The Central Committee is composed of 12 members. The Central Committee may also appoint up to six associate members. The current Central Committee was elected in the 2022 Maryland Gubernatorial Primary Election and members will serve until 2026. 

Chair:

Julie Randall

Julie Randall is an active community volunteer and lifelong advocate for people with disabilities. Originally from Alabama, she has been a member of the St. Mary's County, Maryland community for over 40 years. Married to Robert Randall, Julie and Bob reside in Lexington Park, Maryland.

Over the past 30+ years, Julie has served the St. Mary's County community in various elected and volunteer roles, beginning with St. Mary's County Public Schools committees. In 1994 she was first appointed by the Governor and subsequently elected to the St. Mary's County School Board serving as President and Member of the Board until 1998. From 1998 to 2002, Mrs. Randall was the elected President of the St. Mary's County Board of Commissioners. She was and is the sole Democratic female elected to the Board of County Commissioners.

In 2004, Julie founded the Democratic Women of St. Mary's, active until 2008. In 2019, she began the Club again and is serving as its President. In 2022, Julie was elected to the St. Mary's County Democratic Central Committee. Her current community volunteerism includes Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Southern Maryland Center for Independent Living, Member and Community Service Charity Director of the Lexington Park Rotary, Vice President of the Feed St. Mary's Food Bank and member of the Lexington Manor Passive Park Community Garden project.

Julie firmly believes our community is stronger when we work together to lift everybody up. She wants to use her background and leadership experience to increase Democratic community service, support Democratic beliefs and candidates, and focus on human services needs in St. Mary's County.

Treasurer:

Jess Jolly

Jess Jolly, (she/her) is a clinical social worker who has been serving the community in Southern Maryland for over a decade. She began volunteering for the St. Mary's County Democratic Club in 2016 and has served as a volunteer for various campaigns throughout the past five years. Jess has served as a board member for the National Association of Social Workers Maryland Chapter and has promoted the importance of behavioral health care within our community. Jess registered as a Democrat when eligible to vote and has been politically active ever since. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the natural beauty of the area and kayaking.

Secretary

Michelle Dowleyne

Michelle Dowleyne is originally from Detroit, Michigan. She retired from the military, and her husband and she made Maryland their home. She previously served on the Charles County Monument Commission and St Mary’s County Social Services Advisory Board and is currently a member of the St. Mary’s County Police Accountability Board. Michelle worked as a Summer Fellow for the 2012 Maryland Summer Obama Organizing Fellowship Program.

Michelle's intellectual prowess is reflected in her academic achievements. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Cameron University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Strayer University. Michelle's commitment to learning and service is further exemplified by her membership in several community and national organizations.  In her leisure time, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, traveling, and serving others.

First Vice-Chair

AnnMarie Kozloski Abell

AnnMarie Kozloski Abell has called St. Mary's County home since 1980 and raised a family here with her husband, Jerry Abell. She spent 34+ years supporting the mission of US Naval Aviation at Patuxent River Maryland, retiring as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Continuous Improvement practitioner and trainer, and a federal civil servant.

Over the decades, AnnMarie has volunteered for and served in leadership roles at her children's schools, parish committees, advisory boards, county appointed boards and commissions, and local democratic clubs and campaigns. A former Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, AnnMarie channeled that experience and new relationships into reconstructing the Democratic Women of St. Mary's aka IAMSTMARYS. 

Now, AnnMarie is on a mission to engage with the community to improve on local governance that is responsive, active, and fair in listening and serving everyone in the county.

Second Vice-Chair

Mike Bellis

Mike Bellis was elected to the St. Mary's County Democratic Central Committee in 2022. He is the Director of Advancement & Communications for Historic St. Mary's City, which he joined in July 2024. In this role, Mike oversees fundraising, events, donor relations, marketing, grants, and communications for Maryland's first capital, living history museum, and active archeological site.

Prior to joining Historic St. Mary's City, Bellis held a variety of leadership roles at local organizations including Executive Director of the Charles Regional Medical Center Foundation, Assistant Director of Alumni and Annual Giving at the College of Southern Maryland and Executive Director of United Way of Charles County. At CSM, Mike launched the Distinguished Alumni Award to recognize one outstanding alumnus each year. During his tenure at United Way, Mike created a first-of-its-kind program, Community Connections, which popped-up resource days in underserved neighborhood throughout Charles County. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this program served over 3,000 families in need. Mike also successfully won over $1.5M in rental assistance grants to aid families impacted by COVID-related job loss. Prior to his departure, Mike successfully negotiated the merger of the three Southern Maryland United Way organizations to form United Way of Southern Maryland.

