Mitch Stewart is an American

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

organizer.

Early life and education

Stewart grew up in

Vermillion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It is ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. Stewart earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship univ ...

, where he also minored in Chemistry. He worked as a research assistant and staff assistant in Senator Tim Johnson's (D-SD) Senate office.

Career

2002

Stewart was a regional field director for the

Louisiana Democratic Party The Louisiana Democratic Party (french: Parti démocrate de Louisiane) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Louisiana. Dominated by the conservative planter elite through much of the 19th century, the party was historically pr ...

during Senator

Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasure ...

's 2002 run-off campaign. He had the same job as a regional field director for the

South Dakota Democratic Party The South Dakota Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of South Dakota. History 1914 was a milestone for the Democrats when they won South Dakota's first U.S. Senate election by popular vote with their first ...

during Senator Tim Johnson's 2002 re-election campaign. This led him to meet many of the people he would later work with 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, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's presidential campaign in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2004

Stewart worked on the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

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 ...

for President campaign in the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

caucuses A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

where he served as a regional field director for Eastern Iowa. In the same year, he worked as field director for Senator

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

in Daschle's unsuccessful bid for re-election.

2008 presidential campaign

For the Obama for America campaign, Stewart was the director of field operations in the

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots, ...

, where the candidate's first place win established him as a serious challenger to then front-runner

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 ...

. He served as state director for Obama's primary campaign in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He later headed the campaign's

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

operation in the general election. Obama's victory there marked the first time since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

that Virginia's electoral votes went to a Democratic presidential candidate.

2012 presidential campaign

Stewart served as Battleground States Director for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. He oversaw a state strategy and program that garnered victories in nine of the ten battleground states. In this role, he helped build what ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called "a historic ground operation that will provide the model for political campaigns in America and around the world for years to come."

Later career

On January 23, 2009, it was announced that Mitch Stewart would serve as the first Director of

Organizing for America Organizing for America (OFA) is a community organizing project of the Democratic National Committee. Initially founded after the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, the group sought to mobilize supporters in favor of Obama's legislative p ...

. Organizing for America was formed as a spin-off organization of the

Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a ma ...

, officially established after the

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

. In 2019, he joined

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

's 2020 campaign for president as a field organizer. Stewart operates 270 Strategies, a digital strategy firm co-founded with

Jeremy Bird Jeremy Bird is an American political strategist who has worked for the political campaigns of Barack Obama. Early life and education Bird grew up in High Ridge, Missouri, and was raised Baptist. Bird attended Wabash College, graduating with a ...

References

External links

Announcement of launch of Organizing for America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Mitch Living people American political consultants People from Vermillion, South Dakota Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign Year of birth missing (living people)