John
Kerry-Campaign Organization in the States
General Election Edition last
revised 03/24/06
The Kerry-Edwards campaign
had state directors in at least 35 states.
The format for the state organization
pages is Kerry-Edwards staff at the top, then Coordinated Campaign staff,
and at the bottom, in the anchor position, the state party; additionally
on some pages at the very bottom key allies such as ACT are included.
Campaigns are fluid, dynamic, evolving entities; these sketches, based
on numerous interviews, show organization in as much detail as possible
in Fall 2004.
A
R I Z O N A
| State Director |
Douglas Wilson |
In 1996 Wilson coordinated the
Clinton-Gore campaign in Arizona, helping carry the state. Vice president
of the Cohen Group,
a Washington, D.C.-based international business consulting firm headed
by former Defense Secretary William Cohen. Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the senior communications strategist
for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, latter part of 2000.
National political director for the Democratic Leadership Council.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 1997-99, and,
for the first four years of the Administration, Director of Congressional
and Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Information Agency. In
1987, working for the City of Phoenix, he set up the city's international
office under then-Mayor Terry Goddard. Deputy campaign manager for
Gary Hart's Democratic presidential campaign, 1984. Chief foreign
policy advisor to Sen. Gary Hart. Served at U.S. diplomatic posts
in Naples, Rome, and London. Graduate of Stanford University and
the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Native of Tucson; attended
Rincon High School.
see
also Billy House, "Kerry picks winner to head campaign." Arizona
Republic. May 16, 2004.
A
R K A N S A S
| State Director |
Rodney E. Shelton |
(announced June 21, 2004, arrived
in state later that week) Before joining the campaign Shelton worked
in Washington, DC for America Coming Together. In fall 2000 he served
as North Carolina State Director for the Gore-Lieberman campaign and in
1996 he was an assistant Southern regional director for Clinton's re-election
campaign. He has worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation,
the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the Democratic National Committee.
He attended both the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and Philander
Smith College in Little Rock.
C
A L I F O R N I A
| State Director |
Sky Gallegos |
Gallegos serves as deputy campaign
manager/political director for Sen. John Edwards' presidential primary
campaign (announcement that she had joined the campaign came in March 2003)
then ran his One America Committee. Before joining Edwards' team
she served as COO and political director of EdVoice, a California education
and advocacy organization. In the 2000 campaign she was California
state director for the Gore primary campaign, and Western Regional Political
Director for the Gore/Lieberman campaign. Prior to the campaign she
was Western political director for Leadership '98, Gore's leadership PAC.
Gallegos worked in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
She served as deputy political director for the Clinton/Gore '96 campaign
in California.
C
O L O R A D O
(May 2004;
in Boston through Convention) Casey moved to Denver in 1986 to work
on Gary Hart's presidential campaign. She served on the Denver City
Council from 1995-2001, and ran for mayor in 2003. Casey served as
a senior advisor for Kerry's New Hampshire primary campaign (announced
Oct. 15, 2003). A New Hampshire native, she grew up in Somersworth
and attended Somersworth High School. She organized in New Hampshire
for Ted Kennedy in 1980; with Jeanne Shaheen, Casey led Gary Hart's 1984
New Hampshire primary win; she was a senior staffer on Hart's 1988 campaign
and managed his short-lived re-entry; top advisor on Bob Kerrey's 1992
campaign. Casey is the author of Hart and Soul: Gary Hart's New
Hampshire Odyssey...and Beyond (1986). She earned her bachelor's
degree from the University of New Hampshire, 1971, and has a master's in
social work from the University of Connecticut, 1975, and a doctorate in
international affairs from the University of Denver, 1995.
D
E L A W A R E
| State Director |
Summer Oesch |
(through September, when she
went to Pennsylvania leaving no Kerry staff) Oesch worked on Kerry's campaign
in Arizona and Iowa during the primaries. She served as statewide
field director for the 2002 Arizona Democratic Coordinated Campaign.
Oesch's experience also includes work as a field staffer on Gore's 2000
Iowa caucus campaign.
F
L O R I D A
(June
2004) Chief of Staff to Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ). Communications director
on Frank Lautenberg's U.S. Senate campaign in 2002. Managed Corzine's
campaign in 2000. Communications director for the U.S. Mission to
the United Nations. Associate director in the Office of Presidential
Personnel, 1997-98. Michigan field director on the Clinton/Gore 1992
campaign.
