Greg Sahd, a veteran grass-roots campaigner who vowed to "hit the ground running" for the fall election, was elected chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee on Tuesday night.

The 58-year-old Manheim Township resident, surprising many in the 300-plus member committee, narrowly defeated the party's former chairman, David M. Dumeyer, 160 votes to 141, in only two rounds of voting.

A third candidate, first-term committeeman Ethan Demme, had a strong showing given his status as a newcomer — he got 84 votes — but was dropped from balloting after the first round.

Sahd won over committee people because of his long career in public service and work on numerous campaigns at the local and statewide level, supporters said in interviews afterward.

"Greg is a seasoned politician," said Terry Bergman, a committeeman from Reinholds who nominated Sahd from the floor. "He's a man of character, and he deserves the opportunity to be the leader of our committee."

Sahd succeeds Craig Ebersole and will serve a two-year term at the helm of the committee at a time when its finances are sagging and its voter registration efforts are being outpaced by Democrats. He said he will work hard to stop the "slow erosion" of the party here.

"We need to take back Harrisburg and take back Washington," he said.

Republicans interviewed following the vote at the Farm and Home Center, where the GOP met for its reorganizational meeting, praised all three candidates.

But they said Demme, who is 28, didn't yet have enough experience to run the party, and that Dumeyer, though possessing a strong track record in elections, had his shot at running the GOP for 6 1/2 years, and they felt it was time for someone new.

"We had three good candidates," said Scott Wiglesworth, a committeeman from Landisville who declined to say whom he supported. Asked what the deciding factor was, he said: "I think it maybe was a fresh face, someone a little different."

Sahd is a former investment banker and financial consultant.

He served as county treasurer from 1996 through 2004. He also worked as a congressional aide to then-U.S. Rep. Robert S. Walker and as deputy court administrator of Lancaster County.

In a separate vote, the committee elected Lancaster Township committeewoman Bonnie Bowman, who serves as the county's recorder of deeds, to vice chairman. Bowman defeated Diane Moore, a former executive director of the party, 168-110.

tmurse@lnpnews.com