ANNAPOLIS — By now, Christopher E. Meekins is used to the reaction of disbelief when he reveals his age.
That’s because at 24, he has already run several campaigns in North Carolina and Maryland, canvassed nationwide for the National Right to Work Committee and is now managing the congressional campaign of Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville.
It tends to impress people when you help dethrone a nine-term incumbent — Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Dist. 1) of Kennedyville — before you’re old enough to rent a car on your own.
‘‘Sometime after we won, I sat there and said, ‘OK, what do I do with the rest of my career?’” Meekins said this week. ‘‘Knocking off an 18-year incumbent in a three-way primary just doesn’t happen.”
Meekins is among a growing number of young political operatives in Maryland who are flying high at an early age.
The new executive director of the Maryland Republican Party is 26. His Democratic counterpart is 32, and two of the state’s top Democratic fundraisers are in their 30s.
‘‘The world of democracy today and of campaign politics is a young person’s world,” said Ruth B. Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. ‘‘It needs people with the kind of energy and flexibility and freedom from daily demands that young people have.”
Take Justin Ready, who was hired last month as the GOP’s executive director. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Salisbury University in 2004, went directly to work on state Sen. E. J. Pipkin’s unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, then came to Annapolis as a legislative aide for Del. J.B. Jennings (R-Dist. 7) of Phoenix.
A few years later, he is entrusted with leading the day-to-day operations of a party still reeling from the loss of the governorship in 2006.
‘‘It’s important as a young person to be confident in your abilities, but also to know what you don’t know,” Ready said.
His youth won’t be a deterrent to moving the party forward.
‘‘If it’s what you want to do, it doesn’t seem like much of a daunting task,” he said. ‘‘I love working to advance the Maryland Republican Party.”
Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Quincey D. Gamble, 32, has a similar perspective.
‘‘I try to impart my beliefs on the everyday administration of the party and I try to stay out of the way of the folks who have been doing good work around the state for a long time,” he said. ‘‘If it’s a big bus, I’m just one of the passengers and most of the time I’m [sitting] in one of the back seats.”
Gamble comes from a politically active family in Atlanta. He was hired in August after a stint with local health care union SEIU 1199. For him, it’s an opportunity to employ his organizing skills.
‘‘I’ve always felt like a party outsider,” he said. ‘‘It’s a way to actualize your beliefs. It’s a difference between sitting on the bench and getting in the game. Some folks just vote; others give money; I like to organize.”
Travis N. Tazelaar took a far different route.
The Aquasco native entered the Marine Corps after graduating high school, spending four years as a machine gunner in war-torn Kosovo and throughout the Mediterranean.
Tazelaar, 28, left the Marines shortly after the U.S. incursion into Afghanistan. He said his military experiences have charted his political career.
‘‘Political strategy and military strategy are based on the same principles and if you know one, you pretty much know the other,” he said.
During the 2006 campaign cycle, he went to work for Mayor Martin O’Malley and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin in their respective campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate. In 2007, he managed Baltimore City Councilman Edward L. Reisinger’s victorious re-election campaign. Now, he’s one of three regional field directors — all in their 20s — for the state Democratic Party.
‘‘Sometimes, I realize that I’ve taken on an enormous responsibility, but what prepared me for those campaigns is the Marine Corps,” he said. ‘‘For me, it’s almost a continuation of being in the Marine Corps without having to go to combat. It’s just a different type of combat.”
Stephanie M. Mellinger was barely 25 when she formed her own political fundraising firm. Nearly seven years later, she boasts one of the top client lists in Maryland, including Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach.
‘‘Once people see your willingness to work as hard as you can and your willingness to help the campaign you’re working on,” age is a non-factor, she said.
Her clients like working with a younger person, Mellinger said. ‘‘Once you demonstrate your skill, they like having someone who’s younger and energetic because people see you’re hungry.”
