What is a “Member of County Central Committee?

And why are they important?

Found on the last frame of your partisan primary ballot this year, you will find an opportunity to vote for your Member of County Central Committee. What is a member of County Central committee, you ask? Well, political parties have a local governing body, and these folks represent you on your County Central Committee for your designated party’s governing body. They make important decisions on things like endorsements that appear on a sample ballot or slate card you receive in the mail or at the polls, and appointments to some vacated offices. Central Committee members also work to build relationships between those that hold public office and the people that vote for them.

The City of Worthington is divided into four separate wards, and these wards (represented in numbers 1-4) and precincts (represented by letters) help determine your polling location. Each ward in Franklin County can have Central Committee representation from both the Democratic and the Republican parties if interested candidates file petitions to run, or are appointed to fill a vacancy.

While all four Worthington wards have member of County Central Committee candidates on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots, two of the four wards have contested races.

In ward 4 there are Democratic and Republican contested races, and in ward 1 only the Democratic Central Committee member is contested. Typically, the Central Committee positions are not contested races, and most candidates throughout the county are running uncontested. Less than 5% of Franklin County Central Committee candidates are running in contested races, but in Worthington 37.5% are facing contested races. If you like to vote straight ticket and trust in your parties’ recommendations, it is vitally important to do your research for your Central Committee representatives.

In Ward 4 for the Democratic party Brinda Copsey is the incumbent, and running against her is Cory Elzey. For the Republican party Stephanie Plant Frobose is the incumbent, and running against her is Stephan Ketter.

In ward 1 Mary Woods is the incumbent, and *Felicity Beck is running against her.

Early voting starts February 21st, and election day is March 19th. You can request an absentee ballot to vote by mail now. Please make a plan to vote! Many schools have spring break in March, so make sure to plan accordingly to vote for the Member of Central Committee that you believe best represents you, your party, and your community.

*As of the posting of this article Felicity Beck has withdrawn from running for democratic county central committee in Ward 1.