political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
and media
consulting firm
A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ran ...
catering to
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
candidates and related causes. Formerly Axelrod and Associates, it is named after its four original partners: David Axelrod, John Kupper, David Plouffe, and John Del Cecato.
All four partners were staff members on
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 (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
campaign manager
{{Political campaigning
A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ...
, Axelrod as senior strategist, and Del Cecato as media advisor. Axelrod, who is personally close to Obama, left AKPD to serve as
senior advisor to the president
Senior Advisor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States. White House senior advisors are senior members of the White House Office. The title has been formally used since 1993.
Res ...
in the Obama administration and sold the firm to Kupper, Del Cecato and Larry Grisolano.
AKPD's advertising and strategy have been widely credited for significantly altering elections in their clients favor. ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' praised one of their most talked-about ads, "Dante", as "The Ad that Won the New York Mayor's Race" for
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
.
AKPD's offices are located in Chicago, Washington DC, and New York where it has recently expanded its presence by partnering with Bully Pulpit Interactive and Analytics Media Group. According to
OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
, AKPD was the 37th-ranked campaign vendor of the 2018 election cycle, receiving nearly $23.3 million from federal campaigns and political committees.
Notable clients
*
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 (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
2012 United States presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re ...
*
Bill de Blasio
Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
during the
New York City Mayoral Election, 2013
The 2013 New York City mayoral election occurred on November 5, 2013, along with elections for 2013 New York City Comptroller election, Comptroller, 2013 New York City Public Advocate election, Public Advocate, 2013 New York City Borough Preside ...
*
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
during the
2011 Chicago mayoral election
The city of Chicago, Illinois held a nonpartisan mayoral election on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Incumbent Mayor Richard Michael Daley, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 1989, did not seek a seventh term as mayor. Thi ...
*
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
John Edwards
Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
during the
John Edwards presidential campaign, 2004
The 2004 presidential campaign of John Edwards, U.S. Senator from North Carolina, began on September 16, 2003.
Background and announcement
In 2000, Edwards unofficially began his presidential campaign when he began to seek speaking engagements ...
*
Herb Kohl
Herbert H. Kohl (born February 7, 1935) is an American businessman and politician. Alongside his brother and father, the Kohl family created the Kohl's department stores chain, of which Kohl went on to be president and CEO. Kohl also served as a ...
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();2010 Ukrainian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 17 January 2010. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a run-off election was held between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych on 7 February.
On 14 ...
*
Francisco de Narváez
Francisco de Narváez Steuer (born 22 September 1953 in Bogotá), known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Unión PRO ballot in the 2007 ...
and
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right
political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...
during the
2009 Argentine legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Argentina for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third (24) of the seats in the Senate on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires and other municipalities.AKPD Congratulates Francisco de Narváez and the Union-PRO list for Stunning Victory , Official AKP&D website (July 8, 2009)
* Paul M. Simon during the United States Democratic Party Presidential Primaries, 1988Partial Client List , Official AKPD website
Buffy Wicks
Buffy Jo Christina Wicks (born August 10, 1977) is an American politician who serves in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she represents the 15th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Berkeley, Piedmont, Richmond, San P ...