The chairman of the Democratic Party of Carbon County was re-elected to a second four-year term in that position by committeemen and committeewomen of the party who were elected in the May primary election when the party held its reorganizational meeting on Saturday at the Nesquehoning Fire Company No. 1.

William O'Gurek Jr. of Summit Hill will continue to lead the party, having been the unanimous choice of the 41 committee members who attended the session.According to the party's bylaws, committeemen and committeewomen elected every four years are convened in session in the month following their election to select their leadership.In addition to re-electing the chairman, the party members unanimously elected Judy Moon of Nesquehoning and William O'Gurek Sr., also of Summit Hill, as the party's vice chairwoman and treasurer, respectively.Meanwhile, O'Gurek Jr. appointed Marian Hoffner of Palmerton as the party's new secretary. She succeeds Linda Rex of Mahoning Township, who opted to retire from the position she held for many years.Ronald J. Sheehan of Jim Thorpe, the county treasurer, presided over the meeting, this having been his ninth reorganizational meeting of the party. Sheehan thanked the committee members who were able to attend, telling them, "Talk politics, talk issues. You are the grass roots of our party and I thank you for that."After his re-election, the party chairman spoke to the committee members. The party bylaws call for one man and one woman from each of the 51 election precincts in the county to hold the committee positions. O'Gurek said, "It's difficult to recruit committee persons, and so I commend you for wanting to help bring the party together." He mentioned the Democratic ticket for the November general election, including Tom Wolf and Mike Stack, governor and lieutenant governor, Congressman Matt Cartwright, Sen. John Yudichak and Patti Borger, candidate for the 122nd Legislative District, saying, "We have an outstanding ticket, and with the help of everyone in this room, we will be able to show a clear contrast to our opponents so that we can help put the state and country on the right path. I'm looking forward to that and I will do my best to lead this party forward."O'Gurek is a Summit Hill Borough councilman who graduated from King's College, Wilkes-Barre, with a degree in political science. He interned in the Wilkes-Barre office of former Congressman Paul Kanjorski and started his career in politics by working on the campaigns of Kanjorski, Gov. Ed Rendell and Sen. Robert Casey while a student in Luzerne County.For the past four years, he has directed the Democratic Party's operations in his home county, as well as serving on the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee and as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Jacksonville, North Carolina.Moon, the county's Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court and a 27-year member of the party's executive committee, is starting her second four-year term as vice chairwoman while O'Gurek Sr., who is serving his 11th year in the county commissioners' office, has been the party treasurer since August 1999.