Republican
Committees-Organization
2008 Edition
revised January 15, 2009
Republican National Committee
(see also states, John
McCain 2008
and Convention)
310 First Street, SE, Washington, DC
(The RNC is a
confederation
of state parties. Power flows from the local level up to the
national
level. The RNC is governed by the rules adopted at the last
convention.
In contract, the DNC often changes its rules between conventions.
In a sense, the RNC's lack of flexibility in changing its rules forces
it to look to the future rather than adjusting to the tides of the
moment).
|
National Convention
Every four years.
168 Members of the RNC
Meet twice
yearly.
1 Committeeman, 1 Committeewoman and 1 Chairperson from each
state.
Committee members terms run from Convention to Convention.
(Formerly
165 Members -- increased with the addition of three Members from the
Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands).
|
|
Executive Committee (28
members)(Rule
6)
Sounding board for
the Chair.
Decisions between meetings of the full RNC.
8 by Region MW, NE, S, W
3 Chair
Appointments
17 Elected and
Appointed
Officers -
Chairman, Co-Chair,
Vice
Chairs, Treasurer, Secretary; General Counsel, Finance Chairman,
Chairman
of State Chairmen's Advisory Comm., Chairman of the Budget Committee,
Chairman
of the Rules Committee. |
ELECTED OFFICERS
(Elected Jan. 20,
2007)
With his wife, Duncan is principal owner of two community banks,
Community
Holding Co. and Inez Deposit Bank, with five offices in eastern
Kentucky.
Upon being elected chairman he was serving his fourth term as an RNC
Committeeman
from Kentucky. Confirmed as General Counsel of the Republican
National
Committee in July 2002 and January 2005. Previously elected
Treasurer
of the RNC in January 2001. Has worked for Republican candidates for
local,
state and national office for over thirty years and served the party at
every level from precinct captain to county chairman to state chairman.
(Elected Jan. 19, 2005)
Bush-Cheney
’04 Ohio Valley Regional Campaign Chair. Member of the Ohio House
of Representatives for 20 years, including Speaker of the House from
1995-2000.
As Chairman of the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee from
1986-2000,
she spearheaded the successful effort to return the Republicans to the
majority in the Ohio House of Representatives in 1994, for the first
time
in 22 years. Chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party
Central
Committee for 25 years. Chairman of the Taft for Governor
campaigns
in 1998 and 2002. Resident of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
Neva Foley -
Previously worked in the political department on John McCain 2008
(through 2007). Northeast deputy regional political director at
the RNC, 2005-06. NH Victory/Bush-Cheney campaign in Fall
2004. Graduate of American University.
8 Vice Chairs - Elected from the
four regions
California.
APPOINTED
| General Counsel |
Blake Hall |
Idaho. Active in the
Republican
Party at the local, state, and national levels for more than two
decades,
including service as Chairman of the Committee on Credentials for the
1996
and 2004 Republican National Conventions and as the Sergeant at Arms
for
the 2000 Republican National Convention. He is currently a
partner
at Anderson, Nelson, Hall and Smith.
| Chairman, State
Chairmen |
Jim Herring |
(announced March 20,
2007)
Currently is chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party and a partner
at Herring, Long and Crews, P.C. He has served as a judge on the
Mississippi Court of Appeals and was a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve
JAG Corps for 25 years.
(Rule
10 committees)
| Chairman, Finance
Committee |
Dwight Schar |
(Announced March 10, 2005;
nomination
confirmed by the full RNC at the 2005 Summer Meeting) Resident of
McLean, Virginia. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer
of NVR, Inc., the sixth largest homebuilder in the United States.
Longtime philanthropist for children’s charities and an instrumental
figure
in the higher education community. Mr. Schar has also been
appointed
to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy
Center.
