetings of the NYSDC and the State Democratic convention and vote on party policy and platform issues. They also make endorsements of candidates for state office.
The Town of Rhinebeck's Democratic State Committee Representatives are Elizabeth Roth and Kristofer Munn
Similar to the County Committee positions, candidates for State Committee petition to be on the ballot. Because this is a party position, unless one is challenged in a primary, collecting enough signatures is sufficient. If a challenger(s) has also collected enough signatures, then there is a primary election, and the competing candidates appear on the ballot in September.
For more information on this, visit the NYS Democratic Committee's website at www.nydems.org.
Your Rhinebeck Democratic Committee
Election District 1
Melissa Braggins
845-453-8562 mbraggins8@gmail.com
Heather Cassano, Secretary
845-444-0454 heathermcassano@gmail.com
Elizabeth Spinzia, Town Supervisor
845-876-2808 els@ping23.com
Allen Douglas
845-366-9034 douglas5allen@aol.com
Election District 2
Debbie Hecht
646-483-0509 dhecht@me.com
Elizabeth Roth
860-995-6756 rotharts@gmail.com
Chauncey Walker, Town Board
845-876-2187 chaunceylwalker@gmail.com
Election District 3
Gary Bassett, Village Mayor
845-235-3968 gbassett22@gmail.com
Lisa Fountain, Vice Chair
830-832-1214 lfountain6929@gmail.com
Michael Slaby, Chair
845-407-0467 michael@michaelslaby.com
Warren Smith
845-876-5707 wtsaia@frontier.com
Election District 4
Judith Blancher
516-316-2703 judyblancher@gmail.com
Eleanor Pupko, Village Trustee
845-702-7755 epupko@gmail.com
Roger Quon
845-876-6705 roger.quon@gmail.com
Ashwini Sukthankar
646-725-9924 ashwini.sukthankar@gmail.com
Election District 5
Brennan Kearney, CLD11
646-773-1905 kearneybrennan@me.com
Jesse Lurie
917-902-4812 jesselurie@gmail.com
Andrea Replansky
914-388-1194 andreareplansky@gmail.com
Ex Officio and Emeritus Members
Allan Scherr
Edmond “Ed” Roberts
Richard “Ric” Lewit
Vanessa Bertozzi
Lydia Slaby
Stephen Jenkins
Robert “Bob” Wyant
Lisa Rubenstein
Kristofer Munn