State Party Chairs and Executive Directors 2014

Typically state party chairs are the public face of the party, while executive directors oversee the day to day running of the party; in a few states, the state chair fulfills both roles.

click "+" for bios   corrected Feb. 13, 2015 (Ana Cuprill WY Dem.)  (older editions (2013, 2012, 2011, 2010)

  Dem. Chair  + Ex. Dir.  +

Rep. Chair  +

Ex. Dir.  +
AL Nancy Worley
...vacant

Bill Armistead
Harold Sachs, cos
AK Michael Wenstrup
Kay Brown

Peter Goldberg [Peter Goldberg]
AZ Bill Roe
D.J. Quinlan

Robert Graham
Chad Heywood
AR Vince Insalaco
Candace Martin

Doyle Webb Megan Tollett
CA John Burton Shawnda Westly
Jim Brulte
Cynthia Bryant
CO Rick Palacio
Jennifer Koch 

Ryan Call Shana Kohn
CT Nancy DiNardo Jonathan A. Harris

Jerry Labriola, Jr.
Elissa Voccola
DE John Daniello Brian Boyle

Charlie Copeland
John Fluharty
DC Anita Bonds Bill O'Field

Ron Phillips
Robert Turner
FL Allison Tant
Scott Arceneaux
Leslie Dougher
Juston Johnson
GA DuBose Porter
Rebecca DeHart 

John Padgett
Adam Pipkin
HI Stephanie Ohigashi
Alexander Wheeler

David Chang
Kayla Berube
ID Larry Kenck
Sally Boyton Brown

Barry Peterson
Trevor Thorpe
IL Michael Madigan Tim Mapes
Jack Dorgan
Jayme Odom
IN John Zody
Shannon Mears

Tim Berry
Rachel Jacobs
IA Scott Brennan
Troy Price

Jeff Kaufmann
Chad Olsen
KS Joan Wagnon
Jason Perkey

Kelly Arnold
Clayton L. Barker
KY Dan Logsdon [Dan Logsdon]

Steve Robertson
[Steve Robertson]
LA Karen Carter Peterson
Stephen Handwerk

Roger F. Villere, Jr.
Jason Dore
ME Ben Grant
Mary-Erin Casale

Rick Bennett
Jason Savage
MD Yvette Lewis
Bob Fenity

Diana Waterman
Joe Cluster
MA Thomas McGee
Matt Fenlon 

Kirsten Hughes
Rob Cunningham
MI Lon Johnson
Garrett Arwa

Bobby Schostak
Kim Jorns
MN Ken Martin
Corey Day

Keith Downey Bob De Haven
MS Rickey Cole [Rickey Cole]

Joe Nosef
Brandon Payne
MO Roy Temple
Crystal Brinkley

Ed Martin
Shane Schoeller
MT Jim Larson
Andrea Marcoccio

Will Deschamps
Bowen Greenwood
NE Vince Powers
Paige Hutchinson

J.L. Spray
Bud Synhorst
NV Roberta Lange
Zach Zaragoza
Michael McDonald
?
NH Raymond Buckley Sean Doyle

Jennifer Horn
Matt Mowers
NJ John Currie Chris James 

Sam Raia
John Raue
NM Sam Bregman
Jon Lipshutz 

John Billingsley
[John Billingsley]
NY David Paterson //Sheila Comar
Rodney Capel

Ed Cox
Jason Weingartner
NC Randy Voller
Casey Mann

Claude Pope
Todd Poole
ND Bob Valeu
Chad Oban

Robert Harms
Jason Flohrs
OH Chris Redfern Liz Walters

Matt Borges
Matthew McAuliffe
OK Wallace Collins
Trav Robertson, Jr.

