Each year Compaigns & Elections' selects its Rising Stars,
up-and-comers of the political world.
Some have made their mark by turning losing campaigns into winners,
or demonstrating excellence working on direct mail, polling,
get-out-the-vote operations, fund raising or political advocacy.
We selected 10 Democrats, 10 Republicans and four others all
younger than 35.
You can expect to hear about these Rising Stars in future
campaigns. We're betting that they will form the and will form the
next generation of standouts in the political consulting industry.
MICHAEL BASSIK (D), 27, is the vice president of Internet marketing
for MSHC Partners, Inc, avoter contact firm that offers mail, targeting
and Internet marketing services.
Before joining MSHC Partners, he was the director of political
advertising at America Online. In his work at AOL and MSHC Partners,
Bassik worked on concept of Internet advertising as a key part of
political campaigns. He helped launch the first large-scale and
successful use of banner advertising to recruit new donors to John
Kerry's campaign. During the 2004 election cycle, he implemented
Internet advertising campaigns for 50 candidates and organizations,
launching animations ad political quizzes as campaign techniques. He
also co-founded the Online Coalition to educate bloggers and online
activists about their rights under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of
2002.
Bassik graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with honors in
political science and a minor in Spanish. His thesis "The
Effectiveness of Political Advertising on the Internet" is a
trusted resource for political marketers. Bassik is currently pursuing
his J.D. at the American University Washington College of Law.
MORTON BRILLIANT (D), 34, is the campaign manager for Cathy Cox for
Governor of Georgia. As communications director for Christine Gregoire
for Washington Governor in 2004, the brilliant Brilliant created and
executed a message strategy that lasted through the campaign's two
recounts and reversed the election's initial outcome, leading to
victory 10 weeks after the election. In 1998, Brilliant used Internet
communications to overcome a 40-point disadvantage and elect Jim Hodges
as governor of South Carolina. He was also the political director for
the South Carolina Democratic Party.
Brilliant got a B.A. in classical studies with high honors from
Brandeis University and a J.D. with honors from the George Washington
University School of Law.
JEFFREY COLEMAN (R), 30, is owner of Churchill Strategies LLC, a
political consulting firm based in centeral Pennsylvania. With his firm
he has consulted on numerous campaigns relying on traditional grass
rootstechniques such as door to door campaigns, town hall forums and a
de-emphasis on polling. He has worked for Bill Scranton for Governor and
various state House and Senate campaigns.
At 25, Coleman became the youngest member to serve in the
Pennsylvania state House of Representatives. In his campaign for the
seat, he unseated an 11-year incumbent. Coleman served in the House
until 2004 until he left to start his consulting firm.
He has a B.S. from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
ERIN DELULLO (R), 25, struck out on her own after she learned about
fund raising as the director of development for the Patrick Henry
Center, a nonprofit educational foundation in Fairfax, Va. There, she
oversaw the center's fund raising and helped pay for the
center's first book, "Thunder on the Left: An Insider's
Report on the Hijacking of the Democratic Party."
Her main projects these days are plotting strategy for the Ken
Blackwell for Governor campaign in Ohio and Katherine Harris's run
for the U.S. Senate. She'll raise money from conservative
individuals and organizations for these two, as well as other clients on
the right.
And she's doing this all on her own only a few years after
graduating from Shepherd College in West Virginia.
KYLE DEBEER (R), 25, is the executive director of the Wyoming
Democratic Party. Since taking over as executive director in 2003,
DeBeer has drastically improved the party organization in Wyoming. He
worked to reorient the Party as a candidate services organization by
modernizing the voter file. In 2004 DeBeer worked to increase
contributions to the state party. Throughout the election cycle he
increased individual contributions to the Party by 189 percent. The
Democratic National Committee has worked to roll out plans instates
across the country. DeBeer worked with the political department at the
DNC to create a model for the first phase of implementation of the state
program. In 2005 he was elected secretary of the Association of State
Democratic Executive Directors.
DeBeer has a B.A. in classics, history and politics from Colorado
College in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
ZACH DIETCH (R) is the national field coordinator for the National
Republican Senatorial Committee. He got his start in politics as a
volunteer on the Bush-Cheney'04 campaign as a volunteer. He worked
his way up to an intern and became a key member of the campaign team,
working on the Election Day operations team. Dietch quickly moved to the
Republican National Committee, working as a regional deputy political
director until the National Republican Senatorial committee hired him as
their national field coordinator. Dietch is also a volunteer
firefighter.