Do
not have to be an RNC member to serve on the Finance Committee.
| Standing
Committee on Rules |
Chairman: David Norcross (NJ) |
(56 members - 1 from each
state)
| Resolutions
Committee |
Chairman:
|
(9 members - 1 appointed
by
the Chairman and 2 elected from each region)
| Budget Committee |
Chairman: Ron Kaufman (MA) |
(11 members - 3 appointed
by
the Chairman, 4 elected from the regions, 4 ex officio: Chair,
Co-Chair,
Treasurer, Chairman of the Finance Committee)
(60-plus members including
1
from each state)
| Committee on the
Call |
Robert T. Bennett |
(8-plus members)
| Committee on
Contests |
Jim Herring |
(9 members - Chair
appointed
by the Chairman and 2 elected from each region)
STAFF
| Chief of Staff |
Anne Hathaway |
(announced Jan. 23,
2007)
Previously the RNC's Great Lakes Regional Political Director, started
in
2001. Prior to joining the RNC, she was Executive Director of the
Indiana House Republican Campaign Committee. Hathaway also served
Vice President Dan Quayle at the White House as Assistant to the Vice
President
and Director of Scheduling and Public Liaison and was Executive
Director
of his political action committee, Campaign America.
Deputy to the
Chief of Staff - Dan Iten
Previously a deputy regional
political director at the RNC. Regional field director in
Minnesota on Bush-Cheney '04. B.A. in political science from
Bethel College, 2003.
Starting in
March-April 2008 the RNC started building its Victory organization
| Victory Chairman |
Carly Fiorina |
(announced March 7,
2008)
President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and chairman
from
2000-05. Worked for 20 years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies,
where she held a number of senior leadership positions. B.A. in
medieval
history and philosophy from Stanford University, M.B.A. from the
University
of Maryland, and M.S. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Author
of Tough Choices: A Memoir.
| Victory Finance
Chairman |
Lew Eisenberg |
(announced March 7,
2008)
Extensive fundraising experience including as a national finance
co-chair
of John McCain 2008, a Pioneer on the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, RNC
finance
chairman from Jan. 2002-March 2003, and co-founder of the Team 100
program
for the RNC in 1998. Eisenberg also served as co-chairman of the
New York City Host Committee for the 2004 Republican National
Convention.
He is partner and co-founder, in 1990, of Granite Capital International
Group, an investment management company headquartered in New York
City.
Previously partner at Goldman Sachs. Chaired the Port Authority
of
New York and New Jersey from 1995 to Jan. 2002. Founded the
Republican
Leadership Council. Served on New York Gov. George Pataki’s
transition
team and was a key advisor to New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman.
2008 Victory Jewish
Coalition
(announced April 23, 2008)
Chair: House Chief Deputy
Whip Eric Cantor
Co-Chair: Fred Zeidman
State
Victory Finance Chairs (announced April 25, 2008)
| RNC Deputy
Chairman |
Frank Donatelli |
(announced March 7,
2008)
Executive Vice President and Director of Federal Public Affairs for
McGuireWoods
Consulting. Partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld,
L.L.P.,
1995-2001. Partner at Bond and Donatelli, 1989-95.
Assistant
to President Reagan for Political and Intergovernmental Affairs,
1987-89.
Deputy Assistant to the President for Public Liaison at the White
House,
March 1984-May 1985. Director of the Africa Bureau at Agency for
International Development, 1983. Attorney at Patton, Boggs and
Blow,
1981-83 and 1985-87. Regional political director on Ronald Reagan
for President, 1979-80. Campaign director on James A. Baker III
for
Attorney General of Texas, 1978. Executive director of Young
Americans
for Freedom, 1973-77. J.D. from American University, 1976; B.A.
from
University of Pittsburgh, 1971.
| Senior Advisor
for Political
Operations |
Mike DuHaime |
(announced March 7,
2008)
Previously executive director of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential
Committee
starting end of 2006. Political director at the RNC, started in
January
2005. Northeast regional political director for Bush-Cheney
'04.
Prior to the campaign served as executive director of the New Jersey
Republican
Party starting in January 2002. Has his own political consulting
firm, DuHaime Communications, Inc., which he formed in 2001.
Deputy
campaign manager of Bob Franks' 2000 Senate campaign. Graduate of
Livingston College, Rutgers. From Hoboken, NJ.
