Bios

Jennifer Gallacher – President

Chris Edwards – Vice President

As Vice President, Chris Edwards coordinates speakers and handles special projects for the NYYRC. He has served in a variety of other roles with the NYYRC and the GOP, including serving on the Campaign Committee and volunteering with Lawyers for McCain in 2008 and the NRCC’s Volunteer Attorney Network in 2010.
He has lived in Manhattan since 1998, with the exception of three years in Charlotte, North Carolina. While in Charlotte, he served in an appointed position as a city representative on the local transit system oversight board.

Chris graduated from Davidson College in 1995 and Harvard Law School in 1998 and is a corporate and securities lawyer in private practice in Midtown.

Amanda McLane – Secretary

Amanda became active in politics with her College Republicans club and after graduation continued her involvement with the NYYRC. A recipient of the Stanley Isaacs Memorial Award, she started out serving on the events and membership committees and was recently elected as club secretary. She likes fiscal responsibility, national security, small government, civic involvement, and hanging out with YRs.

Lynn Krogh – Chair, Board of Advisors

Born in the City of Troy in upstate New York, Lynn grew up the oldest of 5 children in a solidly Republican household. She attended public and private school throughout her primary and secondary education.

Lynn became involved in the Young Republicans at the age of 19 in Rensselaer County after her father lost a very close City Council Race in Troy — determined that he would not lose again. She quickly rose to the positions of Secretary and then Vice Chairman of the Rensselaer County YRs, growing their membership from 20 to over 100. She began attending meetings state- and nation-wide. After Lynn was appointed in 2001 to the position of Capitol Region Vice-Chair for the New York State Young Republicans, a position where she would focus on growing organizations within NY’s Capital Region, politics quickly became an important part of her life.

In June of 2002, Lynn was asked to work on the re-election campaign of Governor George E. Pataki, and soon thereafter moved to New York City, where she became a member of the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. She continued to work for Governor Pataki as a Deputy Press Officer in his New York City Office.

In Manhattan’s New York Young Republican Club, Inc. (NYYRC) Lynn served under the Weingartner Administration, holding the position of Membership Chair, during which time the Club grew to over 400 members. Lynn went on to serve as Secretary under the Cariello Administration, where she handled all non-fiscal record keeping. She also held the position of Vice President in the Brownell Admminstration, where she handled a wide array of matters, including aiding the President with day-to-day duties. Lynn was elected to the position of President, unanimously, on April 19, 2007. She was re-elected to the position in April of 2008 and 2008.

Throughout her time in New York City, Lynn has served as National Committeewoman and Vice Chair for the New York State Young Republicans. She was unanimously elected Chairman of the New York State Young Republicans June 6, 2009. By day, Lynn is a Political and Public Relations Consultant.

Jason Weingartner – Alumni

In 1996, Jason began his career at the New York political fundraising firm of Cathy Blaney and Associates. Moving up the ladder to become one of the top fundraisers of the firm and the country, he has worked directly with a wide array of Republican candidates, elected officials, and entities such as President Bush, Senator Dole, Governor Pataki, Governor Romney, Governor Schwarzenegger, Speaker Hastert, Congressman Blunt, Congressman Lazio for U.S. Senate, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the New York Republican State Committee, the 2004 RNC Convention, along with many more.

While continuing as a fundraising consultant, Jason also took on the role of Executive Director for the New York Republican County Committee. His duties included the coordination of the petition process, candidate recruitment and support, and the day to day duties of the Committee. He has also organized many of the Committee’s recently successful Lincoln Day Dinners.

He is a former President of the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. having served from August 2001 – April 2004 and is a former Chairman of the New York State Young Republicans having served from July 2003 – June 2007. He is the current Treasurer of the New York State Young Republicans. He is also the current Vice Chairman at-Large for the Young Republican National Federation. Jason has become a force in grassroots politics across New York State and the country. Within his many roles, Jason has helped to grow Young Republican Clubs from Buffalo to Montauk. He has traveled the nation advising both clubs and candidates. In July 2009, Jason was elected Vice Chairman at-Large of the Young Republican National Federation. He has also taught multiple fundraising and membership recruitment seminars in New York and Nationally. He guests lectures twice a year at Fordham’s graduate program for campaigns and elections.

In 2007, Jason was nominated and voted as one of the top 40 Under 40 rising political stars in New York City by City Hall Newspaper.

Jason S. Weingartner grew up in working class New York City neighborhood in Queens and was an honor roll student at Archbishop Molloy High School. He is a graduate of Fordham University – Rose Hill – and Fordham Law School – Lincoln Center. Jason is an avid New York Mets and New York Jets fan.

Brian Morgenstern – Campaigns

Brian chairs the Campaign Committee, helping candidates throughout the area to marshal volunteers.

His political involvement began as a Congressional Page in Washington, DC. He later returned to the nation’s capital and served on the staffs of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen and the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources.

During the 2006 election cycle, Brian campaigned for Congressman Richard Pombo before joining the National Republican Senatorial Committee as a fundraiser the following year. During the 2008 election cycle, he volunteered for the General Counsel of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, and he was the Regional Co-Chairman of Law Students for McCain.

Brian took a break from politics when he worked as the Writers’ Production Intern at the Late Show with David Letterman, but he returned to Washington to graduate magna cum laude from Georgetown University where he was elected student body president as a sophomore. Brian earned his juris doctorate from Columbia Law School as a Stone Scholar for outstanding grades. He will join the firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in November 2010 after completing his work as campaign manager for State Assembly Candidate Paul Niehaus. Brian lives and works in Manhattan.

Willliam Palumbo – Publications

William Palumbo grew up on Long Island with a non-political family. 9/11 and the Bush years shaped political opinions early on, and today he considers himself a classical liberal, American conservative, and Reagan Republican. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in business, he spent 2 years in an operations role with a large bank. He now works in academic medicine as an entrepreneur and business manager.

William believes the club’s blog should be where outsiders look for New York’s future political ideas. New York Young Republicans participate in every level of city politics, and are the future of the Party in the Big Apple. The Blog is where we have our voice and opinions heard. Importantly, it also serves as a vehicle to promote candidates. William welcomes all writers, novice and experienced to join the committee.

Eric Heindel – General Counsel

Eric Heindel moved to New York after graduating from Georgetown University. He worked as an Analyst in the Investment Banking division of Merrill Lynch before attending law school at St. John’s University. Eric is a licensed attorney in New York and Connecticut, and has worked at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Clifford Chance. He currently lives in Manhattan and runs his own law firm. As the NYYRC’s general counsel, Eric handles all legal matters for the Club.