Hari Sevugan (born 1974) is the former national press secretary for the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

. He served as the senior spokesman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign. According to one report "Sevugan's sound bytes were often pithy, biting and memorable." Another report is more direct, noting during the 2008 campaign Sevugan always gave out "the press office's harshest lines." He is currently one of the Principals at Chicago-based advocacy firm 270 Strategies. In June, 2011, Sevugan left his position with the DNC to become the Vice President of Communications for

StudentsFirst StudentsFirst is a political lobbying organization formed in 2010 by Michelle Rhee, former school chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools, in support of education reform. The organization worked to pass state laws on issues such as expandin ...

, an education reform organization founded by Michelle A. Rhee, former

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

. He resigned his position in 2012 amidst reports of political differences. Sevugan grew up in the suburbs of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

after moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with his family from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1977. He majored in political science at

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, and received a JD from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 2001. In 2003, he left his legal practice at Neal, Gerber and Eisenberg. He then joined the John Edwards campaign for president. Later he served in the political campaign for Dan Hynes against

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

in the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat from Illinois. Prior to his career in politics, Sevugan was a middle school teacher at I.S. 143 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he once dyed his hair blond in front of the entire school after losing a bet with his students. In August 2019, Sevugan joined the campaign of presidential candidate

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...

as deputy campaign manager for brand and media.

References

1974 births Indian emigrants to the United States Living people Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni American politicians of Indian descent {{US-poli-bio-stub American people of Indian Tamil descent People from Devakottai