Cotten, Parmigiana among Greater Morristown names on Duarte ticket for Morris Dem leadership

Amalia Duarte – Chair
Amalia Duarte of Mendham Township was part of a wave of women who ran for public office after the 2016 presidential election. She won a seat on the Mendham Township Committee in 2017 and became the first Democrat and Latina to serve on the governing body. She drew support from residents across party lines, running on a platform of greater transparency, accountability and investment in recreation and infrastructure. She won re-election in 2020, setting a record for earning the highest number of votes in a local contested election. She is Chair of the MCDC Elected Officials Caucus, a forum for building relationships across communities and sharing best practices. She earned a B.A. at New York University in journalism and political science. She worked as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, The (Bergen) Record and People magazine. She shifted into corporate communications at Lucent Technologies, a spinoff, Avaya, and later was the global Communications Director for Citigroup’s Operations & Technology unit. Currently, she works as the Public Affairs Director for ECLC of New Jersey, a nonprofit provider of schools and services for children and adults with special needs. She is a Board member of the Alliance of Private Special Education Schools of North Jersey and is Chair of the Public Relations Committee for ASAH, a statewide organization for schools/agencies serving individuals with special needs.

Amalia serves as a Board member of Head Start of Morris County; the Schiff Nature Preserve; the Sharing Project; Brookside Community Church; and is a Board member emeritus with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, New Jersey Chapter. She founded and Chairs the Mendhams Stigma-Free Task Force, which works to raise awareness around mental health and substance use and to foster an inclusive community environment. The Task Force has organized parent workshops on youth mental health issues; family support; cannabis education; and how to cope with stress during COVID. In early 2020, the Task Force provided community forums to promote healing and hope after the tragic loss of teens who died by suicide.

Mike DeLamater – Vice Chair
Mike DeLamater of Morristown brings deep knowledge of running campaigns, starting when he coordinated campaigns for local candidates in his hometown of Paramus and then ran for a seat on the Paramus Council in 2013. He served as President of the Bergen County Young Democrats and Fundraising Chair for the NJ Young Dems and New Leaders Council-NJ. He earned a B.A. from Rutgers University, with a major in political science and government. He worked in the office of Assemblymembers Connie Wagner, Tim Eustace, and Joe Lagana in District 38. Mike then served as a Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Murphy, and during the COVID pandemic, he partnered with and supported local, county and federal officials. He was the Political Director for Murphy’s re-election campaign and now runs a Morristown-based consulting business.

Darcy Draegar – Secretary
Darcy Draeger of Chester is a former business analyst and project manager with two decades of experience in strategic planning. Her area of specialization is regulatory analysis and implementation, and risk mitigation. Darcy spent the majority of her career at UBS AG, where she was a Director in Global Equity Research. She graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington, with a double major in Journalism and Political Science. In 2017, Darcy re-established the Chester Township Democratic Committee, and served as its first Municipal Chair; she is currently its District 1 Chair. She ran for town council (2018), and for State Assembly in the 25th District (2019, 2020). Your next trivia night question can include the fact that, for an Assembly race, Darcy is the top Democratic vote-getter in New Jersey state history, with 56,367 ballots cast for her in the 2020 race. In 2018, Darcy served as the Morris County Chair for Tom Malinowski’s successful Congressional campaign, a role she has resumed for the 2022 race. She is also a member of the Emerge New Jersey Class of 2018. Today, Darcy lives on a small farm in Chester Township, where she and her husband Bob raise sheep, chickens, honey bees, and their two kids, Elinor and Harry.

Cara Parmigiani – Sergeant at Arms
Cara Parmigiani of Morris Plains is the founder of the Morris County Democratic LGBTQA+ Caucus. She earned her law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and is admitted to the Bars of the States of New Jersey and New York. As a general practitioner/litigator in her own firm, she solves a wide variety of problems every day to assist adults and children through our legal system. In particular, she has provided pro-bono legal assistance for women in arranged marriages, as well as represented vulnerable populations of patients in psychiatric facilities. She co-founded Morris County Pride, a continuing organization that promotes visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. She is also an exhibiting graphic artist and writer. Cara ran for Morris County Commissioner in 2019 and for Morris Plains Council in 2020.

