Patrick Ruffini is a Republican Party pollster and political strategist in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. He founded Engage, LLC, a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based political media firm, and now runs the political research and intelligence firm, Echelon Insights

Biography

Background

Ruffini grew up in France, Italy, and

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, and graduated high school in 1996 from

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cur ...

.Lightman, David (March 24, 1993)
Constituents Cool To Clinton's Budget
''Hartford Courant'' (report on 14-year-old Ruffini speaking at town hall in Greenwich for Congressman

Chris Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut. He is a member of the Republican Party. Shay ...

, criticizing the British health care system) He is a 2000 graduate of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

, and currently resides in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Career

Ruffini began blogging in 2001, and has been a front-page contributor for

RedState ''RedState'' is an American conservative political blog. Prior to 2017, it organized "RedState gatherings", a summer convention for conservative activists and grassroots political activism which featured many prominent public figures in conserv ...

and

Townhall.com Townhall is an American politically conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than 80 columns (b ...

. In the 2004 election, Ruffini served as webmaster for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Following the 2008 election, Ruffini co-authored the Rebuild the Party platform for Republican renewal. From 2005 to 2007, Ruffini served as eCampaign Director at the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in f ...

(RNC).Campaigns & Elections , Connecting all players in the world of politics
Politicsmagazine.com. Retrieved on October 31, 2010. In 2007, Ruffini founded Engage, LLC, a political media firm. In 2008, he co-founded The Next Right, a forum for the youth

conservative movement Conservative movement may refer to: *Conservatism in the United States, in politics *Conservatism, a political philosophy *Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious moveme ...

. Reihan Salam wrote in ''Atlantic'' in 2008 that Ruffini "looks poised to become one of the most influential Republican political strategists of his generation." He has authored a monthly "Digital Democracy" column for Townhall magazine, written for

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

, and appeared as a political analyst on

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

and

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United Stat ...

's Washington Journal. Ruffini's analysis of emerging political trends has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, PBS MediaShift, and Newsweek. In 2009, Ruffini and Engage helped develop the online political strategy for the

Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his corruption scandal and convi ...

campaign, who won the

2009 Virginia gubernatorial election The 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election took place in Virginia on November 3, 2009. The incumbent Governor, Democrat Tim Kaine, was not eligible to run due to term limits established by the Virginia Constitution, though others in the state's ...

. In 2010, Ruffini assisted on the Senate campaign of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election.Salam, Reihan (January 20, 2010)
Patrick Ruffini Matters
''National Review'' In 2013, he was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

in support of

same-sex marriage in the United States The availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state (Massachusetts) in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various court rulings, state legislation, and direct popular votes. States each ...

during the ''

Hollingsworth v. Perry ''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that re-legalized same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...

'' case.

Works

Articles

* *

References

External links

Engage LLC website
* *
Blog posts
at ''The Next Right'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffini, Patrick Living people University of Pennsylvania alumni Greenwich High School alumni American political writers American male non-fiction writers Washington, D.C., Republicans Place of birth missing (living people) 1978 births People from Greenwich, Connecticut American chief executives 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers American bloggers