Democrats fill out leadership roles

Jay County Democrats filled three open officer positions at their meeting Tuesday.

Tina Elliott was elected vice chair of the party. Elliott has been Dunkirk’s clerk-treasurer since 2015. 

According to state party rules, the vice chair of the party must be the opposite gender of the chair. Dominic Martyne was elected chair at the party’s July 9 meeting. 

The vice chair position has been open since earlier this month. Lori Ferguson, Portland’s clerk-treasurer, was elected to the role after losing the election for party chair to Martyne. She resigned as vice chair the following day. 

Also elected Tuesday were Debbie James as party secretary and James Brewster as treasurer. James has served as Redkey’s clerk-treasurer since 2011. 

There was only one nomination for each open officer position, Martyne said, and three precinct committee members were present to cast votes. 

Martyne is looking forward to having representatives from other municipalities. Having representation throughout the county should help the party reach more community members, he said. 

“I’m hoping to set up events in Dunkirk or Redkey moving forward,” Martyne said.