Washington, D.C.
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, 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 served as a United States House of Representatives, United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic ...
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 currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
, 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 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-doorlobbyists . . . including former top aides to Democratic floor leaders Harry Reid,
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic ...
,
Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House majority leader, House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat ...
and
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
's ''Capitol Report'',
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
’s '' Crossfire''. He has lectured at the Institute of Politics at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
’s
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
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 capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
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
Dennis Edward Eckart (born April 6, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Eckart, a member of the Democratic Party, represented Ohio's 11th congressional district from 198 ...
, and a staff aide to Senator Brock Adams.
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
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles of ...
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
Iraq war resolution
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,Roll Call'' 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 United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises ...
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'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
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, head of the '' Daily Kos'' 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 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 describes paid activity in which advocacy group, special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United Sta ...
Notes
See also
*David E. Rosenbaum, "A Gephardt Staff Member Finds a New Home", New York Times, January 25, 2004