About

Our organization

The Young Democrats of the University of Georgia and Athens-Clarke County is an offshoot of the Young Democrats of America, and of the Young Democrats of Georgia, which were both founded in the early twentieth century.

The Young Democrats of UGA/ACC strive to stimulate in young people an active interest in governmental affairs, to recruit new members for the Democratic Party, and to help acquaint voters with the issues and the candidates. The Young Democrats achieve this goal through weekly meetings and outside activities. Weekly meetings include speakers, local and state politicians as well as professors and members of the community, debates on current events and ideology, as well as updates on events in the state of Georgia and through the nation and world. Outside activities include campaign involvement, internships, community service projects, and access to political rallies and events held across the state and nation.

The Young Democrats of UGA/ACC is the largest chapter of Young Democrats in the state, with a newsletter circulation of over 1,200 and almost 200 active members. Past Presidents include Congressman John Barrow, and Morgan Martin, daughter of Jim Martin, candidate for Lt. Governor.

The chapter recently hosted the Young Democrats of Georgia convention, which brought together hundreds of Young Democrats from across the state, as well as speakers such as Lt. Governor and gubernatorial candidate Mark Taylor, Secretary of State Cathy Cox, House Minority Leader Dubose Porter, and featured workshops led by Wellstone Action official Howard Franklin, AJC columnist Jim Galloway, and Paul Barsness of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

The Young Democrats of UGA/ACC also continued a tradition of Winter Galas by beginning an annual Louise McBee Dinner, where the Louise McBee Award is given to a figure who has demonstrated outstanding work in the areas of women and children’s rights and education. The inaugural award for the dinner was given to Representative Alicia Thomas Morgan of Austell.

Executive Board

Ashley Beebe - President. Ashley is a third year from Lawrenceville, majoring in International Affairs and Public Relations. She became a member of the Young Democrats of UGA/ACC as a freshman, and soon became involved in the Young Democrats of Georgia as a convention delegate. As a second year she has served as the Executive Director of the Young Democrats of UGA/ACC. She also led the UGA convention committee as the 2006 Young Democrats of Georgia Convention Co-Chair.

Carly Alford - Executive Director. Carly is a native of Newnan, Georgia and is a fourth year student majoring in Political Science and Spanish. She is in her third year of involvment with the Young Democrats of UGA and last year served as their financial director. Carly is most passionate about education reform on both the national and state levels. She is looking forward to the upcoming November elections in which the Young Democrats of UGA are going to make a huge difference!

Maggie Yates - Finance Director. Maggie is a fourth year student majoring in Political Science. She also serves as communications director for the statewide Young Democrats party. She hopes to continue raising more money for the organization through mailings and phone banking. She interned in John Barrow’s campaign office this past school year and hopes to intern on another campaign in the fall.

Nick Solari - Communications Director. Nick is a second year student majoring in Political Science and Spanish. Besides being the eye candy for the females (and, yes, some of our male members - we are an accepting group afterall), his primary job is updating and maintaing the web site. Currently, he is helping out with a couple of local races in the waning hours before election day.

Keri Hochgertle - Field Director. Keri is a third year Economics major from Lawrenceville, Georgia. She is very excited to be Field Director this year because she loves to meet new people and get them excited about the Young Democrats. She served as a delgate to the 2005 Young Democrats of Georgia Convention, and served as chair of the Communications Committee that helped plan and put on the 2006 Convention right here at UGA. After graduating, Keri will be poised to take over as Chair of the Federal Reserve once Ben Bernanke steps down.

Payton Bradford - Political Director As political director, Payton wants to make sure that the UGA Young Dems are an active, hardworking, committed group of future leaders who will help elect Democrats not only in Athens-Clarke County, but across the state of Georgia. He has worked on a variety of campaigns in the past, including Buddy Childers’ and George Pullen’s. This election cycle, Payton is helping out with the campaign efforts for Mark Taylor, Jim Martin, and many other Democrats across the state of Georgia.

Clyde McGrady - Member at Large. Sunday, February 16, 1985 at 2:11 P.M….Clyde A. McGrady, II was born and the world just hasn’t been the same since. He has an extreme ego problem and isn’t afraid to admit it. Clyde is a self-described “Raging Moderate”, but since there is no UGA Young Independents, he decided to become a Democrat. Despite this, he has also been to several College Republicans meetings where he would direct them to “throw your hands in the air and wave them as if there are no repercussions, and if you’re down with National Health Care, somebody scream OH YEEEAAAH!”, to which they responded with “blank stares”. Fun fact: Clyde has actually met Ralph Reed and shook his hand.