"For me it is an opportunity to get to know the new district and I'm excited I will get to travel the state a lot and meet a lot of new people," Shewmaker said.
While he is looking forward to making connections and assisting some of the top movers among the state party, Shewmaker said he is also optimistic by the prospect of growing the party in a section of Kentucky now firmly in the grips of the Republicans.
"We want to work on setting up more young Democrat groups in that part of the state," Shewmaker said. "It's a conservative leaning district, but it is an area where we can hopefully build a party structure. We think it can be competitive moving forward."
Shewmaker's place at the table won't come as a surprise to those who have followed his relatively quick rise among young Democrats on his own campus and across the state.
He got off to a fast start at Centre, being elected to lead the College Democrats in the spring of his freshman year. He had only served in that capacity for a few months before he was elected at the state convention to become President of the Kentucky College Democrats.
Shewmaker also oversaw the merger of the College Democrats with the Kentucky Young Democrats, a group with which he remains active.
Richard Campbell, Boyle County Attorney and chairman of the Boyle County Democratic Party, said it is the first time in recent memory the county has had representation on the committee, let alone someone as young as Shewmaker.
Campbell said people have taken notice not only of Shewmaker's growing list of leadership responsibility, but also his success in organizing things like the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, an event he helped revive that has brought notable politicians to Centre over the last couple years. The longtime local party man said Shewmaker has a maturity that belies his years.
"Especially for being as young as he is, Jordan really has a good head on his shoulders and shows very good judgement," Campbell said. "Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican - or the Lions Club, Rotary or other organizations for that matter - everyone is looking for youth."
Shewmaker has been around long enough to know generating interest in politics among his generation can sometimes be illusory. While wearing tee-shirts and even doing volunteer work on a candidate’s behalf is helpful, Shewmaker said getting people his own age registered and out to the polls is another thing entirely.
Law school will likely follow graduation in 2014 for Shewmaker. Not surprisingly, he would like to run for office someday.
But the Young Turk doesn't see any reason for himself or any of his peers to wait around, though.
"The time for young people to get involved in the political process is right now," Shewmaker said.
