The City of Kingston’s chief legal counsel will take over as chair of the Ulster County Democratic Committee. Barbara Graves-Poller was elected party chair as part of the committee’s biennial rotation of leadership.

Since 2021, Graves-Poller has served as Kingston’s corporation counsel. Prior to that she was a senior attorney for the City of New York. Graves-Poller was also an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law. In Kingston, she has served as the city’s lead attorney in more than a dozen lawsuits filed by an Uptown property owner in an effort to derail the Kingstonian project, overturn the city’s affordable housing mandate and prevent the demolition of the Pike Plan canopies. Graves-Poller also advised Common Council President Andrea Shaut in updating the council rules for the first time in a century.

As party chair, Graves-Poller, who served as a delegate to last month’s Democratic National Convention, will lead the effort to elect Democrats at every level of government. The committee is expected to play a key role in turning out the vote for incumbent Congressman Pat Ryan who is running a closely watched re-election campaign in a rare “purple” district against Republican Alison Esposito. The committee is also charged with identifying new talent and recruiting candidates to run for local, state and federal office.

Graves-Poller will inherit a committee that has been ascendent in recent years with registered Democrats in Ulster County outnumbering both Republicans and non-party-enrolled voters by substantial margins. Democratic dominance has given the party a lock on countywide office and a supermajority in the county legislature. It’s also allowed the party to routinely elect Democrats to state legislative office against minimal opposition. Surging party enrollment and political engagement during the Trump administration also allowed Ulster County Democrats to beef up their own party infrastructure, expanding the leadership team to include vice-chairs for diversity, fundraising, outreach and campaign support.

Besides Graves-Poller, Jeff Collins of Woodstock will return as first vice chair. Andy Cowan will serve as vice chair for voter outreach; Sarah Fassett, will serve as vice chair for fundraising; Jonathan Heppner will serve as vice chair for communications; Marisa McClinton will return as vice chair for diversity and party building; Brandon Gonzalez will serve as vice chair for campaign support; Jen McKaig will serve as secretary; Amee Peterson will return as treasurer; Robert Haskins will return as chair of the ethics commission; and Gilda Riccardi will serve as ethics commission vice chair.

“UCDC’s officers bring a wealth of talent, passion, and integrity to this organization at a critical moment in our democracy," said Graves-Poller in a statement Thursday. "I look forward to leading such an impressive team."