Currently, we are in the process of election new officers for the San Miguel de Allende Chapter!
Click here to vote if you are member of DA SMA.
The following are the bios of members that are running for office:
Chair - Laura Kuykendall
Laura is a retired trial lawyer. She and her husband have been homeowners and part time residents of San Miguel for 13 years. A life long Democrat, she was part of a group in a conservative suburb of Columbus Ohio that formed their own grassroots organization to campaign for John Kerry. She was a neighborhood team leader for Obama and opened a GOTV headquarters in a largely Somalian and Hispanic neighborhood. She has registered voters, run phone banks and canvasses for federal, state and local candidates and issues since that time. Most recently, she trained canvassers and was canvass leader in a GOTV headquarters in Ohio for the 2018 midterms. And has continued to participate in Ohio elections. She has been involved in Dems Abroad San Miguel for several years , serving as Secretary of the group, actively participating in voter registration here, and as parliamentarian.
Vice Chair - John Bradberry
John is married to the Chairman of the San Miguel Chapter for Dems Abroad and decided that volunteering was the least he could do given all the effort his wife was putting forth. He considers himself an ardent Democrat. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, retired portfolio manager and long-time member of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Recently retired, John is adjusting to the good life in San Miguel.
Secretary - Alicia Rodriguez-Guerra
I have been involved with Democrats Abroad since I moved to San Miguel 5 years ago volunteering to register voters and sending absentee ballots. I’m bilingual and have both Mexican and US citizenship .
Treasurer - Carol Graham
I have been a full time resident of San Miguel de Allende for more than eight years. Prior to moving to San Miguel de Allende, I held various senior management positions at JCPenney and QVC. Those positions included full P&L responsibility for a Retail Stores and Catalog in addition to International Development, ECommerce and Emerging Businesses, Brand Development, and Broadcasting. I served on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, Northwest Arkansas Chapter for three years. I currently do some consulting in website management and digital marketing and enjoy a semi-retired lifestyle in beautiful Bajío of Mexico.
Parliamentarian - Samuel T. Crockett, III, Ed.D. (Sam)
Prior to moving abroad, Sam served in many functions and offices within the Democratic Party of Virginia over 45 years, including as Democratic Chair for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District and member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Virginia. Moving to Ecuador, Sam served on the committee establishing Democrats Abroad Ecuador Chapter, wrote the draft for the original country By-Laws, and served as the Chapter´s first Executive Vice-Chair. Sam has lived in Mexico for 7 years and served 2 terms as Parliamentarian of the Banderas Bay Chapter. He gets great satisfaction from helping to elect Democrats.
Members at Large
Anita Forsman
After growing up in the Air Force and living in such diverse locations as Paris, France and Grand Forks, ND, Anita has a bit of wanderlust in her blood. A career in marketing was just as diverse and included the entertainment industry, luxury jewelers, and then retirement communications. Mexico had been on her radar for some time, and she moved to SMA in 2018 becoming a permanent resident in 2022. She loves to travel, plays mahjong and continues to do extensive research on her family’s genealogy. She has been involved in DA for several years assisting with voter registration and GOTV. She assists with scheduled social events and, most recently, has taken on handling the membership database.
Jim Chase
Jim Chase currently serves as a Member at Large. Jim and his wife Chris have lived in San Miguel de Allende for three years, punctuated by occasional visits to their other home in San Diego. They enjoy, along with their fellow U.S. expats, the art, music, theater and literary festivals in San Miguel, as well as trying to learn Spanish and exploring Mexico and its culture. Jim finds that supporting Democrats Abroad both in San Miguel and in all of Mexico gives him a sense of accomplishment and of giving back to the local, national and worldwide efforts of Democrats Abroad.
Susan Chisena
Suzi Chisena has lived in San Miguel since 2017 having hailed from Portland, OR. Currently retired , she comes from a background in high tech solutions sales having worked for one of the first women owed companies that pioneered the use of foreign national expertise in the Bay Area; electronic media sales for Syndicast Services in New York known for having developed/marketed the Nixon/Frost Tapes; and political experience as a legislative assistant in government affairs in Washington, DC for Ralston Purina, The National Association of REALTORS and Senator Howard Baker ranking minority member of the Senate Watergate Committee and potential juror for any impeachment trial if President Nixon hadn't resigned.
Larry Barber
Larry Barber is an award-winning television writer-producer. In film, he wrote scripts for Francis Coppola, Oliver Stone, and Michael Mann. Larry wrote the book An Unlikely Strength: Tourette Syndrome and the Search for Happiness in 60 Voices. Sixty adults and children tell their stories of Tourette syndrome, how it affects their lives and self-image and how, despite it all, they persevere with strength and hope. He and his wife live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Lea Rege
Lea Rege previously served as Secretary and has lived in San Miguel de Allende for the past 14 years. Her husband, Ricardo Romo, wanted to retire to Mexico and both have been here since retiring as teachers from Sonoma, California in 2007. Lea paints, studies spanish, and supports girls pursuing college degrees. She has been active with Democrats Abroad for the past five years helping Barbara Erickson with getting out the vote.