PORT TOWNSEND – Jefferson County Democrats will meet tonight to elect new party leadership.
So far, Marty Gay has been nominated to be the new chair, Heidi Eisenhour for vice chair and Pat Ryan for state committee representative.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum.
The leadership turnover is needed after the previous leaders stepped aside.
Chairwoman Nancy Biery resigned to take an advisory position in Olympia under Gov. Gary Locke.
Before that, Biery had taken a leave of absence earlier this year to work in Iowa on the presidential campaign of Democratic hopeful Howard Dean.
Vice Chairman Gabe Ornelas agreed to serve as acting chairman after Biery took the $93,000 a year job as Locke’s external affairs director.
Now, Ornelas said, he wants to dedicate more time to opposing the Port of Port Townsend’s airport noise overlay where he lives near Jefferson County International Airport.
Health concerns forced the party’s state committee representative, Diane Nelson, to relinquish her position.
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The rest of the story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition.
