The Central Committee

  • What is the Central Committee?

 The Stanislaus County Democratic Central Committee is an elected body that organizes the Democratic Party in Stanislaus County. Members are elected every 4 years on the US Presidential Primary ballot based supervisorial district. Our purpose is to conduct the County Party’s general business, approve its budget, coordinate campaign activity, recruit and endorse Democratic candidates for office.

Each club also has a representative on the SCDCC. Meetings are held at 7pm on the FOURTH Thursday of every month in one of the most important regions in our county on Crows Landing road in South Modesto. Meetings are open to any registered Democrat or persons with the intent to register as Democrat when eligible.

For this purpose the Central Committee does the following

  • Recruits, trains, and endorses candidates

  • Charters democratic clubs

  • Sends voting delegates to party conventions

  • Coordinates campaign efforts for candidates and issues

  • Sponsors voter outreach and registration drives

  • Recruits volunteers to support candidates and issues

Central Committee Members

District 1

  • Linda Lagace is a non-native Californian, having moved here from New Jersey via Louisiana in 1986. Linda’s formal education has been in both technology and the social sciences. She has had a diverse job history, including working as a petrochemical engineer, an artisan distiller, and a hospice social worker. She has lived throughout California from Mendocino to Santa Cruz, Menlo Park, and Merced. Linda enjoys her retirement with her husband David. While no longer hiking the California wilderness, she enjoys photographing the beauty of the wildlife and wetlands of the Central Valley.

  • Marjorie Sturdy is a life-long resident and Progressive Democrat. She was fully activated by the 2016 Election results and since then has been highly involved in elections and Democratic activities in Stanislaus County. Marjorie was a founding member of the Modesto Progressive Democratic Club for which she currently serves as president. She has also been elected to be a California Democratic Delegate for 2 terms now. She’s been a member of the Central Committee since 2016.

  • Elizabeth “Lise” Talbott represents you as an elected member from District 1 and as Controller for the SCDCC. She also serves the community as a Waterford City Councilmember, and as your Executive Board member to the California Democratic Party from Assembly District 12. Additionally, she is the Political Activities Chair for the CVDC. Lise is a passionate advocate for community-based solutions to health, environmental, and racial equity. She's also married to the best husband in the world and mom to two awesome young men.

  • David Tucker spent his career as a civil engineer: 32 years as a consultant and 23 years in public service, ending as City Engineer of Merced for eight years.  David serves as Treasurer of the Central Valley Democratic Club and has been a Central Committee member for more than ten years.


District 2

  • Victor Costa is the Vice Chair of the Stanislaus County Democratic Central Committee. Additionally, he is a founding member and current President of the Young Democrats of Stanislaus County.

  • Janet Smith is currently serving her first elected term on the Central Committee. She has lived in the Turlock and Denair area since 1992. She is involved with Be the Change Turlock, Modesto Progressive Democrats, and several other local Democratic clubs.

  • Margaret Souza

  • Michelle Tennell is the Secretary of the Stanislaus County Democratic Central Committee. She is an elected CDP Delegate for Assembly District 12 and the current President of the Central Valley Democratic Club. She is a teacher, lifelong Progressive Democrat, and the mother of three. She is committed to getting Democrats elected to local offices across our county, expanding the progressive coalition within the Democratic Party, and bringing more young people into the political process.

District 3

  • Amanda Duran

  • Sebastian Jones

  • Kevin McClarty

  • Antonio Madrigal is a Turlock native who now serving his second term on the Modesto City Council. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, he served two terms on the Santa Cruz City Council. He currently serves on the Economic Development Committee and chairs the Appointments Committee. Tony serves on the boards of the King-Kennedy Memorial Center, Latino Community Roundtable, and South Modesto Businesses United.


District 4

  • Lisa Battista is a Modesto attorney and progressive Democrat.  Her main areas of interest are fair and transparent elections, protecting the right to vote, increasing diversity in elected leadership, and building a bench of strong Democratic leaders in Stanislaus County. 

  • Jocelyn Cooper

  • Patrick Kolasinski

  • Chris Ricci

  • Jessica Self

District 5

  • Sheree Lustgarten

  • Juan Vazquez

  • Renee Zumstein

  • Shivaughn Alves

Ex-Officio Members

  • Ana Caballero

  • Robert Chase

  • Cathleen Galgiani

  • Adam Gray

  • Josh Harder

  • Paulina Miranda

Alternate and Associate Members

  • Marco Camacho

  • Cathy Doo, alternate for Michelle Tennell, retired after 31 years from PG&E. Former utility electric estimator and utility construction & customer contact, active in Democratic politics since 2016. Member of SCDCC since 2019, she was very involved in Josh Harder's 2018 campaign to successfully flip CA10.

  • Cynthia Homen

  • Lisa Mantarro Moore

  • Michelle Pearson

  • Keristofer Seryani

  • Joe Souza  is a long-time member of the SCDCC now serving as an Alternate for District 2. He is a past SCDCC officer having served as Treasurer, Vice-Chair and Chairman. Joe A is a founding member and Current President of the Turlock Democratic Club. A lifetime resident of the area. Joe A.  is a graduate of Hughson High School and earned a BA degree from California State University Stanislaus. Joe is Married to Margaret Von Rotz Souza and they have two daughters and five Grandsons. Joe is a retired dairy farmer and has lived in rural Turlock for over 45 years. Joe has been involved in the Democratic party since the McGovern campaign in 1972.