Meet Our Executive Board
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Dwight Pelz, Chair
Seattle, WA A fifth generation Washingtonian, Dwight was born in Seattle in 1951. In 1954 the family moved to Washington DC when his father joined the staff of Seattle Congressman Don Magnuson. Dwight graduated from the University of Michigan in 1974 and returned to Seattle the next year. For 15 years he worked as a community organizer for a variety of grassroots groups on a variety of social issues. In 1977 Dwight organized the statewide initiative campaign that repealed the sales tax on food. He was elected to the State Senate in 1990, where he represented the 37th District for six years. He chaired the Senate Education Committee and Labor and Commerce Committee for two years. In 1996, Dwight was appointed to take Ron Sims's place on the King County Council, representing South Seattle. He was elected in 1997 and re-elected for a second term in 2001. He became a recognized leader in the areas of transit and transportation, growth management, the environment, human services, and civil rights. He served on the Sound Transit Board and led the fight for the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Dwight was elected Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party in January 2006 and re-elected in 2007, 2009, and 2011. |
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Valerie Brady Rongey, Vice Chair Valerie Brady Rongey is a small business owner in Eastern Washington. Providing affordable housing communities for independent seniors in Spokane and Walla Walla. Fascinated with the organization and inner workings of political organizations Valerie has volunteered for every position from booth volunteer to county party treasurer to legislative district vice-chair. Now as state party vice-chair Valerie is working with parties and volunteers across the state to train PCOs and campaign staffers in the use of Vote Builder and organizing events. |
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Rob Dolin, Secretary Seattle, WA |
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Habib Habib, Treasurer Marysville, WA |
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David McDonald, DNC MemberSeattle, WA David is firm-wide co-Leader of the Intellectual Property Practice Area at the international law firm of K&L Gates LLP. He has been a Democratic PCO since 1974. David was 46th District Democratic Party Chair from 1981 to 1984 and King County Democratic Party Chair from 1984 to 1992. He has chaired three State Democratic Conventions and been the State Party's Parliamentarian since 1981. David was the Recount Manager for Washington's historic Manual Recount in the 2004 Governor's election and the Election Contest Manager for the subsequent litigation. He has served on the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee since 2001. David has been a Trustee of Harborview Medical Center since 1998. He lives with his wife, Dr. Pam McDonald, in Seattle. |
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Ed Cote, DNC MemberVancouver, WA Ed was born and raised in Aberdeen and attended Grays Harbor Community College and later Washington State University. He eventually went on to earn his Masters in Social Work from Portland State University and then spent 31 years with the Department of Social and Health Services. He retired from DSHS in 2001 and has served as Director of Professional Services for Lutheran Community Services Northwest since then. Ed has been involved in Democratic politics and very active since 1968. He managed his first campaign in Grays Harbor County in 1970 and has been a precinct committee officer in Clark County. He was State Committeeman for Clark County from 1985 until 1993. Ed is married to Kasey Cote and has two adult daughters. |
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Sharon Mast, DNC Member Bellevue, WA |
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Lona Wilbur, DNC Member La Connor, WA |
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Todd Nichols, 1st Congressional District Representative Snohomish, WA Todd lives in Snohomish and practices law in Everett, emphasizing labor, employment, personal injury, and litigation. He has been Chair of the Snohomish County Democrats and on the State Central Committee since 1992. He has been a member of the Executive Board since 2001 and Chair of the Rules Committee since 2004. Todd is a graduate of Annapolis and George Washington University law school. He is also on the Board of the Washington State Association for Justice. He and his wife Chris are the parents of four devoted Democrats. |
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Tom Riggs, 2nd Congressional District Representative
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Marsha Manning, 3rd Congressional District Representative
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George Fearing, 4th Congressional District RepresentativeKennewick, WA George Fearing is an attorney in private practice in Kennewick, Washington. He specializes in representing municipalities in civil litigation. George has run for Congress in central Washington and for the state legislature in southeastern Washington. He has served the party in various capacities including Franklin County Vice Chair, Franklin County State Committeeman, 16th Legislative District State Committeeman, and Fourth Congressional District Chairman. He is a member of the ACLU and NAACP and is a founder of Center for Liberty of Conscience, an organization promoting separation of church and state. |
