What is the Garrett County Democratic Central Committee?

The Garrett County Democratic Central Committee is constituted as the governing body of the Democratic Party in Garrett County under the authority of the Democratic State Central Committee of Maryland, and exercises all of the powers, rights and privileges granted it under the Constitution and Laws of Maryland, and the Constitution and ByLaws of the Maryland Democratic Party.

The Garrett County Democratic Central Committee promotes the election of the nominees of the Democratic Party in Maryland and Garrett County. The Committee conducts the business, organizes the activities, and fosters the growth of the Democratic Party in Garrett County.

To view the Committees ByLaws and Constitution, click —> BYLAWS

Who Are the Members of the Central Committee?

  • Judy A. Carbone, Chair

  • Betty Pritt, Co-Vice Chair

  • Darryl Glotfelty, Co-Vice-Chair

  • Bob Spear, Treasurer

  • Jeff Hovis, Secretary

  • Erin-Ruth Oxford, Member

  • James Hunter, Member

  • Mary Braden, Member

Non-Voting Members:

  • Charlene Pullias, Associate Member

  • Lindsy Pack, Associate Member

  • Stephanie Pack, Associate Member

When and Where Does the Central Committee Meet?

The Central Committee currently meets on the last Monday of the month at 4:000 PM. We meet either in-person at the Garrett County Democratic Headquarters, 208 S. Second Street, Oakland, MD, or via Zoom. Zoom links are available for the in-person meetings, too.

The public is welcome to attend in order to get to know us and the work we are doing! Guests are invited to observe and to ask questions during the public session. If you are interested in attending one of our meetings, please email us at gcdemcc@gmail.com for the location or Zoom link.

What are the Goals and Objectives of the Central Committee?

Recently, the Central Committee formulated a two-year Strategic Plan with 7 specific objectives for the years 2023 and 2024. We are currently working on our 2023 and 2024 Strategic Plan. Additional activities and projects are always considered and will be adopted should time, human and other resources be available. Our 2023-2024 objectives are:

1. Central Committee Development – We must strengthen the GCDCC culture of action.  Creating this Strategic Plan is one aspect of Committee development, but so is creating expectations that each GCDCC member be active, that we identify a structure of subcommittees under the GCDCC, and that we recruit non-committee members to help us with our work. The measures of success will be 1) the number of active subcommittees as of January 1, 2022, and 2) the number of Democrats involved in these subcommittees.

2. Communications – The Communications objective encompasses all communications initiatives targeted at Garrett County Dems, Garrett County citizens, and the wider world. It includes the joint website with the GC Dem Club, social media, focus groups, and issue-oriented webinars (at least as long as the pandemic lasts). To engage Democratic voters and make them proud to be Democrats in Garrett County and to recruit strong Democratic candidates, we must create a solid communications strategy promoting party values, enhance public relations, and focus on growth.  Developing measures of success in each communications modality – number of posts, number of clicks and click-throughs, number of impressions (for press releases), number of focus group sessions, etc. – can help us identify our accomplishments and reach our communications objectives.

3. Fund-Raising – More proactive fund-raising strategies must be developed in order to have operational funds for implementation of our Strategic Plan, particularly its focus on support for Democratic candidates. We must examine ways to optimize our ActBlue account, initiating ActBlue generic party-building campaigns as well as issue-oriented ActBlue campaigns. The measure of success will be the year-over-year success of our fundraising efforts.

4. Local Candidate Development – Potential Democratic candidates need to be recruited and supported. The Committee should examine successful recruitment efforts and practices in other counties and states. This will require an active Committee with well-thought out strategies and sufficient funds. The measures of success will be 1) how many Democrats compete in the five partisan elections in Garrett County. 2) how many Democrats compete in non-partisan elections in Garrett County, and 3) election results. In every case, while we hope for and work for electoral success, we must also be proud of incremental improvements.

5. Voter Registration and Turnout – Democratic voters need to see a Democratic Party presence in their local community and be encouraged to be educated and active on local issues. Those not registered to vote need encouragement to register as Democrats and be involved in Democratic activities and events. We will use party registrations and election results as the measures of our success.

6. Precinct Organization – In order to have an organization effective in reaching all voters, especially those who are not engaged with or who have never learned about the Democratic Party, we need to reach them where they are and learn what they care about. The measures of success will be 1) the number of precinct captains and deputy precinct captains in place on January 1, 2022, and 2) the number of contacts (canvassing, mail, telephone) in each precinct, including registered Democrats, registered voters from other parties, and eligible non-registered voters.

7. Platform Issues – This will be an area of joint activity with the GC Dem Club. Possibilities include hosting forums on one or more of our platform issues of education, economic development, health issues, jobs, poverty, and social/diversity issues.  Topics could also include issues derived from the Maryland Democratic Party or even the National Democratic Party. This is a new objective for our Strategic Plan, so measures of success remain to be developed.

To see the full 2023-2024 Garrett County Democratic Central Committee Strategic Plan, click —> PLAN

Find Us on Facebook!

To go to our Facebook page, where you can stay up-to-date on Central Committee events and announcements, please click —> FACEBOOK

Questions and/or Comments?

Please contact one of the Democratic Central Committee members or send us an email at gcdemcc@gmail.com.