Mike currently serves as Chair the Housing Authority of St. Mary's County. in 2022, Governor Wes Moore appointed Mike to serve as a Director for the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. He previously served on the Executive Committee for the Charles County Chamber of Commerce and the Boards of the Charles County Local Management Board and the Charles County Homeless and Emergency Shelter Committee. He is a graduate of Leadership Southern Maryland Class of 2019. In 2020, Mike was named a "VIP Under 40" by the Maryland Daily Record.

Originally from Sarasota, Florida, Mike relocated to Southern Maryland in 2010. Mike lives in Leonardtown with his wife and young daughter.

Members:

Joe DeVitis

Joe DeVitis a retired professor of education who has taught at five different universities, most recently at Old Dominion University. A native of Baltimore, he has a B.A. and M. Ed. from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Illinois’s College of Education, he has authored and edited numerous books. Four have won book awards from the American Educational Studies Association (AESA) and two others have won awards from the American Library Association as best academic books of the year in education and psychology. His recent books are The Future of American Higher Education (2022) and Human Flourishing and Higher Education (in press). He is working on a new book, Post-Truth’s Assault on America’s Schools and Colleges. He is past-president of AESA, the Council of Learned Societies in Education the Society of Professors of Education, and the Southeast Educational Philosophy Society. Joe has worked in many political campaigns: His own run for a County Commission seat in Jackson, Tennessee; campaign chair for a candidate for the General Assembly in Georgia and co-chair of the Milledgeville, Georgia, headquarters for the 2008 Obama campaign; campaign chair for a candidate for City Council in Norfolk, Virginia; and deputy campaign chair for Bill Bates’s run for the Maryland House of Delegates in St. Mary’s County. "We are at a perilous crossroads as a country. Will we restore decency and sanity to our fragile democratic society? Will we act with moral and social responsibility in meeting that demand? This is the most monumental questions facing us since the Civil War." Joe lives in Leonardtown, with his daughter Leigh (a former Marine helicopter pilot who is an acquisitions director at Pax River Naval Station), her spouse Catherine, three young grandchildren (Silas, Harper, and Kai), and three feisty dogs. He serves on two St. Mary’s County committees: the Ethics Commission and the Adult Public Guardianship Review Board.

Kurt Engel

Kurt Engel made St. Mary’s County, MD his home in 1997. He was born into a military family and lived all over the country growing up. He earned a BS degree from the US Merchant Marine Academy, and he sailed briefly in the Merchant Marine before joining the US Navy.  During his 20-year Navy career, he flew helicopters while deployed on ships around the world. He earned a MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Kurt’s final Navy transfer brought him and his family to St Mary’s with the move of Naval Air Systems Command to Southern Maryland.

Upon retirement from the Navy, he began a second career in the Defense Acquisition industry with companies supporting various Naval Systems Commands.

During his time in St Mary’s, Kurt has served in a variety of volunteer roles including as a member of Congressman Hoyer’s Service Academy Advisory Board, St Mary’s Commission on the Environment, Chestnut Hills HOA Treasurer and President, Resurrection Parish Vestry, Christmas in April, Project WARM and Assistant Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 303.

Kurt is married to Celia Engel, a former St Mary’s County teacher and Parenting Program Coordinator and they have raised three sons of whom they are very proud. The oldest, Erich has been an employee of SMCPS for the past 9 years, Karl lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a BioMed Engineer, and Brandt is a LT in the Navy and assigned to NAS Patuxent River flying E/A-18 aircraft.

Rose Frederick

Rose Frederick is a native of St. Mary's County, MD. Rose is very active in her community. She serves as a member of the Uniformed Service Academy Advisory Board; Board member for the Southern Maryland Center for Family Advocacy; St. Mary's County NAACP Political Action Committee; and Campaign Chair for the Bill Bates Campaign for Delegate in 29C.

Rose as served as Substitute Board Member St. Mary's County Board of Elections; St. Mary's County Race Relations Council Member; Previous Executive Board Member: St. Mary's County NAACP, (Previous 1st Vice-President and Secretary); a Board Chair: St. Mary's County Social Services Advisory Board where she was instrumental in the County receiving Paul Hastings funds for Respite Care at Three Oaks; Previous Board Member: Maryland State Association of Social Service Boards, Southern Maryland Higher Education Center Governance Board where she was instrumental in the University of Maryland Systems merging with the Higher Center and funding of Building III; Southern Maryland Center for Independent Living, Board Member: St. Mary's County Garvey Senior Activity Center Group, Rose was instrumental in funds being provided for the new center which broke ground in 2018; St. Mary's County Nursing Center Governing Board and Prior Scholarship Chair, Chesapeake Women in Defense; Navy Air and Missile Defense Command Sexual Assault Prevention Response Coordinator.