National Victory
Director
|
Michael Beach
|
Political/72 Hour director at the Nevada Republican Party. Program
analyst at the U.S. General Services
Administration. 72 Hour field coordinator at
Ohio Republican Party/Bush-Cheney campaign. Graduate of the Ohio
State University.
Deputy Victory Director
|
Rick Oettinger
|
Accounts payable manager on Rudy
Giuliani's presidential campaign. Special assistant at the U.S.
Department of the Interior. Special assistant at the RNC.
Graduate of
West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 2006.
State
Victory Directors
also note: McCain-Palin
Victory 2008
| Political Director |
Rich Beeson |
(announced Jan. 23,
2007)
At the RNC from 1997 to 2005, Beeson worked as an RNC regional
political
director and regional finance director for the Western region.
Previously
national field director for Americans Back in Charge and was the
organizational
director of two statewide campaigns in his home state Colorado.
| Deputy Political
Director |
Jessica Ennis |
(announced Feb. 27,
2007)
Joined the RNC in May 2005 as the Southeast Regional Finance
Director.
Prior to joining the RNC, Ennis was the Victory 2004 executive director
in North Carolina. Campaign manager for former Congressman Bill
Cobey’s
gubernatorial bid in 2003-04, and before that she spent four and a half
years as the finance director (and Victory 2002 Executive Director) at
the North Carolina Republican Party. She worked on Congressman
Walter
Jones’ re-election campaign in 1998, and in 1996, Ennis started her
career
in politics as the executive director of the Pitt County Republican
Party.
Regional
Political Directors
Northeast: Randy Bumps - (from
2005) Bush-Cheney '04 Maine executive director. Previously served
as state director for Sen. Susan Collins, overseeing her state
offices.
Deputy campaign manager on Collins' 2002 re-election campaign.
Earlier
served as a regional field representative for Collins in Augusta, and
in
western Maine for then-Senator Bill Cohen. Served three terms as
a State Representative, elected in 1996 and re-elected in 1998 and
2000.
Graduate of Bates College with a degree in Political Science,
1995.
From Minot, Maine.
Mid-Atlantic: John Gibson - (announced
Feb. 27, 2007) Previously executive director of the Maryland
Republican
Party. Other experience includes campaign manager for Rep. Tom
Davis
(R-VA), campaign manager for David Albo for Delegate and senior
legislative
assistant for Rep. Felix J. Grucci (NY-1).
Midwest/Northern Plains: Sue
Forrester
- (announced
Feb.
27, 2007) Came to the RNC from position as director of political
affairs
for Associated Builders and Contractors. Victory 2004 director at
the RNC. Senior account executive for the Republican voter
contact
firm of Feather Larson & Synhorst where she drafted and implemented
voter contact plans for campaigns at all levels. Director of
operations
for the RNC political department in 2001 and the RNC's western regional
field coordinator in the 1998 cycle. She has additional
experience
working as a campaign training coordinator for the NRCC, with the
Nevada
Republican party and helping to manage a congressional campaign.
Graduate of Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Political Science, 1994.
Great Lakes: Christopher McNulty - (announced
Feb. 27, 2007) Executive director of the
Ohio
Republican Party from 2001 through the 2006 cycle. "Ohio Bush Red
Team," 2003-04. Political director for the Ohio Republican Party,
1997-2000. Northeast Ohio field director for the Ohio Republican
Party, 1996-97. Southeast Ohio field director for the Ohio
Republican
Party, 1995-96. Graduate of John Carroll University (Cleveland),
1992.
Southeast: Clint Reed - Previously
executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas; executive
director
of the 2004 Victory Committee. Legislative Director for the
Republican
Party of Arkansas. Worked on Sen. Hutchinson’s 2002 re-election
campaign.
Executive Assistant to Sen. Tim Hutchinson, 2001-02. Native of
Arkansas.
Southwest: Jay McCleskey -
In 2004, McCleskey ran the RNC's successful Victory operation in New
Mexico.
Prior to that, he served as executive director for the Republican Party
of New Mexico and as campaign manager for John Sanchez's 2002 bid for
Governor.
