There was a shortage of chairs Wednesday night at the Dutchess County Democratic Committee meeting as hundreds of Democrats from across the county gathered at the Polish Club in the City of Poughkeepsie for the committee’s reorganization meeting. Even outgoing chairman Joseph Ruggiero gave away his seat for the masses.
“I’m very excited about the turnout,” he said. “This is an embarrassment of our success.”
Ruggiero who has been running for public office since 1991, was elected as the chairman of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee in 1999, when he was just 29 years old. He is the former supervisor of the Town of Wappinger, and he served as a town councilman from the 3rd Ward for eight years. Last year Ruggiero ran for Dutchess County Executive, capturing 44 percent of the vote in his race against Bill Steinhaus.
After eight years as the head of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee, Ruggiero has stepped down to pursue a career in Albany, working for New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli as his director of strategic planning, he said.
“Tonight is a significant night for all of us. After eight years I get to pass the torch to new leadership. It’s been a great honor to serve all of you,” said Ruggiero.
Using a voting process vastly different from the general election in the fall – ballot boxes and slips of paper filled in for the usual lever voting machines – Democratic committee members elected four leaders, including Barbara Jeter-Jackson as secretary, Dan French as treasurer, Elisa Sumner as vice-chairperson and Jane Smith as chairperson.
Smith, who previously served as the vice-chairperson on the county Democratic committee for seven years, will replace Ruggiero, who will begin his new job next week.
“I am extremely proud of all of the work that we accomplished under my tenure as County Chairman. We rebuilt the Dutchess County Democratic Committee to be a credible political force in Dutchess County,” said Ruggiero.