Voting for the Howard County Democratic Central Committee

Those few of you who read this blog regularly will recall that I’m a registered Democrat, and therefore one of my missions (should I choose to accept it) is voting for members of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. I normally pass on this, as in the past I’ve had no idea who any of these people are. However since I’ve been reading a number of local blogs focused on politics and have been doing a fair amount of Howard County blogging myself, I thought it was incumbent on me to bone up on the Central Committee candidates, especially if any of them are especially good (or bad) people to have on the committee.

Comparing the current Central Committee members (officers and others) to the 18 candidates listed on the county candidate list and doing some Google searching, it looks like we have the following:

• Bill Adams. No useful information online about this candidate.

• Diane Banner. No useful information online about this candidate.

• Daniel Besseck. Currently an alternate Committee member. Endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland.

• Jonathan K. Branch. Currently an alternate Committee member. Has a Facebook page and a campaign web site. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (71% of those voting), the Columbia Democratic Club, and African Americans in Howard County.

• Carole J. Chase. Currently a Committee member. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (64% of those voting) and African Americans in Howard County.

• Rich Corkran. Has a web site, but it appears to be for a (presumably abandoned) run for Delegate in District 9A. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (59% of those voting).

• Willis E. Gay. Endorsed by African Americans in Howard County.

• Abby R. Hendrix. Has a campaign web site. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (64% of those voting) and the Columbia Democratic Club.

• Ethel B. Hill. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (58% of those voting) and African Americans in Howard County.

• Clarence Lam. Has a Facebook page and campaign web site. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (67% of those voting), the Columbia Democratic Club, the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland and Democracy for Howard County.

• Jerry Lozupone. No useful information online about this candidate.

• Kathy MacFarlane. Endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland.

• Michael C. A. McPherson. Currently Chair of the Central Committee. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (71% of those voting) and African Americans in Howard County.

• Ethan Moore. Currently an alternate Committee member. Has a Facebook page and a campaign web site. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (58% of those voting), the Columbia Democratic Club (70% of those voting), and the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland.

• Kristen M. Neville. Currently Corresponding Secretary of the Central Committee. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (68% of those voting) and African Americans in Howard County.

• Deanna Peel. Endorsed by African Americans in Howard County and the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland.

• Kevin Treine. Endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Central Maryland.

• Catherine M. Zomlefer. Currently Vice Chair of the Central Committee. Endorsed by the Western Howard County Democratic Club (70% of those voting).

If any of you out there would like to tell me which candidates I should vote for and why, please add a comment below or send me email. Note that I’ll put the most reliance on recommendations from people I know already, including my fellow bloggers and those who’ve commented previously on my blog.

Some other notes:

• To the Central Committee candidates: I don’t do political endorsements on this blog, so I’ll be keeping to myself whatever decisions I come to regarding which candidates I’ll vote for.

• To Jonathan Branch, Abby Hendrix, Clarence Lam, and Ethan Moore: Thanks for having an actual online campaign presence (and special props to Clarence Lam for actual campaign videos).

• To Rich Corkran: Don’t you think it’s time to update that web site?

• To Bill Adams, Diane Banner, and Jerry Lozupone: You’re invisible to Google, and thus invisible to me.

• To local Democratic activists: I’m sorry, my work and family situation prevents me from participating actively in local Democratic party events. A blog post every couple of weeks is about as much as I can manage.

• To the Western Howard County Democratic Club: Your web site is busted; trying to go directly to the endorsements page gives an error (though the results are still displayed on the main page).

• To the Columbia Democratic Club: You have a web site and a Facebook page, and didn’t see fit to use either of them to list whom you endorsed? (I got my endorsement information from the candidates’ web sites, for those who had one.)

• To African Americans in Howard County (the group AAIHC, not every Afri—you know what I mean): Do you have any actual online presence? All I ever see of AAIHC is second-hand information from blogs and news stories.