Contact Us If you have a question or want to volunteer.

Header

Put an introductory paragraph to your issues page here. It could be about specific key issues the County Party is focusing on or the County Party's values in general.

The Local Democratic Org Platform

Issues

Headline Text Here

<h2><a href="/12e81167-108d-4d1d-95e3-6ee03a34fc3c">DRC State Legislators</a></h2>

Text

Dozens of local organizations and leaders are standing together!

Your Name for Political Office

List Title

Lists

Volunteer to help the DRC

Candidates we support

<h2>Message from the Chair</h2>As your new Chair, I want to thank everyone who attended this year's Conference in Albany on April 26 and 27. You are the ones who make the conference happen by coming together to share your energy and experiences with each other.

Announcement

Born

Raised

Married

Children

Party

Education

Footer

Put your local elected officials here. In the Page Content tab, you can add additional People blocks if you want to categorize the officials in distinct sections, and can also use the Lists block if you want to list elected officials without photos.

Federal Elected Officials

U.S. Senator

Chuck Schumer

Kirsten Gillibrand

DRC Counties Represented: Ulster (part)

U.S. Congressman (NY-18)

Pat Ryan

DRC Counties Represented: Tompkins, Cortland (part), Broome, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware, Sullivan, Ulster (part), Greene, Columbia, Rensselaer (part)

U.S. Congressman (NY-19)

Josh Riley

DRC Counties Represented: Schenectady, Montgomery (part), Saratoga (part), Rensselaer (part)

U.S. Congressman (NY-20)

Paul Tonko

DRC Counties Represented: Cayuga (part), Cortland (part), Madison, Oneida (part)

U.S. Congressman (NY-22)

John Mannion

U.S. President

Joe Biden

U.S. Vice-President

Kamala Harris

Federal People

Bulletins

Bulletins

As your new Chair, I want to thank everyone who attended this year's Conference in Albany on April 26 and 27. You are the ones who make the conference happen by coming together to share your energy and experiences with each other.Special thanks to retiring chair Judith Hunter for her six years of leadership, for lining up this year's conference speakers and donors, and for doing everything possible to make this transition run smoothly.For their work on the conference, thanks also to:<ul><li>Jane Dodds, Conference Coordinator</li><li>Summer Downing, Associate Coordinator</li><li>John Hurley, DRC Treasurer</li><li>Mike Zagrobelny, incoming DRC Vice Chair</li><li>Liz Moran, incoming DRC Secretary </li></ul>For their work on the Program Book: <ul><li>Cindy Appleton</li><li>Karen Ash</li><li>Suzanne Coogan</li></ul>To our session leaders, panelists and speakers:<ul><li>Congressman Paul Tonko and State Senator Pat Fahy</li><li>Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, Assemblyman John McDonald, Senator Chris Ryan, Senator Pat Fahy</li><li>Steve Gamache, Deputy Director, NY Legislative Commission on Rural Resources</li><li>Ryan Adams, Senior VP at Actum, on Social Media</li><li>Frederick Kowal, United University Professionals</li><li>Congressman Dan Goldman</li></ul>To our event Sponsors:<ul><li>Governor Kathy Hochul and the NYS Democratic Committee for the Friday opening reception</li><li>NYS Attorney General Tish James for the Friday dessert reception</li><li>NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for Saturday breakfast</li><li>New York State United Teachers NYS AFL-CIO CWA Local 1124 AFSCME IBEW Local 2104 IBEW Local 2023 1199 SEIU Healthcare East Teamsters Joint Council 18 for Saturday lunch</li></ul>And to the Albany Downtown Hilton union staff for their outstanding support.Going forward, we are looking for volunteers from the membership to work on various DRC committees. Please let me know if you'd be interested in helping out!This new web site remains a work in progress. Many thanks to Jay Jacobs, NY State Committee Chair, for making the Run web template and hosting available to us and to all our counties at no cost. Thanks also to Ed Reed of Livingston County for his invaluable technical assistance and wisdom during this process. --Bill Thickstun

Get Involved

Documents and Bulletins

Please consider where you can help us! Positions open to both Voting and Associate Members.Contact us to express your interest in working with a committee.

