Democrat’s loss in 2016 woke us up to the need for Democrats to run and win in local elections. It is especially critical since PA Republicans are trying to take away our right to vote. The backbone of a successful local effort starts with our committee people. In KAD there are ten municipalities split into 22 precincts with ideally two committee people in each precinct.
In KAD our 2021 “freshman class” of committee people are Jake Elks and Tammy Hartzell, neighbors in East Marlborough West (360) who saw the need and answered the call. Jake and Tammy were appointed by the Chester County Democratic Committee in June to replace the retiring Ruthie Kranz-Carl and Gretchen Parisi and will be running for a four year term in May 2022. They are grateful for the strong foundation built by their predecessors and were proud to get out the vote and work at the polls during the November election.
On January 7, 2021, the day after the capitol riots, Jake Elks decided he needed to get more involved in local politics. When a committee person position opened up in his precinct he was happy to get involved, particularly since he would share the position with his neighbor across the street, Tammy Hartzell. As a service member, Jake also became more involved with the Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC) Veteran’s caucus. Jake works in business development for Honeywell and has served in the Coast Guard for many years. He is currently a Chief Warrant Officer in the Coast Guard Reserve. He is married and has a 14 year old son and an 11 year old daughter, both attend Patton Middle School.
Tammy Hartzell has always been a political activist and “speaker of truth,” particularly as regards education and social justice. The last election opened her eyes to the need to counter misinformation on issues of concern to us all. She is a school nurse at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School and is pursuing her master’s in public health at Simmons University. She is married with three children, 14, 10, and 7. Although she no longer has time to pursue her hobby as an aerialist, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and reading
Jake and Tammy want to grow their efforts to reach out to precinct voters. They particularly want to connect with younger residents and nonvoters, who might have been discouraged from voting by the incivility of today’s political discourse. They welcome suggestions on how to improve their outreach.
Committee people are at the heart of our efforts to retain the House and Senate this year. Join Jake and Tammy by volunteering as a committee person in your precinct or volunteering to help a committee person with their get out the vote efforts. You can find contact information for KAD’s committee people HERE. If you’re interested in volunteering as a committee person, please contact KAD HERE.
