Yavapai County
Democratic Party

From left to right is Carol Spangler, Angela LeFevre,
Ben Furlong, Jo Kelleher and Fran Chadwick.

Officer's Biographies

Ben Furlong is currently serving his first term as Secretary for the Yavapai County Democratic Party. In this position, he prepares a record of the Executive Committee meetings.

A Democrat for all but a few years of his life (He decided to join the Republican Party when he moved to Prescott, but, as he says, I couldn't stand it!), he is also an active member of the issues committee, and he has served as a Precinct Committee Chairperson in Prescott Country Club.

These activities are his way of helping to rebuild the Party that desires the welfare of all people, not just those with the power of money. Furlong would also like to help stop the destruction and erosion of the social insurance mechanisms enacted in the past 75 years.

In addition to the Democratic Party, Furlong dedicates his time to Prescott United Methodist Church, where he currently serves as coordinator for Stephen Ministry. He has also served his church and its congregation as Sunday school superintendent; chair of the education committee; and for four years as the chair of the staff parish relations committee, which is the human resources department of the church.

Furlong also belonged to rotary clubs for many years, including serving as president of the Tempe South Rotary Club. He also lead a Rotary group study exchange to New Zealand.

In addition to these activities, Furlong enjoys reading and gardening. He and his wife, May, have lived in the Prescott area for 18 years, but he has lived in Arizona for 57 years since his senior year in high school. They have three children and four grandchildren. He lives in the Pinon Oaks area of Prescott.

1st Vice Chairman -- Angela LeFevre

As we all know, she brought volunteers from DORR in Sedona over to DOVV during the campaign this last year to help with canvassing. With her seat on this board, DOVV and DORR have an active role in the County Party. Angie has a background in business, social work, international travel, politics, an active volunteer for environmental, social, and political concerns.

2nd Vice Chairman -- Carol Spangler

Carol is a resident of Prescott after many years in Mesa, AZ. She is active on different boards in the area. She is also an active volunteer for social, community, and environmental concerns. She feels we must work together for quality of live with equality for everyone. To do this, she feels we must be a Democrat and elect Democrats to office.

Secretary -- Jo Kelleher Jo Kelleher: Jo was elected Secretary. Jo lives in Chino Valley. We all know Jo from her hard-fought campaign in 2006. Jo has a background in the education field and knows the value of getting younger voters to join ranks in the Democratic Party. She got out the Democratic message and got out the Democratic voters in her run for State Senate. She is active in politics and is a great spokesperson for the Democrats.

Treasurer -- Fran Chadwick

R. Frances Fran Chadwick serves as treasurer for the 2005 -2007 term. In this role, her responsibilities include tracking all funds for the Yavapai County Democratic Party.

Chadwick is a lifetime Democrat whose father was a Kansas state legislator. Since she and her husband, Steve, moved to Prescott from Dallas in 2000, Chadwick has committed countless volunteer hours to national, state, county and local Democratic organizations, including serving as president for the Democratic Women of Prescott Area for the 2005 - 2007 term, as charter member of the Precinct Leadership Committee, as volunteer manager and for Yavapai County Democratic headquarters and as an elected representative to the state-level committee. In 2004, she ran as the Democratic candidate for Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, District 1.

In addition to all these political posts, Chadwick has valuable skills and experience in the business world. She has been an accountant for more than 30 years, utilizing her mathematical talents for diverse industries, including retail lumber and construction, rental property, oil and gas and hospitality. In the hospitality industry, she served as assistant comptroller for Radisson Plaza Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., and as comptroller for a multi-location gourmet restaurant corporation.

Even with all these party activities, Chadwick still manages to find-and bring-harmony into her life. She is a singer/songwriter who earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in music composition. She has even recorded six CDs as a member of The Women's Chorus of Dallas.

Chadwick also enjoys machine quilting, a craft she started more than 15 years ago. During summer 2005, she learned hand-quilting techniques.

Delegate at Large for Congressional District 1, Yavapai County -- Gwen Calhoun

Gwen Calhoun is currently serving her fourth consecutive term as Delegate at Large for Congressional District 1, Yavapai County. In this role, she serves as a liaison between the state and county and represents the state's interest on a county level. She is also a member of the Democratic Strategic Planning Steering Committee, which is responsible for designing a mission, identifying values and weaknesses and setting six major goals and developing their affiliated action plans. One of these goals is to develop, support and elect Democratic candidates; Calhoun worked on Janet Napolitano's 1998 bid to win the Attorney General's office.

In addition, Calhoun has been a Precinct Committeeperson for both the county and state for more than 12 years. She also served as co-president of Democratic Women of the Prescott Area from 1998 to 1999. Additionally, she is a member of the Federation of Democratic Women and has served as the historian for Arizona for two years. She is also a member of the National Federation of Democratic Women.

After being elected Attorney General, Napolitano appointed Calhoun to the Arizona Attorney General's Senior Advisory Council, where Calhoun worked on two major projects. One was to develop a media format to educate seniors on issues affecting them. She produced Senior Moment for five years, and the program still airs on Prescott and Prescott Valley's Channel 13.

The second project was a result of this program's success. To better serve the senior population, the Attorney General's office set up an Arizona Attorney General's Senior Consumer Assistance Satellite office in Prescott Valley. Calhoun managed this office for two years.

Currently, Calhoun works in the governor's office once a month and serves as the representative to re-elect Gov. Napolitano in Yavapai County.

As is evident, Calhoun truly enjoys helping others. When she's not helping with Democratic issues, she generously gives of herself to St. Luke Ebony Christian Church, for which she is a founding member and treasurer; to Prescott Jazz Society, where she is board member; to Potluckers, for which she is also a founding member and hospitality chair; and to Make-A-Wish Foundation.

She and her husband, Lee, bought property in the Prescott area in the 1980s. Their plans were to move here for retirement; however, Lee's health deteriorated, and he died before he could enjoy Prescott's beautiful environs. Gwen, however, carried on the dream and moved here in 1992 from Stamford, Conn., with her adult son, Dan. In addition to Dan, she has a daughter, Brenda, and two granddaughters. Calhoun lives in Prescott Valley.

Headquarters General Manager -- Carol Cody

Carol Cody has served the Yavapai County Democratic Party in many ways, including as the General Manager for its headquarters office, as Precinct Leadership Committee Chair and previously as data base chair for four years.

As General Headquarters Manager, a role she has held for nearly 10 years, she supervises and manages the volunteers and composes a weekly priority work sheet.

She also currently serves as Precinct Leadership Committee Chair. This job's responsibilities include organizing committees of 20 leaders to work with 102 precincts and 266 Precinct Committeepersons, conducting training and maintaining ongoing communications. She has served in this role for six years.

A retired teacher after 41 years of service, Cody is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary teachers' society, and of American Association of University Women. Through these organizations, Democratic Women of Prescott Area and the County Party, Cody is able to pursue her lifelong passion concerning education issues and legislative priorities.

In addition to education issues, she also enjoys music, swimming and computers. She is a member of the Prescott Macintosh Users Group. She and her husband, John, moved to the area 17 years ago for the area's beautiful weather. They currently reside in Prescott Valley. The Codys have three sons and two grandchildren.