Dietch earned his B.A. in political science at the University of
Pennsylvania.
BRIAN DONAHUE (R), 30, is the senior vice president of Jamestown
Associates, a media and direct mail consulting firm, based in
Washington, D.C.
He has management experience on five competitive federal campaigns,
including two presidential campaigns. As one of President Bush's
youngest state directors in 2004, Donahue was in West Virginia, which
gave Bush 13 points over Kerry and doubled his 2000 percentage in a
state where Democratic registered voters outnumbered Republicans three
to one.
Donahue also managed U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce's 2002 campaign in
New Mexico. All but one of the campaigns that he has managed were
targeted open seats or challenger races, in places where Republicans
were significantly outnumbered. In 2003, he opened the Washington, D.C.
office for Jamestown Associates.
Donahue, 30, earned his B.A. in political science from George
Washington University and a campaign management certificate from the
Campaign Management Institute at American University.
VINCE GALKO (R), 33, we are told "is one of the few people in
this business who has earned the trust and admiration from both of
Pennsylvania's U.S. senators [Arlen] Spector and [Rick]
Santorum."
That alone merits a Gold Star along with a Rising Star. It also got
him a job-as manager of Santorum's re-election campaign.
Galko's ties to the senator go back to 1994, when he campaigned for
him door-to-door at Saint Joseph's University. Two years later,
Galko had moved up in a manner of speaking to making cold calls from the
Republican National Committee's basement. By 2001, he was running
the game back in Pennsylvania for seven GOP appellate judges; each of
them won. "Word has it that a couple of '08 White house
hopefuls have already contacted Galko about taking on a regional
position," a peer wrote. "... If Santorum does get re-elected,
Galko will share most of the credit." We would expect nothing less
of a star.
AMANDA HYDRO (R), 24, is the executive director of the College
Republican National Committee. She managed the Precinct Data Department
at the Republican National Committee from 2000 to 2003. While there she
also worked on President Bush's first campaign and redistricting.
She was a key part of the team that led the youth effort to elect U.S.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., giving the Republican Party the majority in
the 2002 mid-term election and winning her the Best Field Representative
Award from the College Republican National Committee.
Hydro doesn't just win awards; she has one named after her.
Each year, the Amanda Hydro Award is given to a child in grades seven
through twelve in Somerset County, N.J., for outstanding leadership and
community service.
Hydro received a B.A. in politics from the Catholic University of
America, in Washington, D.C.
PATRICK KILLEN (R), 26, is the director of communications for the
Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana in Nevada, a fitting job for
his Libertarian Republican philosophies of less government interference
and greater personal responsibility. And he does this while pursuing his
college degree at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
This Rising Star began reading C & E when he was 17 years old.
Two years later, he got his first job as a campaign consultant on a
local campaign in his home state of New Mexico. He's been a fixture
there among Republicans ever since, whether he's working county or
state levels.
In 2004, Killen told his friends and associates that he was gay, a
courageous move considering the intense debates over gay marriage and
gay rights. As a result, conservative members of his party elected him
to represent them at the national convention that year.
JUSTIN LAPATINE (D), 33, is the vice president of Global Strategy
Group, a market research and polling firm in New York, N.Y.
Lapatine was a pollster and strategist for Newark mayoral
candidates in 2002 and 2006. Since 2002, he has also been a pollster and
strategic advisor to Eliot Spitzer, helping to position the famous U.S.
attorney as the favorite in the New York 2006 gubernatorial race. He
also researched for Henry Cuellar's defeat of incumbent Ciro
Rodriguez. Lapatine is skilled at developing campaigns in black and
Hispanic communities.
Lapatine received his B.A. from Duke University and his M.A. from
Columbia University.
LANCE D. MAGNUM (D), 24, is one of our Rising Stars who left
straight politics to go over to the corporate side. He's the
manager of policy and political affairs for Capital One Financial Corp.,
a Fortune 200 company. In between monitoring the financial giant's
political interests, he's getting his masters in political
management at George Washington University.
