Ben Smith, the chairman of the Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee, who engineered and managed the recent campaign of Maya Rockeymoore Cummings to become chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, has been appointed executive director of the state party.
“The Maryland Democratic Party has an opportunity to go deep to build an infrastructure that leverages technology and the energy of the grassroots to drive Democratic wins up and down ballot,” Rockeymoore Cummings said in a statement Tuesday. “Ben comes to the party from running his own consulting firm and breathing new life and energy into the Baltimore City Central Committee. I have no doubt that he has the talent, discipline and foresight necessary to help lead Maryland Democrats to victory in the future.”
Smith has spent the last few political cycles working as a strategist on state, regional, and local campaigns around Maryland, focusing on everything from field to direct mail, policy and digital communications. He is a graduate of the Maryland School of Law.
Smith will replace Stephanie Potter, the executive director under former MDP chairwoman Kathleen Matthews, who was ousted by Rockeymoore Cummings at a state party meeting on Dec. 1.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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