McCleskey has worked on political campaigns at all different levels,
including
managing the campaign that defeated the longest-serving Speaker of the
New Mexico State House in 2000.
Northwest: Tricia Pearson
- (announced
May 2008) Senior advisor in the U.S. Small Business
Administration's Office of Entrepreneurial Development. Served as
acting chief of staff to Sen. George Allen of Virginia. Western
political director at the
National Republican Senatorial Committee2003-04. Started in politics in
the office of Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana, first as a field
representative for
Friends of Conrad Burns, then district scheduler, and eventually
campaign manager for Sen. Burns in 2000.
Executive director of the Montana Republican Party, 1997-99. B.A. in
political science from the University of Montana in
1994.
Director of State
& Local Development
|
Shannon
Reeves
|
Served as director of the GOP's
African American Leadership Council. Secretary of California
Republican Party; also served as president of the NAACP branch in
Oakland. Graduate of Grambling State University, 1991.
G O V E R N M E
N T A F F A I R S
| Director of
Government
Affairs |
Will
Kinzel
|
(announced Jan. 8, 2008) For
the year prior to being promoted to this position, Kinzel served as
Associate Counsel for the
RNC, where he worked on contract and
trademark law issues as well as compliance with applicable federal and
state campaign finance laws. Prior to joining the RNC, Kinzel was
a manager, government affairs, for Case New Holland, focusing on
Federal
legislative issues as well as international business development
opportunities. J.D. from The George Washington
University Law School in 2006 and a B.A. from Gettysburg College in
1996.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
| Communications
Director |
Danny Diaz |
Deputy communications
director
on Sen. McCain's 2008 presidential campaign (January 2007; resigned
July
16, 2007). Deputy communications director at the RNC, announced
Feb.
9, 2005. (Overseeing the RNC’s regional media efforts).
Regional
wpokesperson for the Southwest and Mountain States for Bush-Cheney
’04.
Deputy press secretary for the National Republican Congressional
Committee
(NRCC). He has also worked for several public relations firms in
the Washington, DC area.
| Deputy
Communications Director |
Brian Walton
|
Previously Walton served as RNC
director of media affairs. Prior to that, Walton served as deputy
press secretary for the NRSC. He was also detailed to the White
House as an associate director of communications focusing on media for
the Iraq war, and spent time at the Commerce Department, where he
served as a public affairs specialist under Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez. Walton was both the director of radio and the director
of TV for the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign.
| Press Secretary |
Alex Conant |
Midwest regional spokesman in the
White House Office of Media
Affairs.
Aide to Josh Bolten at the Office of Management and Budget.
Worked
for Sen. John Thune (R-SD).
| Deputy Press
Secretary |
Amber Wilkerson
|
Previously, Wilkerson served as RNC
regional press secretary for the Southeast. Prior to joining the
RNC, Wilkerson served as the deputy communications director for Lynn
Swann’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign in Pennsylvania. Wilkerson
has also worked as the press secretary for the House Committee on
Homeland Security, and served in the Office of Public Affairs at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security for former Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge.
Regional Press Secretaries
West - Bill Riggs
(and ?Director of Radio) Previously an account
representative at DCI Group. Graduate of Davidson College.
Northeast - Blair Latoff
(started early Dec.
2007) Worked as a staff assistant, press assistant and most
recently asdeputy press secretary to the Senate Judiciary Committee and
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) starting in the latter part of 2005.
From Pennsylvania.
Southeast - Katie Wright
Midwest
- Chris Taylor
| Associate Press
Secretary |
Moira Bagley
|
(started in Jan. 2008)
Previously a copy editor at Roll Call, starting in April 2005.
Copy/production editor at the Gazette Newspapers. Graduate of the
University of Kentucky, 2003.
| Director of
Outreach Communications |
Andeliz
Castillo
|
(started in Jan. 2008) Legislative
assistant and scheduler at the Office of Congressman Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, 2005-07. B.A. in political science and Hispanic
studies from Brown University, 2007.
