Officers
Jonathan J. Judge was elected President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club in April 2008. He graduated Brooklyn College in the Macaulay Honors College magna cum laude B.A.’s in Classics and Linguistics. Jonathan has been actively involved in the realm of government and politics. He has interned at Brooklyn Community Board 14, the NYC Office of Emergency Management, Congressman Vito Fossella’s office, and served as the Recording Secretary of the 70th Precinct Community Council. Within the past few years, he has also volunteered on several local Republican campaigns, and served as Secretary of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club between May 2006 and April 2008. In the spring of 2007, he was in Washington, D.C. interning with a government relations firm and enrolled in a graduate course on corruption and “pathological” governments at Johns Hopkins University, both arranged through CUNY and The Washington Center. That year, Jonathan was elected to the Rho Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest honors society. After graduating from college, Jonathan was accepted into New York University’s Gallatin School to pursue a Masters degree concentrating on the study of corruption and government reform.
Samuel M. Rivera
Vice President
Samuel Rivera was elected Vice President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club in April 2008, having been a member since 2005. He is currently pursuing a J.D. and is in his second year at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. Sam graduated summa cum laude with Honors from St. Francis College with a B.A. in History and Philosophy in 2007. He is also an alumnus of Xavier High School, Class of 2004. Sam discovered the value of public service when he began tutoring elementary public school students in high school. He has interned at the New York Supreme Court, the New-York Historical Society and has worked in education and fundraising. Teaching seventh grade students while in college, he came to realize how important education is for all Americans, not merely the privileged few. A principled moderate, Sam believes in honest and transparent government and sees civic awareness and responsibility as the greatest mechanism for advancing society. To this end, bipartisanship, cooperation, and spirited debate are the best remedies, he believes, to our society’s greatest ills. Sam plans on practicing law upon the completion of law school.
Christina Bennett
Secretary
Christina Marie Bennett, a home school graduate currently pursuing a degree in Software Engineering with CIE, was elected Secretary of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club in April of 2008 at the age of 17 and may well be the youngest person ever elected as an officer for the Brooklyn Young Republicans. She was successfully re-elected and is serving her second term. When Luke Vander Linden was considering restarting the Young Republican club, Christina and her family were instrumental in encouraging Luke Vander Linden to launch it. He did so in 2005 and she has been involved and a member since then.
As soon as Christina became legally eligible, she successfully petitioned to qualify herself to become a member of the Kings County Republican County Committee.
Christina’s desire for involvement with conservative Republican politics started before the 2004 Presidential election when she was 13 years old. During the 2004 election season, Christina honed her political convictions. Her love for country and community provided the drive that helped her enthusiastically serve quite a few political campaigns and advocate for life, family and home school issues during her high school years. During the successful battle to preserve services for special needs home schooled children, Christina had a chance to advocate face-to-face directly to a member of the Board of Regents. She’s made several lobbying and campaign trips out of Brooklyn.
In addition to her political ambitions, she has also been heavily involved with her church, Sixth Avenue Baptist Church and other community projects.
Glenn P. Nocera
Treasurer
Glenn P. Nocera is a proud conservative republican activist. In the past, he has worked for numerous political campaigns for mayor, governor, city council, and president.
Glenn received his B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College in 1998. While attending college, he started the Young Republicans Club and served three terms as president from 1995 to 1998. Glenn also served as the youngest member on the Board of Governors at the Seergy Republican Club. He also served as deputy speaker of student government, Chair of Academic Affairs, and University Student Senate Delegate.
In 1998, at the age of 23, Glenn Nocera made his first run for public office, seeking to represent the 48th Assembly District. Glenn ran against Assemblyman Dov Hikind and got 27% of the vote in a democratically controlled district. In 2000, he ran to be an RNC delegate. In 2008, he made his second run for state-wide office to represent the 21st State Senate District. He ran against incumbent State Senator Kevin Parker and demonstrated that Republicans still have a pulse in that district by running a very spirited campaign. Glenn has also been a member of the Kings County Republican County Committee from 1995 to present and has served as a judicial delegate.
In addition, Glenn has served his community as a auxiliary police sergeant at the 66th precinct since 1995. He currently serves as a campus police officer at Brooklyn College, where he received an award for valor.
Roy M. Antoun
Communications Chairman
Roy Antoun is a Rutgers University undergraduate student double majoring in Political Science and History. He has a knack for web developing and foreign policy. He has interned on Wall Street and a non-profit in Washington, DC, The Young Americans for Liberty. Author and contributor of several articles that have appeared in the in infamous conservative journal The Centurion and other conservative websites, he loves to write, read, analyze, and research. In his Sophomore Year, he won County Committee in his Election District in Brooklyn and in his Junior Year founded the conservative policy journal with YAL, The Foreign Policy Handbook. A believer of small government, freedom, and liberty, Roy hopes to one day attend law school and help protect those from the injustices of big government and wasteful spending both at home and abroad.
2008-2009 Officers
Jonathan Judge, President
Sam Rivera, Vice President
Christina Bennett, Secretary
Alex Buchholz, Treasurer
Gary St. Fleur, Executive Director
2007-2008 Officers
Robert Capano, President
Britta Vander Linden, Vice President
Jonathan Judge, Secretary
Alex Buchholz, Treasurer
Georgea Kontzamanis, Executive Director
Ilene Sacco, General Counsel
2006-2007 Officers
Robert Capano, President
Britta Vander Linden, Vice President
Jonathan Judge, Secretary
Alex Buchholz, Treasurer
Georgea Kontzamanis, Executive Director
Ilene Sacco, General Counsel
2005-2006 Officers
Luke Vander Linden, President
Andrew Roman, Secretary
Alex Buchholz, Treasurer
Robert Capano, Executive Director
