Become a committee person! There are two in each district. Currently we have openings in Districts 1, 7, 11, 12, 19 and 23.
Get more info on becoming a committee person or contact us with any questions or concerns.
Volunteer on a BTDC Subcommittee, teams that work in a variety of areas to advance our mission. Areas include: Fundraising, PR & Communications, Research & Issues, Community Service, and Campaign Team.
Contact us
How To Get Active & Involved
Attend monthly meetings and events.
interested?
the executive committee
CHAIR
vice CHAIR
treasurer
secretary
media chair
voter engagement chair
chair emeritus
Elizabeth Graner, a lifelong Democrat, is honored to serve as the BTDC’s chairperson since June 2020. She has been a public school educator for 20 years and lives in town with her son Patrick, a freshman in college.
Liz grew up in suburban Pittsburgh, PA as a first-generation Irish-American and the eldest of five siblings.
A BTDC Committeewoman since 2018, Liz has an extensive background in volunteering for Democratic campaigns in Union and Hudson Counties. Liz was the 2021 Democratic Nominee for New Jersey Assembly 21st Legislative District.
She enjoys books, cooking, live music, and humor.
Elizabeth graner
CHAIR
Catherine Santaiti is a 14-year resident of Somerset County, and has lived in Bernards Township for 8 years with her husband, Matt, and their 2 children. After the 2016 election, sitting around a dining room table Catherine worked with a small group of Bernards Township women to reinstate and reform the Bernards Township Democratic Committee. She currently serves on its executive board as vice chair, and previously served as the secretary and communications chair. She is the Democratic county committee person for Bernards Township voting district 21. Catherine is driven to bring Democratic values and representation to her local government. In the community, Catherine is also a current member of the Bernards Township Municipal Alliance Against Drugs and Alcohol.
She served as the Mount Prospect School PTO co-president (2017-2020) and vice president of fundraising (2015-2017). Formerly, Catherine was a social worker and elementary school teacher. After graduating from Lafayette College, she volunteered with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp in Arizona for one year, working full time at a domestic violence shelter as an advocate for women and children.
For the next two years she continued working at the domestic violence shelter with children through play, music, and art therapies. Catherine returned to New Jersey to be closer to her family, and earned a masters degree in education from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She taught second and fifth grade in the Livingston school district for 7 years before staying home to raise her children. In her free time, Catherine enjoys playing the guitar, being outdoors with her family, and crocheting!
catherine santaiti
vice CHAIR
Jane Conklin has lived in Basking Ridge since 2005. She also works in town for the Bernards Township school system. She has been teaching in the district for five years and has worked at Mt. Prospect, WAMS, and Ridge. Jane has served on the Democratic Committee for about four years and was involved with all of the town and congressional campaigns since 2016. Currently, she serves on the Environmental Commission in town. She has two kids who attend WAMS and Ridge and both are very involved with the fine arts department. She enjoys going to see all of the stellar musical and theater performances at both WAMS and Ridge.
jane conklin
secretary
Fred Douglis is a chief research scientist with Peraton Labs in Basking Ridge, working on high-performance computing. He has lived in Bernards since 1998 and was on the BTDC in the early 2000s before it disbanded, rejoining when it restarted in 2017. He served as treasurer for Sophia Chadda’s 2019 campaign. He and his wife Lisa have two grown children. Fred is an avid bridge player and welcomes new partnerships.
Fred douglis
treasurer
Sara Nichols is the Bernards Township Democratic Committee’s District 20 representative and Media Chair. She manages the BT Dems website and social media for the committee and campaigns. She has lived in Bernards Township for 8 years with her husband and their two children.
Sara executive produced and directed a two hour documentary on child marriage in the United States for A&E. When filming started, only one state (Delaware) had completely banned child marriage. Seeing firsthand just how much leadership in government at all levels matters, Sara joined the BTDC and put her skills to use.
Sara has created more than 600 hours of television for MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, ABC, E!, Oxygen, NBC, Discovery, SundanceTV, Bravo, and TLC. Her directing work includes music videos and image campaigns for artists including Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani.
In addition to her work in television and music, Sara was a programmer for the first two Women In The World summits for the Daily Beast featuring several high profile activists from around the world. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America (Producers Council), and holds dual degrees from Syracuse University.
sara nichols
media chair
Jennifer Kluger is the Bernards Township Democratic Committee’s District 24 representative and voter engagement chair. Over the past couple of years, Jen has spearheaded a vote-by-mail initiative that contributed to Democratic wins in the 2018 congressional, county and local races. Largely because of a surge in mail-in ballots, a Democrat joined the all-Republican Bernards Township Committee for the first time in decades, beating her Republican opponent by a margin of more than 500 votes.
Believing that voter participation is key to a strong and thriving democracy, Jen has devoted herself to voter registration efforts all over Somerset County. She made a special effort to encourage young people to become fully engaged and knowledgeable voters, participating in numerous voter registration drives and classroom visits at Raritan Valley Community College. Separately, and on behalf of the Democratic party and its candidates, she has enlisted numerous allies to assist her in ensuring that all Democrats are not only registered but turn out to vote in all elections.
After graduating from the University of Connecticut, Jen put her skills to work as a paralegal, preschool teacher and an interior designer. When her two now-grown children were young, Jen often could be found volunteering in the local schools. She was class parent, served as secretary of the Ridge High School PTO, and spent six years as vice president and president of the Ridge High School Band Association.
Jen lives in Bernards Township with her husband, Jeff and her dog, Rowdy. In her (rare) spare time, Jen indulges her love of music by playing saxophone in the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band.
jennifer kluger
voter engagement chair
Nancy D’Andrea, as well as many other women from Bernards Township, marched in Washington DC back on January 21, 2017. After coming back from such an empowering event, she decided to see what she could do for her own town. Bernards Township had no active Democratic Committee. The ballot would only have one column to choose from for local elections. Nancy, along with others, wanted that to change.
After learning about local politics from the Somerset County Federation of Democratic Women in February 2017, Nancy, along with the help of the Bernards Township Progressive Women, formed a local elections task force. She met with the Somerset County Democrats and with their guidance, she learned about township civics, how to form a Democratic Committee, and how to get candidates on the ballot. On March 27, 2017, the first meeting of the Bernards Township Democratic Committee was held.
In 2018, for the first time in 20 years, a Democrat was elected to the Township Committee. Joan Bannan was an excellent representative for our Democratic values. Nancy and the rest of the BTDC hope to bring more open-minded, honest, and respectful elected officials to the town and County.
After 3.5 years as Chair, Nancy remains very active. She will also continue her position as Recording Secretary for the Somerset County Democratic Committee. In 2021, Nancy was elected as the State Committee Person for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, representing Somerset County.
nancy d'Andrea
chair emeritus
Let's Do This
Get On The List
Stay up to date on events and news from the BTDC!
Make A Difference!