Dave Weston
[Dave Weston]
OR Frank Dixon
Brad Martin

Art Robinson
Margie Hughes
PA Jim Burn Elena Cross

Rob Gleason Jr. Bob Bozzuto
RI
Joseph McNamara
Jonathan Boucher

Mark Smiley
Matthew Fabisch
SC Jaime Harrison
Conor Hurley

Matt Moore
[Matt Moore]
SD Deb Knecht
Zach Crago

Craig Lawrence
...vacant
TN Roy Herron
Alan Secrest

Chris Devaney Brent Leatherwood
TX Gilberto Hinojosa
Will Hailer

Steve Munisteri Beth Cubriel
UT Peter Corroon
Matt Lyon

James Evans
Jeff Peterson
VT Dottie Deans Julia Barnes

John MacGovern
Brent Burns/Marty Searight
VA Dwight Jones
Robert Dempsey

Pat Mullins Shaun Kenney
WA Jaxon Ravens
Karen Deal

Susan Hutchison
Caleb Heimlich
WV Larry Puccio Curt Zickafoose
Conrad Lucas
Jason Huffman
WI Mike Tate Jake Hajdu

Brad Courtney
Joe Fadness
WY Ana Cuprill
Robin Van Ausdall

Tammy Hooper
[Tammy Hooper]
DA Katie Solon
...vacant

   
PR Roberto Prats Domninque Gilormini

Carlos Méndez

AS J.R. Scanlan
Andrew Berquist

Victor Tofaeono

GU Carl T.C. Gutierrez
Jon Junior Calvo

Mike Benito

VI Cecil Benjamin Louis P. Hill

John Canegeta

CNMI

-

Benigno Fitial








About State Party Leaders
(revised and updated Feb. 18, 2014; initially published Aug. 15, 2013; )  It is interesting to consider the backgrounds of the state chairs and the qualities that make for a good state chair.  Among the factors state party executive committee members consider when looking at a state chair candidate are fundraising ability, media skills, the ability to work with different factions within the party, and ideas for advancing the party.  If the party holds the governorship, the governor may have a strong say in the selection.  Unlike the executive director position, where a candidate may sometimes be brought in from out of state, chairs are usually known within state party ranks; they may have served on or be a member of the executive committee or headed a county committee or been active in campaigns or served on state party staff.  Chairs bring a range of professional experience to the job.  Some are elected officials, others have run for office unsuccessfully, some are lawyers and others may be businessmen.  In a very few instances there are co-chairs.  There is a gender imbalance, and it is particularly severe among Republican state chairs

Aug. 15, 2013: Republicans
Democrats
46 males and 5 females of whom one is interim
37.5 males and 13.5 females of whom two are interim (co-chair in NY)
Feb. 18, 2014: Republicans
Democrats
46 males and 5 females
38.5 males and 12.5 females (co-chair in NY)

Typically state chair terms run for two years; in a few states the term is four years.  There are veteran chairs who have been re-elected a number of times, freshmen a few months into the job and still learning the ropes, and interim or acting chairs in instances where the incumbent chair has resigned.  Chairs may not serve out their full terms for reasons ranging from pursuing other opportunities including running for public office, health or personal reasons, and dissastisfation with their performance. 

Tenure
Below is a look at the tenure of state chairs at two timepoints: Aug. 15, 2013 and about six months later on Feb. 18, 2014.  Aug. 15 coincides roughly with the two parties' summer meetings (Republicans Aug. 12-14 and Democrats Aug. 22-23).  Feb. 18 is in between the two parties' winter meetings (Republicans Jan. 22-24 and Democrats Feb. 27-March 1).

It is important to note that these are just two points in the election cycle; at other points in the cycle the distribution would undoubtedly be different.  One expects a fair amount of turnover following the Nov. 2012 elections, and indeed in Aug. 2013 one does see a high number of chairs six months or less into their terms.  By Feb. 2014 that cohort has moved to the six months to one year block.  Interestingly in Feb. 2014, both parties show a similar distribution: 21 chairs in the less than 1 year range, 10 chairs in the 1-2 years range, and 20 chairs in 2 years and longer.  At the extreme are the grizzled veterans.  Illinois Democratic state chair Michael Madigan is by far the longest serving of the state chair, having started in 1998; for the Republicans, Roger Villere, Jr. of Louisiana was first elected in March 2004. 

