Steven Elmendorf
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Steven A. Elmendorf is a lobbyist in
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 ...
, who was a senior advisor to House Democratic Leader
Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...
for 12 years, serving as his chief of staff after 1997. Elmendorf was also deputy campaign manager for U.S. Senator
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president.
PDF link) Web site for Brian Cave Strategies, Web page titled "Steven A. Elmendorf, President", accessed October 27, 2006
He, along with Republican Jack Oliver as his business partner, was previously president at
Bryan Cave Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (BCLP) is an international law firm with 31 offices worldwide. BCLP is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. BCLP states that it specializes in Real Estate, Tax, Finance, Corporate, Litigation & Corporate Risk and ...
Strategies L.L.C., a lobbying firm connected with the law firm, Bryan Cave LLP. Elmendorf later founded Elmendorf/Ryan LLC a government relations and strategic counseling firm he owns along with Jimmy Ryan which represents corporations, trade associations and non profit organizations. Elmedorf/Ryan employs an "all-star team of Democratic revolving-door
lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...
s . . . including former top aides to Democratic floor leaders
Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...
,
Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...
,
Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...
and
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
." He has been a frequent guest on television talk shows including ''
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'',
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's ''Capitol Report'',
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and
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’s ''
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''. He has lectured at the Institute of Politics at
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’s
John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
and at his alma mater,
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. Elmendorf is openly
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
.


Career

A
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native hailing from Summit, Elmendorf graduated from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in 1982 and began his career as a field organizer on the Mondale for President campaign. He was later chief of staff for U.S. Representative Dennis Eckart, and a staff aide to Senator
Brock Adams Brockman Adams (January 13, 1927 – September 10, 2004) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat from Washington, Adams served as a U.S. Representative, Senator, and United States Secretary of Transportation. He was forced to retire in ...
. Elmendorf joined Gephardt's staff in 1992 and became chief of staff in 1997. He managed the floor for House Democrats and designed the Democratic Caucus’ strategic response to issues including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the Clinton 1993 economic program, the Clinton effort to reform health care in 1994,
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, the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform and the Iraq war resolution. While in the leader's office, he was named every year by ''
Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...
'' newspaper as one of the 50 most powerful staff people on Capitol Hill. He managed four of Gephardt's successful campaigns for Democratic leader and organized the congressman's outside political activities at the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...
and at Gephardt's political action committee. Elmendorf was elected by the members of the House of Representatives as a minority officer of the House in the 105th, 106th and 107th Congress, entitling him to the same privileges as former members of the House. He served as chief of staff and senior advisor for Gephardt's 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. In 2004, as deputy campaign manager for Kerry's 2004 presidential bid, Elmendorf was the primary campaign liaison to U.S. senators, members of Congress, governors and mayors. He also supervised the field operations in 21 states and was on the strategic team involved in overall campaign planning and worked in the campaign's outreach to constituency groups and organized labor. In November 2011, Elmendorf was included on ''The New Republic's'' list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people.


2006 elections

In January 2006, Elmendorf was criticized vehemently by some left-wing Democratic bloggers when he was quoted in a
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
story as saying, "The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections. The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left."
Markos Moulitsas Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (; born September 11, 1971), often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos" ( ), is an American blogger who is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party pol ...
, head of the ''
Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...
'' blog, replied: "Here's notice, any Democrat associated with Elmendorf will be outed. The netroots can then decide for itself whether it wants to provide some of that energy and money to that candidate. There's nothing 'extreme left' with demanding Democrats act like Democrats, no matter how much these out-of-touch and self-important beltway insiders think it is." Also in 2006, Elmendorf gave his support to U.S. Senator
Joe Lieberman's Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage, based on the novel ''Joe'' (1991) by Larry Brown * Joe (2023 film), an Indian film * ''Joe'' (TV ser ...
independent re-election bid after Lieberman lost the Democratic primary. Elmendorf was listed on Lieberman's campaign Web site as part of the "national chapter" of "Dems for Joe."
Lieberman for Senate Web site, Web page titled "Dems for Joe!", accessed October 27, 2006


See also

Lobbying in the United States Lobbying in the United States is paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is of ...


Notes


See also

*David E. Rosenbaum, "A Gephardt Staff Member Finds a New Home", New York Times, January 25, 2004


External links



Elmendorf Strategies, LLC Web site

Bryan Cave Strategies Web site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmendorf, Steve American lobbyists American political commentators American campaign managers Pingry School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people