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Doug Davenport
| Doug Davenport | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | Across the Aisle Music | ||
| Role: | Founder | ||
| Location: | Washington, D.C. | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Education: | University of Vermont | ||
| Website: | Official website | ||
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Doug Davenport is a lobbyist and political strategist who worked as a delegate strategist for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Davenport is self-employed, providing political strategy for corporations and working on his own record label, Across the Aisle Music.
Career
Early career
Davenport began his career as a lobbyist with Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, a lobbying firm run by Charlie Black as well as two advisors who joined Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. With Black Manafort, Davenport handled public affairs for hihg profile individuals and coporations, including American Airlines and Donald Trump. He also served as a travel aide to former President Richard Nixon (R) from 1993 to 1994. From 1996 to 2000, Davenport worked as the director of government relations for GTECH Corporation, a company that manufactures government-run lottery systems.[1]
DCI Group
In 2000, Davenport moved to DCI Group, a high-profile government affairs agency in Washington, D.C. Davenport founded the group's lobbying practice, DCI Associates; in this capacity, he began lobbying for his former company, GTECH.[2]
John McCain presidential campaign, 2008
During the 2008 election cycle, Davenport served as the regional campaign manager for the mid-Atlantic states on John McCain's (R) presidential campaign. He resigned In May 2008 after Newsweek reported that Davenport had represented the military junta in Myanmar while working as a lobbyist for DCI. The Atlantic reported that Davenport oversaw the contract with Myanmar and that DCI had been paid more than $300,000 in the deal.[3] Soon after resigning from the campaign, Davenport also left DCI.
Business career
According to Arlington Magazine, after leaving DCI Group, Davenport began "working out of his home and taking on clients himself, keeping a low enough profile that he didn’t even establish a Facebook or Twitter account." Those clients included NASCAR, for which he started a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization aimed at registering fans as voters in upcoming elections. He also started a rock label, Across the Aisle Music, and began hosting charity rock events in an underground rock club in his home's basement.[4]
In early 2016, Davenport was hired to plan events for both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. In January, he told Politico that many large companies were still figuring out how they would participate. Davenport said, "Everyone is freaking out, and it’s fun to watch. It’s the most upside-down, bizarre cycle I’ve seen in 25 years. But at the end of the day, people are going to have to figure out how to work on either side of the political equation."[5] One event Davenport had planned for the Republican National Convention was a performance "by the Royal Machines, a Hollywood rock group that has performed with Steven Tyler, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne and others."[6] During 2016, Davenport also began lobbying for hedge fund investors who were "against the bill to restructure Puerto Rico's debt," according to Politico.[7]
Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
Davenport joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign in April 2016 as a strategist focused on delegates at the convention. In June 2016, NBC News reported that Davenport worked closely with delegate director Brian Jack and campaign chairman Paul Manafort to ensure delegate support.[8]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Across the Aisle Music, "Who We Are," accessed July 12, 2016
- ↑ Harper's, "McCain Cronies Hit Jackpot with Gtech," September 28, 2008
- ↑ The Atlantic, "A Second McCain Aide Resigns," May 11, 2008
- ↑ Arlington Magazine, "The Lobbyist and the Rock Club," May-June 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Companies worry Trump-led convention could hurt brands," January 28, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Draft Bloomberg PAC," February 2, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Puerto Rico investors hire Doug Davenport, Raben Group," April 19, 2016
- ↑ NBC News, "Trump Campaign Moves to Block Convention Coup," June 23, 2016
