Karl Busch is the Chair of the Washington County Democratic Committee. Karl has been active in local politics for many years including the Economic Development Committee & Main Street Partnership Implementation Support Team in Simsbury, CT (1992 – 1996), Co-Chair of the Capital Improvement Committee for the Town of Oak Island, NC (2006 – 2019), & Ad Hoc Committee member and team leader for the WCDC Communications, Newsletter, Poll Greeter Training, Voter Engagement teams (2022 – Current). Karl has an MBA in Management and MS in Organizational Behavior / Organizational Development; he spent most of his career managing customer-facing teams in Fortune 500 companies, and 20+ years as an external Process Improvement consultant working with Senior Management & Sales/Marketing teams to improve performance in large corporate organizations. 

David Brooks is the Vice Chair for Operations for the Washington County Democratic Committee. David is 18 years old, a native of Bristol Virginia (the part in the county) and is currently pursing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a focus in Legal Studies At Virginia Tech. David interned for Senator Kaine in his D.C office where he focused on labor and defense issues. He was raised by his loving grandparents, with his grandmother being a small business owner and medical clerk, while his Grandfather was a Vietnam War Veteran and a retired coal miner.  

​Mary Lynn Tate is the principal of The Tate Law P.C., specializing in civil litigation in Abingdon, Virginia, including medical negligence, product liability, personal injury, estate, business disputes, labor, employment, and commercial cases. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL), former president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA), a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Federal Judicial Conference and serves on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). 

Ms. Tate was Co-Director of the University of Virginia National College of Trial Advocacy and will join the Trial Advocacy College at William & Mary Law School in 2026.

Born in Lake City, Tennessee, she moved to Roanoke, Virginia early in life. Ms. Tate is admitted to practice before the Virginia Supreme Court, several federal courts, and regulatory agencies.

Political involvement includes fundraising committees for Clinton-Kaine, Jim Webb, Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, chairing the Washington County Democratic Committee, and participating in the University of Virginia Sorenson Institute’s Inaugural Leadership Class.

The Secretary is to keep an accurate and permanent record of all the proceedings of the Committee, and make available to the Committee this record within two weeks of each meeting for timely review. To serve as custodian of the records of the Committee, except those financial records retained by the Treasurer. To keep a roster of the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, fax numbers (if available), and voting precincts of the members and a list of the Committee’s officers which shall be forwarded to the Chair for transmittal within ten days of the election to the state headquarters of the Democratic Party of Virginia. To assist the Chair in preparing agendas and providing a copy for each member.

Fred Hebard currently serves as Treasurer of the Washington County Democratic Committee. He previously served as Chair of the Committee from 2020-2022. Fred has been active in Virginia politics for many years. He has spent most of his adult life working with chestnuts. Fred has a M.S.  degree in botany and a Ph.D. in plant pathology.