Members of the Brunswick Town Democratic Committee unanimously chose Trish Riley to be their new chairwoman Wednesday.

Riley — the director of the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance in the Baldacci administration — is a longtime member of the town committee. Among her immediate priorities, she said, will be marshaling support and organizing fundraisers for Democratic candidates for state office.

“We have an enormous responsibility to find a Democrat who can represent Maine much more professionally and efficiently than our current governor,” Riley said. “We need to stay strong, stay together. It’s time to refocus the state.”

Riley was the only candidate nominated for committee leadership after the resignation of former Chairman Andrew Cashman two weeks ago.

Many of the town’s prominent political figures attended the meeting Wednesday, including state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, state Reps. Charles Priest and Mattie Daughtry, and Town Councilor John Richardson Jr.

Priest, the House District 63 incumbent, is prohibited from running again because of term limits.

Several of the committee’s approximately 35 members have indicated they are considering running for this seat. At the moment, however, only former Town Councilor Ralph Tucker — who also attended Wednesday’s meeting

— has declared his candidacy and filed for Clean Election campaign financing through the state’s Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

Brunswick currently includes House Districts 63, 65 and 66.

Beginning in January 2014, the number designation as well as boundary lines of the districts will change to districts 49, 50 and 51.

District 49 roughly encompasses the western side of town, while 50 is central; District 51 straddles the New Meadows River and includes parts of both Bath and Brunswick.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com