See
also Adam C. Smith. "Kerry tabs Florida campaign manager." St.
Petersburg Times. June 5, 2004.
GEORGIA
| State Director (official
but unpaid) |
Jan Prisby Bryson |
Also served as Georgia State
Director for Gore/Lieberman (official, but unpaid). In 2003 became
a partner in a small women-owned business; business owner since 1995 (chairman
of TOC Inc.). Worked for Delta Airlines for 15 years. Has worked
and volunteered on a number of campaigns in Georgia since 1992.
H
A W A I I
| State Director |
Jadine Nielsen |
State director for the John
Edwards for President campaign in Hawaii. Political consultant and
senior advisor to Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono's gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
Other campaign experience includes Northern California campaign manager
for the Clinton for President primary campaign; California director of
scheduling and advance for the Clinton-Gore campaign; campaign manager
for Richard Riordan's successful mayoral campaign in Los Angeles; and political
consultant to Kathleen Connell's successful campaign for California State
Controller and Jane Harman's successful campaign for U.S. House.
Nielsen began her career with U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston and served as his
California state director. She was deputy mayor for the City of Los
Angeles in charge of community outreach and legislative and executive services.
During the Clinton Administration she served as Presidential Transition
Search Manager for the Office of Presidential Personnel; chief of staff
at the U.S. Small Business Administration; deputy to the Chairman of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and White House liaison for the
SBA and for the FDIC.
I
D A H O
| State Directors |
Michael Kennedy
Jim Grossman |
(July 2004) Grossman is
an environmentally progressive developer, notably of Hidden Springs, a
915-home, 1,700-acre national award-winning rural community in Boise.
Longtime friend with the Kerrys, going back to Teresa Heinz Kerry and the
late Sen. Heinz. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Colorado
College, 1988. Ketchum resident. Active in high action, adventure
sports.
I
L L I N O I S
| State Director |
Avis LaVelle |
(reported May 28, 2004, start
July 1, 2004) Senior Partner for Business Development at The Foster Group,
an information technology consulting company based in Chicago. Previously
served as Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for the University
of Chicago Hospitals. Managed Mayor Richard M. Daley's 1999 re-election
campaign. Vice President of Communications for Waste Management.
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services under Donna Shalala. National Press Secretary
for the Clinton for President campaign. Radio and television reporter.
Graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; post-graduate studies
at the Keller School of Management.
I
O W A
| State Director |
Mike Malaise |
(announced June 7, 2004)
Political director for Kerry's Iowa caucus campaign starting in June 2003,
then ran Kerry's North Dakota campaign (Feb. 3), and served as political
director for his Wisconsin campaign (Feb. 17). Communications director
for the Iowa Democratic Party from January 2003. Communications director
for the House and Senate Caucus, April-Dec. 2002. Press secretary
to Congressman Ken Lucas of Kentucky in Washington from January 2000.
K
E N T U C K Y
| State Director |
Travis Brock |
(started Aug. 1, 2004 to Sept.
2004 then back to Iowa) Brock's experience includes Midwest Political
Director at the DNC, Deputy Communications Director for Vilsack/Pederson
2002, an organizer for the AFSCME Florida Political Organizing Project,
Field Director for the 2000 Wisconsin Democratic Coordinated Campaign,
Field Staff for Gore 2000, and Field Staff for the1998 Iowa Democratic
Party Coordinated Campaign.
L
O U I S I A N A
| State Director |
Dana Peterson |
Experience includes field director
on Tony Sanchez's campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination
in Texas in 2002; and work on Jim McGreevey's gubernatorial campaign in
New Jersey in 2001.
M
A I N E
| State Director |
Jesse Connolly |
(started June 1, 2004)
Connolly served as Kerry's Maine political director for the Feb. 8 caucuses.
Previously he worked as communications director for Senate President Beverly
Daggett, and in the 2002 cycle he was director for the State Senate Caucus.
A Mainer, Connolly graduated from Bates College in May 2001 with a B.A.
in political science.
M A S S A C H U S E T T S
| State Director |
Linda Tocci |
Tocci served a State Director
for Kerry in Massachusetts during the primary campaign and also headed
up his get out the vote effort in the New Hampshire primary. In 2002
she was a consultant on Shannon O'Brien's Massachusetts gubernatorial race.
In 2000 she was the GOTV coordinator for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign
in New Hampshire. In 1993 she was Field Director for Edward Kennedy's
re-election. She has been working on Democratic campaigns since 1989.
