NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday March 16, 2007

Arizona Democratic Party Announces New Executive Director

The Arizona Democratic Party is happy to announce the addition of Maria Weeg as our Executive Director. Weeg comes to us from Boise, Idaho, where she has been Executive Director of the Idaho Democratic Party since February 2004.

“We are thrilled to get a strong Western talent on our team,” said Arizona Democratic Party Chairman David Waid. “While serving as Executive Director, I have been able to work with Maria in the past and see her management and leadership skills first hand. Coming from another western state, Maria is intimately familiar with both the local issues that affect our region and its unique culture. We are confident that she will lead Arizona into a successful 2008 campaign. She is excited, as we all are, about turning Arizona blue.”

Weeg started her political career in Idaho as a page in the House Minority office in 1988 and continued moving up in the ranks, becoming the Coordinated Campaign Field Director for the Idaho Democratic Party in 2002 and ultimately the Executive Director of the Party in 2004.

With a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbus State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Idaho State University under her belt, Weeg is expected to complete her Ph.D. in Political Science from Idaho State University in May of 2008.

A native Westerner, Weeg has focused her political career on the progress of Western states. She has been known to say that “the future of the Democrats nationally really is here in the West.”

“It’s really hard for me to move to Arizona because I love Idaho so much, but I also love the West, and it makes sense for me to work on Western issues,” Weeg said this week. “There’s a special sense of place here. The West has always been where people come to have room to breathe and live and grow, to have open space and to work toward their dreams.”