Prior to going corporate, Mangum was a pollster for the Feldman
Group and worked on Democrat Erskine Bowles' failed 2004 senatorial
bid to represent North Carolina (Mangum is a graduate of North Carolina
State University in Raleigh, with a B.A. in political science.)
He's consulted, advised or worked on more than 25 political,
corporate and issue campaigns in 10 states.
MATTHEW MCMILLAN (D), 25, is the president of BuzzMaker, a new
media and online consulting firm in Washington, D.C. BuzzMaker works
with advocacy groups, nonprofits, trade associations and corporations.
McMillan, who founded BuzzMaker in 2004, has also worked for the
Campaign for America's Future, where, as online content producer,
he interviewed top political pundits including Byron York, Robert
Greenwald and George Lakoff for podcasts. He has recruited and worked
with clients ranging from national organizations and U.S. Senators down
to city councilors. He also worked for Jim Crounse, creating direct mail
for top Democratic campaigns. Some of his clients for the 2006 cycle
include U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M, and Patricia Madrid for U.S.
Congress, D-N.M. At the age of 25, he already has two Pollie wins under
his belt.
McMillan received his B.A. in political science and history from
Columbia University. While at Columbia, McMillan earned the distinction
of being named among the top ten debaters in the country.
SUSAN DELIDDO MICHELS (D), 34, is vice president of GMMB, a
political advertising and consulting firm with offices in Washington,
Los Angeles and Seattle. The Pollie-Award winning consultant centers on
developing TV, radio and Internet advertising. She's done for Mark
Warner for Governor, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and
the Forward Together PAC. Agraduate of the American University, Michels
gets props from her peers for her use of storytelling in campaigns so
voters get a fuller, more personal picture of the candidate she's
working for. "She has a special ability to use cultural touchstones
that voter instantly recognize and connect with," one wrote,
"whether it's a banjo tune for Governor Warner's spots or
a touching moment between Congressman [Ben] Chandler and his son."
Before joining GMMB, she oversaw communications for U.S. Rep. Marcy
Kaptur, D--Ohio, and Lt. Gov. Lawton Chiles of Florida.
JULIAN MULVEY (D), 34, is the principal of the Julian Mulvey Group,
a Democratic media consulting firm.
His accomplishments include winning 11 Pollie awards and serving as
media consultant for St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, who is
the first black to hold this high a position in St. Louis County
History.
Mulvey served as a media consultant to Paul Hackett, the Democratic
Iraq veteran that nearly won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives
in the most Republican district in Ohio.
Mulvey has worked at Shrum, Devine, Donilon, C-SPAN and the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University.
Mulvey got a B.A. in political science from Boston University.
AIMEE NICHOLS (R), 27, is an account executive at Valis &
Keelen LLC, a government relations firm in Washington, D.C. that
specializes in PAC fund-raising, advocacy and branding representation.
In the 2002 and 2004 election cycles, Nichols helped raise more than $30
million in PAC money for congressional candidates and incumbents, with
records of 38 to 5 in 2002 and 40 to 5 in 2004. She has also worked at
the Investment Company Institute.
In 2002, she worked on the congressional campaigns of Chris
Chocola, R-Ind., Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Tom Feeney, R-Fla., Jim
Gerlach, R-Pa., and Katherine Harris, R-Fla. In 2004, she worked on the
campaigns of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis,
R-Ky.
Nichols earned her B.A. in English at the University of Maryland at
College Park.
ASHLEY O'CONNOR (R), 33, is founder of Red October
Productions. It's hard at times to imagine trading a posh,
established client like Elizabeth Arden for a bunch of fighting
politicians, but that's what Ashley O'Connor did. The media
consultant cut her teeth on Madison Avenue, and then left it to work for
clients such as Bill William Weld, Bob Ehrlich and the Republican
National Committee.
O'Connor started Red October Productions when she was 26 years
old and found much work for the Republicans. She got her big break in
2004, when she directed all the production for Bush-Cheney 2004's
ads and videos. This year, she's signed on to several GOP
gubernatorial campaigns including those for Ehrlich (Md.), Kerry Healey
(Mass.) and Bob Riley (Ala.)
KEVIN O'NEILL (N), 27, joined Grassroots Enterprises as a
senior client manager. Within months, he shimmied up the ladder to
become director of online campaigns.