Tocci graduated from Wheaton College with a bachelor's degree in 1989 and
from Simmons Graduate School of Management with a MBA in 1998.
M
I C H I G A N
| State Director |
Donnie Fowler |
(announced June 4, 2004)
Served briefly as campaign manager of Gen. Wesley Clark's campaign, leaving
abruptly after about three weeks; worked briefly on Dick Gephardt's Iowa
caucus campaign. Vice President of TechNet. National field
director for Al Gore's 2000 campaign starting in October 1999. Special
advisor to FCC Chairman William Kennard. Worked in the White House
offices of presidential personnel and legislative affairs. Clinton/Gore
'96 field director for the New Hampshire primary and state director for
the Wyoming and West Virginia primaries. Director of the Connecticut
coordinated campaign; campaign manager for the 1994 Tenebaum for Lt. Gov.
campaign in South Carolina. Worked on the presidential campaigns
of Jesse Jackson and Richard Gephardt in 1988. A native of South
Carolina, son of former DNC chair Don Fowler.
See
also Kathy Barks Hoffman. "Former Gore field director to head Kerry's
Michigan campaign." Associated Press. June 4, 2004.
M
I N N E S O T A
| State Director |
Roy Temple |
(August 2004) Veteran
of Missouri politics. Campaign manager for Missouri Gov. Bob Holden's
unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the
Aug. 3 state primary. Kerry campaign state director in the March
3, 2004 Missouri presidential primary. Washington chief of staff
to Sen. Jean Carnahan. Executive director of the Missouri Democratic
Party during the 2000 cycle. [note: Ken Robinson had been announced
on June 10, 2004 as State Director to start after the Convention, but he
went to Florida to head the Coordinated Campaign].
M
I S S O U R I
| State Director |
Tony Wilson |
After
a decade in politics, Wilson moved to the private sector in 1997, serving
as Government Affairs Manager for Sprint Corporation from 1997-2000 and
then as Manager of Government Affairs for Microsoft Corporation from 2000
to present. His political experience includes National Campaign Director
for the DCCC, 1996; Vice President Gore's Political Director at the DNC,
1995; Director of Scheduling, Office of Vice President Gore, 1993-95; Northeast
Campaign Director for the DCCC, 1993-94; Coordinated Campaign Director
in Connecticut, 1992; Director of the DNC's Job Talent Bank, 1990-91; Political
Liaison at the DSCC, 1989-90; Scheduler for Lautenberg For Senate, 1988;
Trip Director for Gephardt for President, 1988; and staffer for Congressman
Alan Wheat (MO-5), 1986-88. Wilson is a 1985 graduate of the University
of Missouri with a BA in political science.
See
also Libby Quaid. "Kerry assembling Missouri team." Associated
Press. May. 19, 2004
N E B R A S K A
| State Director |
Daniel Mahoney |
(started August 2, 2004)
Daniel Mahoney is a native Nebraskan. For the last year he
has worked for the Nebraska Democratic Party as the Statewide Field Director.
He has worked on state legislative races in Virginia and Maryland, as well
as the most recent Austin, Texas mayoral race. Mahoney is graduate
of Texas State University with a Bachelors in Communications Studies and
a Masters in Political Rhetoric.
N
E V A D A
| State Director |
Anne Sheridan |
(started second week of May
2004; announced June 16, 2004) A national organizer for the Transportation
Safety Coalition, a grassroots organization formed in the spring of 2002
to oppose designating Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste site. Las
Vegas resident since 2001. Spent most of the 1990s in Washington
DC as a principal of the Dewey Square Group. Presidential campaign
experience goes back to the Michael Dukakis campaign in 1988.
N
E W H A M P S H I R E
| State Director |
Nick Clemons |
Served
as field director on Kerry's New Hampshire primary campaign starting on
Jan. 27, 2003 through to the primary; he also served as Kerry's state director
for the March 2 Maryland primary. Field director for Gov. Jeanne
Shaheen's 2002 U.S. Senate campaign and her 2000 re-election campaign.
Campaign manager on Manchester Mayor Bob Baines' 2001 re-election campaign.
Worked for Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in the Office of Citizen Affairs and as
scheduler. Graduate of UNH with a degree in history.
See
also James W. Pindell. "Kerry begins to set up shop in NH, again."
PoliticsNH.com. May 24, 2004.