DRC Board Committees

Board Committees

The DRC is the Voice of NYS Counties with Populations under 250,000

NY State Assembly members for DRC Counties

NY Assembly member (AD-95)

Dana Levenberg

NY Assembly member (AD-100)

Paula Kay

NY Assembly member (AD-103)

Sarahana Shrestha

NY Assembly member (AD-104)

Jonathan Jacobson

NY Assembly member (AD-106)

Didi Barrett

Rensselaer (part), Saratoga (part)

NY Assembly member (AD-108)

John McDonald

NY Assembly member (AD-110)

Phil Steck

Montgomery (part), Schenectady (part)

NY Assembly member (AD-111)

Angelo Santabarbara

Saratoga (part), Warren (part), Washington (part)

NY Assembly member (AD-113)

Carrie Woerner

NY Assembly member (AD-115)

Michael S. Cashman

NY Assembly member (AD-119)

Marianne Buttenschon

NY Assembly member (AD-123)

Donna Lupardo

NY Assembly member (AD-125)

Anna Kelles

NY Assembly member (AD-127)

Albert Stirpe

NY Assembly member (AD-140)

William Conrad

Headshots

Miscellaneous

Misc

The Democratic Rural Conference of New York State

In these dark and difficult days for our nation, what can individuals do?We can work to elect local Democratic candidates to office. I understand that the effort can sometimes feel discouraging in Republican towns and counties. But it’s far more important here than in areas where Democrats are more likely to win. With every door we knock and every call we make, we are defending democracy. Connecting with voters is valuable even when local candidates lose, because every vote we win this year is also a potential vote next year in state and federal elections.We are the ones--Democrats on the ground in rural counties--who know how to do this. We have flipped rural Congressional districts in 2009 (NY-21, Bill Owens), 2011 (NY-26, Kathy Hochul), 2018 (NY-22, Anthony Brindisi), and 2024 (NY-19, Josh Riley and NY-22, John Mannion). This fall I urge you to support Michael Cashman (<a href="https://cashmanforassembly.com/">https://cashmanforassembly.com/</a>) who is defending a Democratic state Assembly seat (AD-115) in a November 4 special election.We win by knocking doors, making calls, donating to candidates, and attending any event where we can listen to the concerns of voters. We know that we can’t lead people forward from twenty miles in front of them. We have to meet them where they are and lead them forward from there. We win by working with Democratic committees, Unions, Indivisible groups, community organizations, and by appealing not just to Democrats but also to independents and moderate Republicans.In our counties, the other side is never far away. They’re our neighbors, our friends, our own family members. We can only win by treating everybody respectfully. Just as the customer is always right in business, the voter is always right in politics. When they’re wrong about facts, it’s not useful to correct them. They’ll just tune us out. What we can do is respond to the anxiety and pain they’re feeling. Feelings are never wrong. We also can’t reproach them for decisions they’ve made in the past. We have to treat them with forgiveness and compassion, not judgement. That can sometimes be hard. But it’s the only way we can win.Our differences are not as great as we've been led to believe by the forces that want to divide us. Like all voters, majorities of rural voters support the work of local government: public safety, maintaining roads and bridges, economic development in their communities.Beyond that, they support preserving Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. They support veterans. They support Ukraine. They support the Post Office. They support public education. They support raising the national minimum wage. They would welcome good union jobs building housing, wind turbines, solar panels, and improving the electrical grid. They support campaign finance reform. They support higher taxes on the wealthy, to reduce inequality and restore basic fairness to our economy. These are our issues.As I said in April, New York State is a microcosm of the nation. We have a progressive coastal city, politically mixed suburbs, and a more conservative heartland. When we win across rural New York, we'll know how to win across America. --Bill Thickstun

Tell people why they should sign up. Make it inspiring or simply make it direct. On the sidebar options, make sure to set up where form submissions go — the simplest is email, but your form can also be linked to various other services.

firstName

lastName

email

phoneNumber

zipOrPostalCode

Long Form

Issues

News Post

Board Members

Member (County), Title, Term

Board Members

NY State Senators for DRC Counties

NY Senator (SD-40)

Peter Harckham

NY Senator (SD-41)

Michelle Hinchey

NY Senator (SD-46)

Pat Fahy

NY Senator (SD-48)

Rachel May

NY Senator (SD-50)

Chris Ryan

NY Senator (SD-52)

Lea Webb

2025 Fall Message From the Chair

Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes

Join us at an event

Issues Post

<h2>Registration For 2026 Conference Now Open</h2><a href="https://drcny.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/drcny/event.jsp?event=47&amp;">View Agenda and Register Here Now!</a>

News + Press

<h2>Bylaws Title Goes here</h2>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.<h3>Section 1</h3>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.<h4>Sub-section A</h4>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Upcoming Events in DRC Counties

Make sure you make these deadlines for registering and voting. To check your registration or look up your polling place, click here.

