Zach King is leaving his post as chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee. King, who steps down next week, will manage Rep. Joseph Morelle’s reelection campaign.
King was elected to the MCDC position in 2019, joining a young and diverse leadership slate that represented Black, Latinx, LGBTQIA+ and white communities.
“When I was first elected, Democratic politics were mired in chaos and infighting,” he says. “While we have not grown past every difference of opinion, we have been able to make incredible strides together to move our party forward. Our work is far from finished, but I am incredibly proud of all we have accomplished.”
During King’s tenure as chair, voters elected a majority of Democrats to the Monroe County Legislature and flipped two State Senate seats, among other wins. The MCDC also centralized its data management and coordinated local campaign efforts to provide additional support and tools to candidates and local committees, officials say. It revised organizational bylaws for the first time in 17 years.
King joined politics after Rep. Louise Slaughter’s office urged him to lend a hand with her reelection in 2016. He became a lead field organizer for her reelection committee, talking to voters and recruiting volunteers. King also ran Slaughter’s voter registration program, registering 2,500 voters. Slaughter won that election against Republican Mark Assini, with 55.7 percent of the vote.
Now, King has a chance to be involved in a campaign again.
“With national Republicans revoking freedoms and access to reproductive healthcare, refusing to take action on mass gun violence, and embracing extremists working to undermine our democracy, now is not the time to walk away from politics,” he says. “I can think of no more important fight than for the soul of our nation, and working to re-elect Congressman Morelle is the most direct way I can support this fight.”
MCDC will conduct its biennial reorganizational meeting on Oct. 1, at which time the next chair and other party officers will be elected. Stephen DeVay, executive vice chair, will serve as interim chair until then.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name.
Joe Morelle is our federal representative, his job is only indirectly related to the RCSD. Education is handled by state and local governments.
Our election of Morelle does play an important part in determining which party controls the house. If you want to renounce the MAGA madness and hate vote for Morelle. We are in a Democratic county and state, Morelle is the only sane choice.
While I am an Independent and registered as such, with the Leadership in the hands of the Democratic Party, what has been accomplished. Tell me just how effective Joe Morelle has been? What have been his, not someone else he chimes in on, but his contribution to making Rochester/Monroe County a better place to live? I’m going to leave all the issues of concern on the table for now, and focus in on the EDUCTION, or the RCSD. How are our kids, the future of this community, doing in the education aspect. Ah,…not so good. As a matter of fact poorly. Don’t even think about pointing to East High School and it reported “success”. If they are so very successful, why has it not been duplicated/replicated? Maybe, if so successful, the rest of the RCSD could benefit from their secret to success. I believe that is called equity, education equality. The predicted response is, well Joe Morelle is not responsible for education. He had all the answers a while back that didn’t have any effect on the graduation rate. I remember when my wife and I visited his office, after making an appointment, and he wasn’t available when we arrived. There were a couple of rookies or political students in the office who received us. They were still wet behind the ears and we left shaking our heads regarding how little they knew and how ignorant they were on the subject of the RCSD. Now my wife has 37 years of teaching to her credit as a Special Ed. teacher. Together we knew too much and the “youngens” couldn’t grasp the educational crises. That was then and this is now. Just in case Joe Morelle hasn’t read the paper lately,…..we have an educational crisis. All that free college education is useless without a high school diploma. Now I am absolutely positive that Joe Morelle will have a political and or verbal dance for the educational failure. Zach King will also have a dance. That is precisely why he has been hired. In any case, we have a crisis, we need ideas, ingenuity, educational enhancement programs, etc. Politicians are very good at answering those type of question with a non-answer. So Zach,…lets hear just why the RCSD has not been able to teach the way kids learn? It can either be done or,…you feel that some kids are uneducable. I happen to think that ALL kids have gifts and innate skills. The RCSD is responsible to help kids identify those gift/innate skills. Then guide them toward graduating with a relevant diploma. Let the dance commence.