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Bob Esvelt, 5th Congressional District RepresentativeRice, WA Bob Esvelt received a degree in zoology at Washington State University, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. Despite success in Vitamin D research, Bob decided in 1979 to return to the family farm partnership to marry Becky Miller and raise a family in the mountains of northeast Washington overlooking Lake Roosevelt. A State Committeeman for the 7th District from 1993 until the present, Bob Esvelt has been Chair of the Stevens County Democrats for 12 of the past 16 years, as well as Vice Chair and Secretary, and was recently re-elected Chair. Bob has served on the Executive Board since 2001. |
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Sherry Barry, 6th Congressional District RepresentativeShelton, WA |
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Javier Valdez, 7th Congressional District RepresentativeSeattle, WA Involved in the Democratic Party since 1988 when he attended his precinct caucus as a high school senior, Javier served as Chair of the 43rd District Democrats from 1997 to 2002 and Chair of the 46th District Democrats from 2007 to 2009. He has been a member of the State Committee since 2001 and the Executive Board since 2003. Javier was Treasurer of the Institute for a Democratic Future from 1997 to 2008. Javier has helped countless candidates and campaigns throughout Seattle, King County, and the state in his 20+ years of Democratic involvement. A former boardmember of the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and former President of Hispanic Seafair, he remains active in his Latino community. Born and raised in Moses Lake, Javier resides in Seattle and is a Seattle City Light employee, managing the utility's Historically Underutilized Business program. Javier is a proud University of Washington School of Business alum and received his Masters in Public Administration degree from Baruch College, the City University of New York, as a member of the National Urban Fellows. |
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Kent Verbeck, 8th Congressional District RepresentativeCle Elum, WA Kent has been active in the Kittitas County Democratic Party since 1980. He has represented Kittitas County as a State Committeeman for more than 20 years. A former Democratic County Chair, 13th Legislative District Chair and candidate for County Commissioner. He is currently a Fire District #7 Commissioner and 26-year volunteer firefightter. A resident of upper Kittitas County since 1974 and active in many local organizations, he has recently retired from work as the Security Manager at the Snoqualmie Pass Ski area. |
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Bryan Kesterson, 9th Congressional District Representative |
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Zach Smith, 10th Congressional District Representative Olympia, WA Zach was born in Seattle, but spent time in Limu, Peru, and upstate New York before moving to Vashon Island in high school and later to Olympia. Zach has worked as a printer for the Washington Federation of State Employees since 1985. In that capacity he has been afforded the opportunity to work as a union organizer, contract negotiator, shop steward, and political action coordinator. Zach is a unionist and with that believes that there is nothing that a small group of committed people cannot achieve. He believes that organized labor is directly responsible for many human rights that we all enjoy, like the 40-hour work week and benefits for working families such as health care and pensions. Zach is passionate about bringing people together who have relative interests. |
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Alec Stephens, Affirmative Action Committee ChairSeattle, WA Alec is Diversity Technical Advisor in the Diversity Programs Office of Sound Transit (the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority). A member of the Washington State Bar Association since 1980, he specializes in civil rights law and policy. Before coming to Sound Transit, Alec served as an administrator and policy advisor at King County/Metro and the Seattle Urban League and as Regional Attorney for the Northwest Regional Office of the U. S. Civil Rights Commission. He is state committeeman for the 37th Legislative District. Prior to service with the State Party, Alec served as a Vice Chair of the King County Democrats, Chair of the 37th Legislative District, and Delegate and National Rules Committee member to the 1992 and 1988 National Conventions, respectively. Active in his community and his church, he currently serves on the City of Seattle Park Levy Oversight Committee and on the St. Therese Parish Pastoral Council. He and his wife, Helena, live in the Seward Park neighborhood in southeast Seattle. |
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Catherine Chambers, President of the Federation of Democratic Women |