Director of Media
Affairs
|
Pat Royal |
| Director of
Research/Deputy
Communications Director |
Shawn Reinschmiedt |
(announced Feb. 27,
2007)
Previously served as Deputy Research Director at the RNC for the 2006
election
cycle and, in 2004, as Senior Analyst responsible for compiling
opposition
research on potential Democrat vice presidential candidates.
Reinschmiedt
has also served as a summer law clerk for then-U.S. Attorney Robert
S.Mueller,
III, in San Francisco, CA.
| Deputy Research
Director |
Jim
Landry |
eC A M P A I G N
| eCampaign Director |
Cyrus Krohn |
(reported by Politico's
Ben Smith in June 2007; announced July 18, 2007 "oversee
the RNC’s website, all online strategic communications, and constituent
outreach. He will be responsible for the introduction of new
technologies
and multimedia to continue to expand the GOP’s Internet efforts.")
Prior
to joining the RNC Krohn worked for two years as director of content
production
and election strategy at Yahoo! in Santa Monica. Worked for nine
years at Microsoft, starting in 1996 as the second hire on Slate
magazine and rising to become publisher of Slate in July 2002
and
later executive producer of MSN Video. Produced programs for
CNN's
Crossfire and Larry King Live. Worked in the White House for Vice
President Dan Quayle in the Office of Administration and Special
Projects
from 1991-92.
| Deputy eCampaign
Director |
Todd van Etten |
(May 2007) Previously special
assistant to the Counselor at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Worked on the eCampaign in the latter half of 2006.
Editorial/correspondence intern at Townhall.com. Worked on the
Tarrant for Senate 2006 campaign in Vermont. B.A. in political
science and philosophy from the University of Vermont, 2006.
| Associate
eCampaign
Director |
Brian Athey |
After graduating worked
freelance. B.A. in graphic design from Louisiana State
University, 2006.
| Online
Communications
Director |
Liz Mair
|
(started Dec. 2007) Previously
worked as a self-employed political consultant. Worked on several
campaigns in England. Lawyer at Macfarlanes in London.
University of St. Andrews and The College of Law.
S T R A T E G Y A N
D D A T A
data
operations,
including the National Voter File and Voter Vault.
| Director of
Strategy |
Bill Steiner |
(announced July 20,
2007)
A veteran of the RNC, having served during three Presidential campaign
cycles. Deputy director of strategy starting in 2005.
Deputy
IT director, 2000-04. Director of the Political Analysis
Department,
1996-2000. B.A. from Colgate University. Steiner
hails
from Pennsylvania.
| Deputy Strategy
Director
for Political Technologies |
Chad Barth |
(announced July 20, 2007)
As
Director of Voter Vault, Barth has been working on improving the
program
to create better efficiencies for volunteers, state parties, candidates
and staff by leveraging new technologies. Joined the RNC in Nov.
2003 as the Voter Vault Coordinator. Barth served as organization
director for the Republican Party of Iowa, 1999-2002. He was state
chair
of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans and is a graduate of Iowa
State University, 2000.
Deputy Director
of Voter Vault
|
Jon Black
|
(started in this position in May
2008; previously a regional Voter Vault coordinator, starting in April
2007) Worked on the Rhode Island Victory campaign in 2006, IDing
and mobilizing likely voters in the U.S. Senate race. Graduate of
Allegheny College.
| Deputy Strategy
Director
for List Development |
Dan Perkins |
(announced
July 20,
2007)
A longtime RNC employee, Perkins joined the Committee in 1991 as a
Political
Analyst. In 1998, he became List Development Director and has
since
been
responsible for the RNC’s list acquisition efforts.
| Director of
Network Operations |
Dirk Eyman |
Returned to the RNC as director of
network operations in Jan. 2005. IT director at Bush-Cheney '04,
June 2003-Dec. 2004. A network architect at the RNC, June
2000-June 2003.
F I N A N C E
| Finance Director |
Gretchen Purser |
(announced March 23,
2007)
President of The Purser Company. Vice president for federal
affairs
at Century Strategies (Ralph Reed's firm). directed the RNC's
Annual
Gala in 2005 and 2006; directed the annual Presidential dinner hosted
by
the Republican Governor’s Association, 2004; executive director for the
House-Senate Dinner (now known as The President’s Dinner), 1999-2003;
coordinated
the RNC's Convention Gala in 2000; served on the 2000 Presidential
Inaugural
Committee. Director of development for the Christian
Coalition.