Key voting deadlines

mar. 8

Oct. 15 - 28

nov. 8

Timeline

Bylaws

Events

Events

<h3>We are committed to strengthening the Democratic Party throughout rural New York in order to enhance economic prosperity and quality of life across the state.</h3>The Democratic Rural Conference represents the 47 counties in New York with populations under 250,000. Democratic Party County Chairs and State Committee Members from those counties are DRC voting members. All counties regardless of size cast an equal weighted vote in DRC elections. Each county pays annual membership dues for its voting members, currently set at $90 per county by the board. The DRC welcomes other registered Democrats to join us as Associate Members for $10 per year. Associate Members receive all DRC communications, are invited to all DRC events, may serve on DRC committees and may attend board meetings.<h3><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/democratic-rural-conference-of-new-york-state-1?refcode=email&amp;amount=10&amp;refcode2=assoc_memb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CLICK HERE</a> to become an Associate Member of the New York State DRC by making a $10 annual membership donation.</h3>

<h2>Message from the Chair</h2>In these dark and difficult days for our nation, what can individuals do?We can work to elect local Democratic candidates to office.

2025 Conference Message From the Chair

DRC State Legislators

How and where to register and vote

Click this text to edit, or click this block to show more options on the sidebar.

Get Involved with the Local Democratic Party!

<h3>Contribute now to support our campaign!</h3>

Landing Popup

Rural County Committees

Documents

DRC Documents

Documents

Events Post

Under the Page Content tab, additional components can be added to your endorsements page. Consider adding a List component if you want to list endorsed candidates without photos.

Supported by the local Democratic org

candidate Title

Candidate Name

You might want to list additional contact information here as well. On the sidebar options, make sure to set up where form submissions go — the simplest is email, but your form can also be linked to various other services.

textarea

We’ll respond ASAP!

Elected Officials

Elections 2024

New York State Elected Officials

Governor

Kathy Hochul

Lt. Governor

Antonio Delgado

Comptroller

Tom DiNapoli

Attorney General

Tish James

State Senate Majority Leader

Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Assembly Speaker

Carl Heastie

Endorser Title

Endorser Name

State People

Contact

Elected Officials

Register to Vote

Candidates 2024

Message 2025 Conference

Volunteer

Documents & Bulletins

About Us

Message 2025 Fall

Home

Rural County Committees

Platform

If you want to link an external news source, use the “link” icons on the sidebar. Anything linked externally will automatically be listed as “news” and any article you create on the site itself will automatically be listed as a “press release.”

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has b

Headline goes here

Placeholder text for a press release covering the annual meeting election results.

DRC Elects New Officers

If you want to link an external news source, use the “link” icons on the sidebar. Anything linked externally will automatically be listed <a target="_blank" href="">as “new</a>s” and any article you create on the site itself will automatically be listed as a “press release.”

Write a little something about your platform issue here. You can only write about a paragraph here, but you can turn on an option to create full issues pages on the options sidebar of the issues page.

Write a short blurb about an issue your campaign is highlighting. Try to keep the text a similar size between the various issue blurbs.

Issue title here

The DRC Connects NYS Counties with Populations under 250,000. We are committed to strengthening the Democratic Party throughout rural New York in order to enhance economic prosperity and quality of life across the state.
The Democratic Rural Conference represents the 47 counties in New York with populations under 250,000. Democratic Party County Chairs and State Committee Members from those counties are DRC voting members. All counties regardless of size cast an equal weighted vote in DRC elections. Each county pays annual membership dues for its voting members, currently set at $90 per county by the board.

Democratic Rural Conference of New York State

DRC Committee Site