N
E W M E X I C O
| State Director |
Moses Mercado |
Served as Southwest Political
Advisor/New Mexico and Arizona for the Gephardt campaign. Deputy
chief of staff to Gephardt when he was House Democratic Leader. Worked
on Gene Green's (TX-29) campaign, then served as his chief of staff starting
in 1993. Assistant state attorney. Graduate of University of
Texas and South Texas College of Law in Houston.
See
also Shea Anderson. "Kerry names N.M. director." Albuquerque Tribune.
May 5, 2004.
N
E W J E R S E Y
| State Director |
Patti McGuire |
(named in latter part of July
2004) Well regarded New Jersey field organizer. Ran Jon Corzine’s
field operation during the 2000 Democratic Senatorial primary then signed
on with U.S. Sen. Robert G. Torricelli. From Hudson County.
N
E W Y O R K
| State Director |
Rodney Capel |
(officially started June 15,
2004) Prior to joining the campaign Capel served as political director
for the New York State Democratic Committee, starting in August 2001.
Deputy state director in the office of Sen. Charles Schumer from Jan. 1999-mid-2001;
took leave to serve as deputy state director the Gore/Lieberman campaign
in fall 2000. Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Office
of Congressional and Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education,
1997-1999. M.A. in political management from The George Washington
University; B.A. in political science from Syracuse University.
N
O R T H C A R O L I N A
| State Director |
Morgan Jackson |
Native of Moore County, North
Carolina and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington
(Political Science, 1996). Jackson served as an aide to US Representatives
Mel Watt and Bill Hefner. During the 2000 election cycle he was political
director for the North Carolina Democratic Party. In 2001, he joined
John Edwards' U.S. Senate staff. In fall 2003 he moved over to the
John Edwards for President campaign, serving as deputy national political
director, and from Dec. 2003-Feb. 2004 as the chief staff person in the
South Carolina primary.
O
H I O
| State Director |
JB Poersch |
Ohio
State Director for the Kerry-Edwards campaign (announced May 24, 2004).
Ran Sen. Jack Reed’s (D-RI) Washington, DC office for fourteen years starting
after his election to the U.S. House in 1990 and continuing with him to
the Senate. Directed Ohio Democrats' Coordinated Campaign in 2000.
Campaign manager on Scotty Baesler’s 1998 U.S. Senate campaign in Kentucky
(narrowly lost to Jim Bunning). Regional political director at the
DCCC in the 1990 cycle. Worked for the National Association of Letter
Carriers. In 1987 he joined the presidential campaign of then-Sen.
Al Gore; he co-managed the campaign in Wyoming during the primaries.
Started his career in the Washington office of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(D-NY). Graduate of Providence College in Rhode Island.
O K L A H O M A
| State Director |
Nichole Francis |
(start Aug. 23, 2004)
Francis has worked in the Office of Congressman Harold E. Ford, Jr. (D-TN)
since Nov. 2002 serving as district director of his Memphis office.
Previously she worked as a litigation/federal affairs associate at Baker
& Hostetler LLP; she is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia.
Francis earned her B.A. from Eastern Michigan University, 1997 and her
J.D. from the Ohio State University College of Law in Columbus, 2001.
She has served as a congressional intern for former Democratic Minority
Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
She is a native of Lorain, Ohio.
O
R E G O N
| State Director |
Paige Richardson |
Most recently worked for the
Oregon House Democratic Caucus. Managed former Multnomah County Commissioner
Beverly Stein's unsuccessful campaign for the Oregon Democratic gubernatorial
nomination in the May 2002 primary. Richardson has worked in campaigns
and elections around the country for more than 15 years, managing races
and projects in 20 states. Notable races include former Oregon Congresswoman
Elizabeth Furse's re-election in 1994, Washington Congressman Brian Baird's
race in 1998, and New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman's re-election in 2000;
she also helped on the Gore-Lieberman campaign in New Mexico.
P
E N N S Y L V A N I A
| State Director |
Tony Podesta |
(announced late May 2004)
Co-founder and co-chairman of PodestaMattoon,
a Washington, DC lobbying firm; he and his brother John started Podesta
Associates in 1988. Ran the Clinton/Gore campaign in Pennsylvania
in 1996. California Campaign Manager for the Dukakis/Bentsen campaign
during the general election in 1988. Worked on Sen. Ted Kennedy's
campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980. Founding
president of People for the American Way. B.A. from the University
of Illinois, M.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and J.D. from
Georgetown University Law Center. Grew up in Chicago.