REPUBLICANS
Tenure of Republican State Chairs for the 50 states and DC as of Aug. 15, 2013

Interim
0-6 mos.
6 mos.-1 yr.
1-2 yrs.
2-4 yrs.
more than 4 yrs.
WA
AK, CA, DE, GA, IL, IN, ME, MD, MN, NE, N, ND, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, UT
AZ, DC, KS, MA, MO, NH, NM, SD
FL, HI, ID, IA, MS, NV, VT, WV
AL, CO, CT, MI, NJ, NY, TX, WI, WY
AR, KY, LA, MT, PA, TN, VA
1
18
8
8
9
7
*Tenure calculated from date elected unless otherwise indicated.
Tenure of Republican State Chairs for the 50 states and DC as of Feb. 18, 2014
Interim
0-6 mos.
6 mos.-1 yr.
1-2 yrs.
2-4 yrs.
more than 4 yrs.

VT, WA
AK, CA, DE, GA, IL, IN, ME, MD, MN, NE, NC, ND, OH. OK, OR, RI, SC, UT, WV
AZ, DE, ID, KS, MA, MO, NV, NH, NM, SD
AL, CO, CT, FL, HI, IA, MI, MS, NJ, TX, WI, WY
AR, KY, LA, MT, NY, PA, TN, VA

2
19
10
12
8
*On the edge of moving to the next bracket, missing by just days or a week (MD)

DEMOCRATS
Tenure of Democratic State Chairs for the 50 states and DC as of Aug. 15, 2013

Interim
0-6 mos.
6 mos.-1 yr.
1-2 yrs.
2-4 yrs.
more than 4 yrs.
GA, IA, ?RI, SD
AL, AK, ID, IN, MI, MT, NJ, NM, ND, OR, SC, VT, WY
FL, NE*, NC, TN, VA
AZ, LA, MS, MO**, NY, TX, UT
AR**, CO, HI, KS, KY, ME, MD, MN, NV, OK, PA, WV
CA, CT, DE, DC, IL, MA**, NH, OH, WA, WI
4
13
5
7
12
10
*Tenure calculated from date elected unless otherwise indicated.  NE calculated from when took office (Nov. 2012), not when elected (June 2012) 
**AR, MO and MA chairs have announced plans to resign.

Tenure of Democratic State Chairs for the 50 states and DC as of Feb 18, 2014
Interim
0-6 mos.
6 mos.-1 yr.
1-2 yrs.
2-4 yrs.
more than 4 yrs.

AR, GA, MA, MO, RI, WA
AL, AK, ID, IN, IA, MI, MT, NJ, NM, ND, OR, SC, SD, VT, WY
AZ, FL, LA, MS, NE, NY, NC, TN, TX, VA
CO, HI, KS, KY, ME, MD, MN, NV, OK, PA, UT, WV
CA, CT, DE, DC, IL, NH, OH, WI

6
15
10
12
8
*Several were on the edge of moving to the next bracket, missing by just days or a week (IN, MI and MO).

Executive directors run the state parties day to day.  There are a couple of instances (OK, KY) where the chair fulfills both roles.  Many times the executive director will have previous experience at the party, for example as political director or finance director.  Most often the executive director has previous experience in the state's politics, but sometimes he or she will be recruited from outside the state.

There are structures and mechanisms for state party leaders to communicate and coordinate among themselves and with the national party.  The RNC is a confederation of state parties, and the state chairs carry considerable weight in its decision-making in their place among the 168 members.  At the RNC, committeeman Steve Robertson of Kentucky is chairman of the state chairmen and former Oklahoma Republican chair Matt Pinnell is in a new position as state party director.  On the Democratic side, the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) has as its mission "to help build strong state parties in order to elect Democrats from the State House to the White House."  New Hampshire state chair Ray Buckley has served as president of the ASDC since Jan. 2009  The Association of State Democratic Executive Directors (ASDED) "fosters professionalism among Executive Directors, seeks to establish and improve avenues of communication among State Parties and their directors, and serves as a conduit for increased communication between the State Parties and the National Party and all its associated bodies."  Maggie Brickerman of Wisconsin is president of the ASDED.


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