Kodjak slate sweeps Club elections

NPR health-policy correspondent Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak and her entire slate of officer and board member candidates were easily elected to lead the National Press Club in 2019. Weeks-long balloting ended Friday evening with a celebration at the Club's Reliable Source.

In her acceptance remarks, following a champagne toast, Kodjak. who will become 112th president of the Club on Jan. 11, called the Club a "special place" among journalism organizations because it provides a "physical location to gather."

Acknowledging that Club members are competitors on the news-gathering front, she said "we don't have to be competitive here." Members can come together over a beer and work together "to make our profession strong."

An inaugural gala is being planned for Jan. 12.

In an oddity, there was no candidate on the ballot for the Board of Governors non-voting three-year slot reserved for those in the Communicators membership category. Danny Selnick, vice president at Business Wire, won a write-in campaign with 80 of the 130 votes cast.

Votes were cast by 260 members, 231 online and 29 in-person at the Club on Friday.

Here are the vote totals:

President
Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak 249 (7 write-ins)

Vice President
Michael Freedman, UMUC, GW, The Kalb Report 245 (10 write-ins)

Treasurer
Peter Urban, freelance 251 (6 write-ins)

Secretary
Fouad Arif, Morocco News Agency 238 (16 write-ins)

Membership Secretary
Eileen Drage O’Reilly, Axios 242 (11 write-ins)

Board of Governors, Journalist 3-year term (Top Three)
Lisa Matthews, AP 219
Emily Wilkins, Bloomberg BNA 213
Ferdous Al-Faruque, MedTech Insight 181
Erik Meltzer, AP 120
23 write-ins

Board of Governors, Journalist 2-year term
Del Wilber, LA Times 244 (9 write-ins)

Board of Governors, Journalist 1-year term (One Slot)
Antonella Ciancio, freelance 145
Mark Schoeff Jr., InvestmentNews 110
4 write-ins

Board of Governors, Communicator (non-voting) 3-year term (all write-ins)
Danny Slenick, Business Wire 80
Others 50