After the primary in every “even” year, Democrats in Orange County “reorganize” by electing new leadership. At the convention in Wallkill on September 25, 2018, Orange County Democratic Committee members elected the following leadership team, including Virginia Scott and Jon Chase of Cornwall:
Chair: Brett Broge, Esq., of Blooming Grove
First Vice-Chair: Christine Stage, Esq., of Warwick
Vice Chairs:
Virginia Scott, of Cornwall
Terri Blancato-Horton, of Town of Newburgh
Willa Freiband, of Woodbury
Faheem Haider, of Montgomery
Bryan Luna, of City of Newburgh
Efrain Serrano, of Monroe
Secretary: Louise Vandemark, of Deerpark
Treasurer: John Galu, of Middletown
Ass’t Treas.: Patricia McMillan, of Warwick
Sgt at Arms: Jonathan Chase, Esq., of Cornwall
The new leadership team will be working on a couple major new goals, including upgrading OCDC’s data and communications capabilities and working on a platform statement of issues for which the Democratic Party stands in Orange County. Ginny Scott, a Cornwall native and teacher in Washingtonville, has been an active member of the Cornwall Democratic Committee since January 2017, and ran a vigorous race for Orange County Legislature District 12 last year. Jon Chase is a local attorney who has been doing pro bono voting rights work in multiple states since 2004, has been active in the Cornwall and Orange County Democratic Committees since 2007,was CDC’s Secretary from 2008-14 and has been its Chair since 2014.
Commenting on the county officers from Cornwall, CDC Chair Jon Chase noted, “It’s both recognition and reflection of the new dynamism in the Cornwall Democratic Committee that two of its members have been elected to the leadership of the OCDC. As our elections two weeks ago showed so dramatically, Democrats in Orange County are back in a big way, and it’s because our party stands for the values we all hold, not for the greed, bigotry and inhumanity which we too often see in today’s politics.”