The Young Democrats of Washington is led by the President, with five Vice Presidents who each lead a Department. They all serve on the Executive Board, along with our National committee man and woman and WSDCC Representative.
LaKecia Farmer, President
LaKecia Farmer hails from Spokane, Washington and attended Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. LaKecia started out in politics as an intern for Rich Cowan for Congress in the 5th congressional district. Since then she has been very active in Eastern Washington politics by chairing the Washington State University Young Democrats, working on various campaigns in Spokane and Pullman, and even running for Pullman City Council at the age of 20. However, LaKecia’s interests expands beyond regional politics; she is greatly passionate about social, restorative, racial and economic justice. LaKecia currently resides in Seattle where she works as a Legislative Aide.
You can reach LaKecia at LaKecia[dot]Farmer[at]YDWA[dot]org.
Arne Nelson, Vice President of Party Affairs
Josh Cole, Vice President of Operations
Josh is a lifelong resident of Washington State. Raised in Olympia, he went to Capital High School where he excelled at the Speech part of Speech and Debate and once captained the B-Team for Knowledge Bowl. He received his B.A. in Politics and Government from the University of Puget Sound and his MPA from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Previously, he has worked on and volunteered for a variety of campaigns and non-profits.
When he is not studying or working, Josh enjoys old episodes of the Simpsons, glaring at his cat, and obsessively reading the most recent issue of the New Yorker.
David Barragan, Vice President of Membership Engagement
Born and raised in Toppenish, WA, also known as where the west still lives, David has been well involved in his community serving as a hospital volunteer and has held state office positions throughout his high school career. He has volunteered in different democratic campaigns while attending Washington State University, double Majoring in Business and Political Science #GoCougs. He currently serves as the Events Director for Global Scholars and plans on running for Executive Director this spring. David is also part of the Higher Education caucus along with the Queer caucus and hopes to bring some events to the east side of the state during his 2016- 2017 term.
When not studying or working, David enjoys going on missions around Pullman and surrounding areas. His favorite to go to spot would be the Pullman-Moscow Airport at 3am and Walmart runs at 4am.
Jeff Beaulac, Vice President of Government Affairs
Jeff was raised in Spokane Valley Washington, and will be graduating this year from The Evergreen State College with a focus on Political Economy and Social Justice. While at Evergreen he spent two years in the student government and served as the student Governmental liaison to the state capital. While the Governmental Liaison he found a lot of joy in showing students just how accessible the capital is to students, and that legislators will listen to them.
Jeff is a policy nerd who is really excited to work with YDWA and wants to see more people from the east side of the state represented at lobby day next year. In his spare time he enjoys gaming and doing dinner with friends. He also has a cat that hates everyone but him.
Melissa Boles, Vice President of Communications
Melissa Boles was born and raised in Vancouver, WA, and is proud to be a resident of Southwest Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Melissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from WSU-Vancouver in 2011, and a Master of Education in College Stu dent Personnel from Western Carolina University in 2014, after which she returned to Southwest Washington to take on a position as an Academic Advisor at a community college. Melissa is currently the Secretary for the Young Democrats of Clark County; the Editor of “The Democrat,” the Clark County Democratic Party’s monthly newsletter; and is the Secretary for the Clark County Democratic Central Committee. When she’s not politicking, Melissa can be found reading, writing both fiction and non-fiction, and scrolling through Twitter (@_mboles).