Joel Benenson (born July 24, 1952) is an American pollster and consultant known for his role as a strategist for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He was the chief strategist for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

Early life

Benenson was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He grew up in

Laurelton, Queens Laurelton is a largely middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens and part of the former town of Jamaica. Merrick Boulevard, which bisects the community in a generally east–west direction, forms its commercial spine. It is b ...

and Manhattan with his family. He attended Andrew Jackson High School in the late 1960s. Benenson is a Queens College graduate.

Career

He is the CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, a strategic consulting firm, and served as a communications and polling advisor to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

for

. He has been a strategist for U.S. senators, governors and mayors, as well as Fortune 500 companies. He was a pollster for the DCCC in 2006, when the Democrats won back the majority in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. In 1995, he worked as a Political Journalist for the '' Daily News'' in New York and served as Communications Director for Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...

’s 1994 campaign. He was previously a vice president at the New York ad agency FCB. Benenson has served as a consultant to American companies and CEOs, including

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

’s

A.G. Lafley Alan George "A. G." Lafley (born June 13, 1947) is an American businessman who led consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble (P&G) for two separate stints, from 2000 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2015, during which he served as chairman, president ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

’s

Jack Welch John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. When Welch retired from GE, he receive ...

and AOL’s Bob Pittman. He has helped corporate clients. He was a strategic researcher for Procter & Gamble's launch of

Olestra Olestra (also known by its brand name Olean) is a fat substitute that adds no calories to products. It has been used in the preparation of otherwise high-fat foods thereby lowering or eliminating their fat content. The Food and Drug Administrati ...

, the fat substitute; he helped AOL manage its capacity crisis in the late 1990s and a New York City coalition block Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans for an Olympic stadium in Manhattan. Benenson is also the co-founder of iModerate Research Technologies. In January 2015,

hired Benenson and

Robby Mook Robert E. Mook (; born December 3, 1979) is an American political strategist. He was the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Mook worked on state campaigns and on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. He then ...

as strategists. The

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i Blue and White political alliance appointed Benenson as its strategist for the

September 2019 Israeli legislative election Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a ...

References

External links

Benenson Strategy Group
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benenson, Joel 1952 births 20th-century American Jews American political consultants Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign Living people New York (state) Democrats People from Laurelton, Queens Political campaign staff Pollsters Queens College, City University of New York alumni People from Manhattan Andrew Jackson High School (Queens) alumni American chief executives 21st-century American Jews