Dennis Kucinich-Campaign Organization
 
Kucinich for President Committee
Headquarters: 11808 Lorain Ave, First Floor, Cleveland, OH 
(this is the same building, although not the same floor where Kucinich had his 2002 re-election headquarters)
through Sept. 1, 2003
Campaign Manager Gary Jelinek
(announced as National Campaign Manager on June 25, 2003; previously served as California Coordinator for the campaign)  Jelinek managed Kucinich's first successful campaign, for Cleveland City Council in 1968.  He and Kucinich attended college and graduate school together.  After managing several political campaigns, Jelinek went on to spend 30 years in business and nonprofits.  Most recently, he was regional director of the nonprofit Rebuilding Together (formerly known as Christmas in April) which helps low-income homeowners. 
 
     Assistant to the Campaign Manager Suzanne Van Bebber
      (announced June 25, 2003; she was serving as Northern California Campaign Coordinator) 
      Has worked as coordinator of the Global Renaissance  Alliance's Peace Circles. 
 
 
Strategist Steve Cobble
Cobble volunteered for his first presidential campaign at the age of 20, running his home county in New Mexico for George McGovern.  He later served as political director and speechwriter for the National Rainbow Coalition, was National Delegate Coordinator for Jackson for President '88, and directed the Keep Hope Alive PAC.  Cobble has conducted election training workshops for the African National Congress in South Africa, served as a Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics, was once selected as a Young Political Leader in America, and is listed in Who's Who in America.  He served as executive director of the Arca Foundation.  In 2000 he was a senior strategist on the Nader campaign.
 
 
Communications Director Jeff Cohen
(from April 1, 2003)  Cohen founded FAIR, a national media watch group, in 1986.  He served as the group's executive director and later on its board of directors, and co-authored four books.  In May 2002 Cohen left FAIR to work at MSNBC, where he was senior producer and on-air contributor on "Donahue;" MSNBC ended the show in Feb. 2003.  Before launching FAIR, Cohen worked in Los Angeles as a journalist producing investigative articles and as an attorney for the ACLU.
 
Press Secretary David Swanson

 
Director of Operations Ellen Augustine Schwartz
(from June 2003)  Schwartz is an author, entrepreneur, former congressional candidate, and founder of several nonprofits. In her bid for Congress in Northern California in 1994, she garnered the most votes of anyone running against an incumbent on the West Coast.  She founded and led Invest in Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to providing mentors and scholarships to low-income youth.  She founded Healing Our Nation from Violence to raise public awareness about negative influences of the entertainment industry.  She has organized numerous Earth Day exhibitions, served on the Executive Committee of the Kauai Group of the Sierra Club, and was an Advisory Board member of Kauai Community Radio KKCR.  She is the co-author of "Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance."
 
 
National Fundraising Director Dan Spinner
(announced June 25, 2003)  Partner in LMI Enterprises; has 20 years experience in nonprofit, charitable and political fundraising.  He has been CEO for the Chopra Foundation and Senior Campaign Counsel for Esalen. He has held staff and leadership positions with United Way, and in healthcare and universities. He also has background in the labor movement.
 
 
 
Field Director Amy Hochadel
Worked on Kucinich's congressional staff as Special Projects Coordinator for the past four years, taking leaves of absence to run the field operation for his re-election campaigns.  Previously a union organizer for the AFL-CIO for four years; prior to that was a union organizer/community organizer for UNITE for one year in New Orleans.
 
Labor Liaison Greg Somerville
Former President and Business Manager of the Cleveland Municipal Light Workers, and an IBEW member, Somerville has known Kucinich since 1976.  He played a key role in the initial development of the campaign starting with discussions in Dec. 2002.  Somerville served as Director of Operations until June 2003. 
 
National Liaison for Colleges and Youth Jessica Davis
Graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a degree in international affairs.
 
 
 
 
 
Major Donor Fundraising Joe Bailer

 
National Representative Alan Zmija

 
Scheduler Claudia Jabo
Previously worked in Kucinich's district office.
 
 
National Co-Chair John Robbins
Author of Diet for A New America (1987), The Awakened Heart, Reclaiming Our Health, and The Food Revolution.  Robbins founded EarthSave International, an organization which seeks to promote a plant-based diet, in 1988.  He is the only son of the founder of Baskin-Robbins.  Robbins lives in the Santa Cruz area.
 

Key States:

I O W A
Iowa Field Coordinator John Friedrich
Midwest political director for Clean Water Action, from Aug. 2002.  Founder and executive director of Community Harvest, a Washington, DC non-profit, 1997-2002.  National political director of Clean Water Action, 1993-97.  Friedrich served as Illinois campaign manager for Harkin for President in 1991-92 and as a field organizer on Harkin's 1990 Senate campaign.  He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1987) and a native of Iowa City.
 
 

N E W   H A M P S H I R E

New England Campaign Coordinator (ME, VT, NH, MA) Trevor Elkins  no longer with the campaign
(started in this position beginning of May 2003, moved to NH in the second week in May)  Started with the campaign in Cleveland in February 2003 as assistant to Field Director Amy Hochadel.  Moved to Cleveland in 1995.  Elected to Palmyra-Macedon school board in New York at age 21. 
 
 

A R I Z O N A

State Director Kevin Spidel
Spidel earned his BA in Political Science from Arizona State University, Main Campus ’02.  He is active in many civic groups and is a third generation Arizonan.
 
 

O K L A H O M A

State Director Beth Skye
(Started September 1, 2003)  Skye has a background in small business, non-profit management and corporate training.  Her most recent emphasis has been on consumer education and health.  She first met Kucinich in 1986 in Cleveland while there on business. 

C A L I F O R N I A

Campaign Director for California Dotty Lemeiux

N E W   Y O R K

New York Regional Coordinator Chad Elson

 


Website: Initial design by Tree Media 
Group (Santa Monica, Calif.).

The campaign brought the website 
in house in early July 2003.  Karen Kilroy, 
who hails from Northeastern Ohio and has
20 years of experience in the tech field, 
is webmaster.
 
 

Former
Lisa Casini-National Media Coordinator
Stacey Vicari worked for a bit as National Fundraising Director-She founded Ideal Life™ and has been working as a personal coach in Louisville, Kentucky.  Named president of EarthSave International at age 27.  Founded an environmental/vegetarian non-profit organization.

Copyright © 2003  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action