T
E N N E S S E E
| State Director |
Stephen Lindsey |
(named in late June 2004)
Lindsey also served as Kerry's Tennessee state director for the Feb. 10
primary campaign (announced Sept. 15, 2003) and then worked on the campaign
in Georgia. From 1998-2003, he worked for the Tennessee Democratic
Party; when he left as the Deputy Director of the Party he had been in
all of Tennessee's 95 Counties. In 1996 Lindsey returned to his alma
mater, Columbia Central High School, where he taught US Government for
two years. From 1993-96 he worked for various Democratic candidates.
Lindsey graduated from Columbia Central High School in 1989, and received
a degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of North
Alabama in 1994. He is a Tennessee native from Columbia (Maury County;
central Tennessee).
TEXAS
| State Director |
Geronimo Rodriguez |
(July-end of Sept/start of Oct.
2004 when he went to Colorado to serve as Base Vote Director) Earlier served
as an advisor for the Edwards for President primary campaign. Worked
on the Florida recount as lead lawyer at the West Palm Beach Legal Intake
Center, Nov.-Dec. 2000. Central Political Director on the Gore/Lieberman
campaign, responsible for supervision of approximately 20 paid employees
in over ten Central United States, July-Nov. 2000. Arizona Deputy
State Director/Political Director on Clinton/Gore 96, Fall 1996.
Field Director in Texas Friends of Bill Clinton headquarters, Jan.-March
1992. Rodriguez joined the law firm of Leonard Frost in May 2001,
after serving in a variety of government positions. Counsel to the
Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor, 1999-2001; Chief of Staff for
the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department
of Labor; in the White House Office of Congressional Affairs; and Deputy
Associate Director and later Acting Associate Director in the White House
Office of Presidential Personnel. He worked for former Texas Attorney
General Dan Morales, serving as a Legislative Liaison and later as an Assistant
Attorney General. Graduate of St. Edward's University, where he was
student body president; law degree from The University of Texas School
of Law. Son of migrant farmworkers; native of Alamo, Texas.
V
E R M O N T
| Coordinator |
Robyn Schmidek |
Schmidek has worked in the office
of Senator Patrick Leahy since 2001. She has been working on Democratic
campaigns in Vermont since 1998.
V
I R G I N I A
| State Director |
Susan Swecker |
Swecker also served as Kerry's
state director for the February 10 primary campaign. A DNC Member,
she served on the DNC's convention site advisory committee in 2001-02 and
was elected chair of the party's Southern Caucus at its February 2003 meeting.
She chaired the Gore for President campaign in Virginia in 2000 and chaired
the Virginia delegation to the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los
Angeles. Former executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Lives in Richmond.
W
A S H I N G T O N
| State Director |
Sam Rodriguez |
(announced late June 9, 2004,
arrived in state June 16, 2004) Rodriguez came to the campaign from
his position as senior advisor to California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.
Previously he worked as Chief Deputy Director of the Employment Development
Department (EDD), appointed by Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 31, 2000.
Before taking that position he served more than six years with the federal
government as the Assistant Director of Communications and Science Education
for the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science. He
earned his B.A. from the University of Texas.
W
E S T V I R G I N I A
| State Director |
Terri Giles |
On leave from Sen. Jay Rockefeller's
office, where she has served as a senior staffer since 1998.
Ad-hoc executive director of the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation,
a nonprofit organization founded by Rockefeller to spur economic development
in the State, 1993-96. Worked for former Gov. Gaston Caperton as
director of the Governor's Internship Program. Coordinated campaign
strategy for the West Virginia State Democratic Party during the 1992 election
cycle. Graduate of Concord College; pursued further studies
in history and politics at Kings College in London, England. Native
of Hinton.
W
I S C O N S I N
| State Director |
Richard J. Judge |
(announced June 17, 2004, officially
started June 28, 2004) A public affairs advisor with Foley &
Lardner's Public Affairs Practice Group. Judge previously served
as Political Director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. In 2002
he served as Field Director for the state’s Coordinated Campaign.
Judge has worked as a legislative aide and research assistant in both the
State Senate and Assembly, and as a senior policy analyst for Assembly
Democrats.
Also:
A
M E R I C A N S O V E R S E A S F O R
K E R R Y
| Founding
Chair |
Diana
Kerry |
| Executive
Director |
James
Brenner |
Copyright © 2004, 2005,
2006 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action