"He has established a particular expertise in the creative use
of blog advertising and blog outreach to spur awareness and viral buzz
for a range of clients, including most notably, the American Civil
Liberties Union" says his boss, John Hlinko. "He has been at
the center of the phenomenal rise of Grassroots Enterprise over the last
few years, capped in 2005 by what was the firm's biggest year
ever--six Pollie Awards, including four first-place Internet Pollies,
more than any other firm." O'Neill knows all about the
Pollies; he was the executive director of the awards' creators, the
American Association of Political Consultants, before joining Hlinko and
Co.
MAX PULSINELLI (N), 32, is the founder of Maximum Impact Public
Relations, a public relations and publicity firm which focuses on
political books and authors as well as political advocacy organizations.
It is not uncommon for Pulsinelli's publicity campaigns to
land books on the New York Times or USA Today's bestseller lists,
including Bernard Goldberg's 100 People who are Screwing Up America
(And Al Franken is #37).
Prior to establishing his own firm, Pulsinelli worked at Shirley
& Banister Public Affairs, Griffin Communications and Jack Horner
Communications.
Pulsinelli earned his B.A. in communications from the University of
Pittsburgh.
FRANK SALAZAR (D) Frank Salazar, 31, campaign manager for Bob
Filner for Congress. Salazar jumped into politics feet first when he was
elected to the city council in his hometown of Calexico, Calif. From
there, he went on to become a presidential appointee to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in the Clinton administration. He worked on
Vice President Gore's presidential campaign in 2000 as a Hispanic
media coordinator and then joined James Carville's firm as an
associate. While there, he worked on presidential campaigns in three
South American countries.
Currently, Salazar is working on U.S. Re. Bob Filner's
re-election to California's 51st District seat.
HEATHER SMITH (N), 30, is the director of Young Voter Strategies, a
project of the Graduate School of Political Management at George
Washington University that provides candidates, parties, consultants and
nonprofits with data on young voters and tools that they can use to
mobilize the demographic.
Smith was the national field director for the New Voters Project,
the largest nonpartisan grassroots effort in history to register 18- to
24-year-old voters. During the 2004 campaign, Smith trained and managed
a staff of 150. They built a coalition of more than 700 businesses,
nonprofits and elected officials and recruited more than 4,000
volunteers nationwide. The project registered 349,000 18- to
24-year-olds in its six core states.
Smith earned her B.A. in economics and public at Duke University.
She has also studied at Oxford University. She is currently pursuing her
masters at George Washington University.
GIOVANNA GRAY TORCHIO (D), 26, is the senior vice president of
business development at North Track Media, an integrated strategic
communications and media firm in New York City.
Torchio, a deputy finance director for the New York arm of Howard
Dean's campaign. On Dean's campaign, Torchio established one
of New York City's first low-dollar fund-raising networks, raising
high-dollar results of over $1 million for the campaign. Torchio
translated that success into her startup political software company I
Stand For and had 35 clients in less than a year. She is the youngest
board member of the Women's Leadership Forum Network and served as
campaign manager for Andrew Rasiej for New York City Public Advocate.
Torchio holds a B.A. in gender and women's studies and history
from Connecticut College.
JIM WILSON (N), 34, is the manager of political education programs
for the American Medical Association's PAC, where he conducts
political education programs to teach political action techniques to the
medical community.
From 2001 to 2005, Wilson worked for the information division at
the Federal Elections Commission. He provided training on federal
campaign finance law to candidates, political parties and political
action committees. His work at the FEC made him a sought-after expert in
independent expenditures and national and state political party
committee regulation. He was an adviser to several state agencies
regarding provisions of the McCain-Feingold bill.
Wilson received his B.A. from Georgetown University and a masters
and PhD in rhetoric and political communications from the University of
Pittsburgh.
RAYMOND ZABORNEY (R), 30, is the campaign manager for Lynn Swann
for Governor, R-Pa.
Zaborney worked as executive director for Team 88, Swann's PAC
that explored a run for Governor. It raised more than $1.6 million
before the former football star even announced his candidacy. Zaborney
worked as political director for Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom
Corbett's successful campaign and managed Chuck Erdman's
re-election campaign for County Controller, winning by the largest
margin in the county's history, despite being outspent 2.5-1.
Zaborney, 30, attended Bloomsburg University.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Campaigns & Elections,
Inc.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale
Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
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