Oklahoma native.
| Deputy
Finance Director |
Debbie
LeHardy |
Debbie
LeHardy and Associates. University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
| Director of Membership Services |
Sue
Gazdo |
[low dollar donors]
A D M I N I S T R A T I O N
| CFO/Director of
Administration |
Jay Banning |
Banning
has been CFO/Director of Administration since 1983. Comptroller
at
the RNC, 1981-83. Director of Acoounting at the RNC,
1976-81.
Prior to joining the RNC he worked for two years as a staff accountant
at Ted Jones and Company, C.P.A. in Rehoboth Beach, DE. B.S.
degree
in Accounting and Business Administration from Madison College in
Harrisburg,
VA, 1973; A.S. from Brandywine College in Wilmington, DC, 1971.
| Director of
Building Services |
|
M E M B E R E V E N T
S
A N D R E L A T I O N S
| Director of
Member Relations |
Tricia Weir |
("liaison
between the RNC and the RNC National Committee Members"...announced May
7, 2007) Most recently Manager of the ACSPA-Surgeons PAC
(American
College of Surgeons Professional Association). Served as Director
of External Affairs for the RNC Finance division and Executive
Assistant
to Deputy Chairman Jack Oliver. On the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign
she
served as Special Assistant to National Finance Vice Chairman Jack
Oliver.
Weir also has worked for Congressman W. Todd Akin (MO-2) both on his
campaign
and as his staff assistant in his Washington, D.C. office.
L E G A L
| Chief Counsel |
Sean Cairncross |
(announced March 23,
2007)
RNC deputy counsel since 2004. Previously a litigation associate
at the Washington D.C. law firm Covington & Burling. J.D.
from
NYU in 2001, M.Phil. from Cambridge University in 1998, and B.A. from
American
University in 1997.
| Deputy Counsel |
Heather Sidwell |
(focuses on policy and
litigation
issues involving election law reform, and federal and state election
law
compliance for the national party) Prior to joining the RNC,
Sidwell
was an Associate in the Washington, D.C. office of McDermott Will &
Emery LLP. She also previously served as a Legislative Specialist and
Law
Clerk at Covington & Burling LLP. J.D. from American
University
in 2005, and her B.A. from Denison University in 1996.
| Associate Counsel |
Jennifer Sheehan |
(primary focus is on
internal
RNC issues, including the Rules of the Republican Party and the
Republican
National Convention; also assists on federal and state election law
matters)
Prior to joining the RNC, Sheehan served as Deputy Chief of Staff for
the
Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Finance and Administration Cabinet.
J.D.
from the University of Kentucky in 2005 and her B.A. from Centre
College
in 2000.
| Director of Staff and
Special Projects |
Valerie Phillips |
| Of Counsel/Senior
Legal
Advisor |
Tom Josefiak |
(announced March 23,
2007)
RNC Chief Counsel in the 2005-06 cycle. General Counsel for Bush
Cheney '04. Started at the RNC Counsel's Office in Feb.
1992.
Appointed by President Reagan as a commissioner on the Federal Election
Commission in 1985 and served a six-year term. Special deputy to
the Secretary of the Senate, representing the Secretary at the FEC,
1981-85.
Special Counsel to the Minority of the Committee on House
Administration,
1977-79. Counsel to the NRCC, 1977-80. Legislative
Assistant
to Congressman Silvio Conte (R-MA). J.D. from Georgetown
University.
Undergraduate degree from Fairfield University in Connecticut.
Native
of Adams, MA.
"McCain-RNC political operation plans to
be running in 17 states, with 76 "Victory Centers," 94 regional and
state campaign staffers and 145 RNC staffers." -Liz Sidoti, The
Associated Press, ea. June 2008. note 12/08 upgrading this section
2007 edition
| Copyright
© 2008, 2009 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action |
|