Michael Thompson – Treasurer
Michael is an attorney from Mendham Township where he lives with his wife and 14-year-old son. He practices tax, trusts and estates with Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP in Morristown. Michael received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Rutgers College, his law degree from Rutgers University Law School – Camden, and his LL.M. (Taxation) from New York University Law School. He is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association (Elder Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections), the New York State Bar Association and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Michael currently serves on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Office of Attorney Ethics, District XB Ethics Committee. Michael is a member of the Board of Head Start Community Program of Morris County and is the president of the Rotary Club of the Mendhams. In 2019, Michael ran as the Democratic nominee for Surrogate of Morris County.

Tawanna Cotten
Tawanna of Morristown won her first election in 2019 and serves as the 2nd Ward Councilwoman. On the council, she is focused on being a neighborhood voice for residents. She is the liaison to Morristown’s Shade Tree Commission. Prior to her successful election, she was past President of the Resident Advisory Board of the Morristown Housing Authority; was a Street Captain for the Morristown United for Healthy Living Coalition; and served for many years with the Community Health Day Steering Committee. Tawanna works in the Morris School District as an Assistant Behavioral Specialist and received an Associates Degree from The County College of Morris in Liberal Arts. When she is not working, Tawanna loves gardening at the Grow it Green Community Garden. She is the mother of Jaylond and Adrianna.

Andy Meissner  
Andy of Mount Olive is passionate about bringing people together to support the community, good causes, excellent candidates and each other. He and his wife Christine have lived in Mount Olive since 1984, raised a daughter and son in Mount Olive and are now proud grandparents.  Andy is retired after working at AT&T for 35 years in leadership positions in Marketing, Program Management and Information Systems. Andy currently serves as Chair of the Mount Olive Democrats, working with an amazing team of Executive Board members, district leaders and volunteers. He is proud of the many food drives, clean-up days, volunteer activities and events that have brought the team and community together. Andy is a volunteer at the Lord’s Pantry in Hackettstown, plays violin in the Stone Soup Symphony Orchestra, is an avid cyclist and kayaker, and has recently achieved fluency in Spanish.  He prides himself on keeping a positive attitude and being eager to learn new things and is excited at the opportunity to contribute and work with everyone to support the growth and success of democrats in Morris County.

Len Resto  
Len of Chatham Borough knows how to gain support across party lines and as a gay man of Puerto Rican descent has been a strong and important voice speaking out against intolerance. He is a 27-year resident of Chatham Borough and a member of the Chatham Borough Council in his 11th year of service. Len retired in 2016 after a 43-year career in insurance & risk management. Len is a graduate of New Jersey City University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in both History and Secondary Education. Upon retirement, Len was also awarded a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2017. Besides his civic duties, Len serves as President of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, a rail advocacy group founded in 1980, promoting better rail transit in New Jersey. He is also a Board Member and Secretary for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Historical Society. He served 10 years as a Board Member of the New Jersey City University Foundation. Len is also a Board Trustee & Secretary of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County (GAAMC). Len is a leader with the Morris County Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and has raised upwards of $15,000 for the annual Chatham “Out of the Darkness” walk, which raises funds for use in the Chathams to combat the suicide epidemic, having been a suicide survivor himself.

Ava Lozner
Ava of Mendham Township is a rising young Democrat and a junior at West Morris Mendham High School. In addition to singing with her guitar in her free time, participating in the Mendham choral program, and earning high honors at school, Ava has a long-held interest in local politics and government. Since her freshman year of high school, she has volunteered on several local political campaigns in Mendham including Amalia Duarte’s, where her responsibilities included phone banking and running the campaign’s Instagram account. Ava was also selected to be a student representative on the Mendham Township Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee in 2020, where she offers a student perspective on local recreational issues. She was asked to return for an additional term in 2021 and will serve on the committee until the fall of 2022. Ava is also excited to be helping to establish a local chapter of the High School Democrats of America.

Jason D. Navarino
Jason of Morris Township will be instrumental in matters related to the MCDC governing bylaws and documents. He is a partner in Riker Danzig’s Tax and Corporate Group and counsels nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations with respect to tax, corporate, employment and intellectual property matters. Jason received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 2007, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Director of the Community and Economic Development Clinic and its Small Business Legal Services program. He received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 2004. Jason completed his LL.M. degree in Tax Law at New York University School of Law in 2013. Jason served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Barry T. Albin, Supreme Court of New Jersey. Prior to joining Riker Danzig, he was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York.