Rose retired from the Federal government after a 35-year career and currently works for a defense contractor.

Rose has a Master of Science Degree in Management from the University of Management and Technology; Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Maryland University College; Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWLA) Level III Certification in Program Management and Business Cost Estimating and Financial Management from the Defense Acquisition University; a graduate of the Navy's Senior Executive Management Development Program; and a graduate of the Navy Aviation Assistant Maintenance Officer School.

Rose lives in Loveville, MD with her husband J. Douglas Frederick. Rose has a daughter and son-in-law who lives in Tampa, FL. She also has a granddaughter who is an intern at Patuxent River, MD, granddaughter attending UMES, Princess Anne, MD, and grandson attending Bethune-Cookman College in Jacksonville, FL.

Valerie Gregorio

John Weiner

John S. Weiner was born and raised in St. Mary’s County, and is a graduate of Chopticon High School, University of Maryland at College Park, and the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he received a Juris Doctor Degree.  He had a general practice of law in Leonardtown for 44 years.  He was married for 49 years 11 months to Sharon Weiner, who taught for 35 years in St. Mary’s County Public Schools.  John and Sharon have always been very proud of their three children, Scott, Rachel, and Aaron and their four grandchildren.  

John has served the St. Mary’s County community with a number of worthwhile organizations, such as Christmas in April, Project WARM homeless program, Hospice of St. Mary’s, and the NAACP Political Action Committee.

John is a political junkie – a long time Democratic Club member and has served a previous term as a DCC member and is currently an associate member of the DCC.   He has volunteered in and has contributed to the campaigns of many local Democratic candidates.  In 2020 John provided 1622 Biden Harris campaign signs, that were distributed throughout St. Mary’s County.  

John believes that one the goals of the DCC should be to engage young people and unaffiliated voters in the political process on the Democratic side.

Associate Members

Anne Marie Dailey

Anne Marie Dailey is a native Marylander. Born and raised in rural Western Maryland, she lived in Baltimore City for 15 years before making St. Mary’s County her permanent home in 2003. Anne Marie attended Frostburg State University and University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy. She practiced pharmacy for 20 years before becoming a stay-at-home mother.  

Anne Marie served on the Chesapeake Public Charter School Alliance Board for seven years, including six years as treasurer, overseeing the financials of the school during the purchase of the building in which it resides.  

Anne Marie was treasurer for Julia Nichol’s 2018 campaign for state delegate, 29C and has served as treasurer for Brian Crosby’s campaign for state delegate, 29B since November of 2021. She is currently serving as secretary of the Democratic Club of St. Mary’s. As an associate member of the St. Mary’s Democratic Central Committee, Anne Marie hopes to advance Democratic beliefs and candidates in St. Mary’s.

Jeremy Leissner

Jeremy Leissner is a team player and leader where he works and within the union. As a contractor helicopter mechanic, he uses his 22 years of expertise to work hand-in-hand with  other contractors, government, and Naval personnel. As the President of his local union (The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), he oversees and represents over 1500 members at NAS Patuxent River, Webster Field, Solomon’s Annex, and the Charlotte Hall Veteran’s Home. 

Jeremy is a 6½ year veteran of the U.S Air Force, where he learned his trade of a helicopter mechanic. While in the Air Force, he quickly became the go to person when issues arose. Not realizing that, 7 years later he would be the go to guy for his union members where he worked. He quickly started educating himself on labor law and politics and is currently the Executive Vice-President to the Maryland and Washington D.C State Council of Machinists.

As a 13 year resident of St. Mary’s County, he believes it is time for him to become more involved within the county. Because of his out-of-the-box thinking, the norm can become the past. He is insistent on making veterans and working people of St. Mary’s County a priority. 

Jeremy is excited to start another chapter in this thing they call “Life”

Sheila Milburn

Julia Nichols

Julia (pronouns: she/her/hers) has lived in St. Mary’s County since 1997 and has served the community through her work on multiple boards. She is a librarian by training and has used her organizational skills to lead and strengthen local groups. Julia served on the board of the MOMS Club of St. Mary’s County and served on the boards and helped found the Chesapeake Public Charter School and the Southern Maryland Youth Orchestra and Choir. 

In 2016, Julia joined Together We Will and helped lead this group of activists. In January of 2017, she organized 5 buses to travel from Southern Maryland to the Women’s March in DC. And in 2017-2018, Julia ran for State Delegate in district 29C.

Currently, Julia is President of the Democratic Club of St. Mary’s County and associate member of the SMCDCC, Secretary for the St. Mary’s County Arts Council, and Treasurer for the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter and Southern Maryland Group. 

Julia lives in Leonardtown with her husband where they raised their three children - two now in college and one in high school.