Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

John Yob

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
John Yob
John Yob.jpg
Basic facts
Location:Grand Rapids, Mich.
Expertise:Coalition organizing
Affiliation:Republican
Education:University of Michigan


John Yob is a political strategist. He was the national political director and chief Michigan strategist for Rand Paul's 2016 presidential campaign.[1] He has formerly worked on presidential campaigns of John McCain in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012, as well as Rick Snyder's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races in Michigan and Mark Neumann's 2012 primary campaign for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Yob is also partner at Strategic National Consulting in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[2] His area of strategic expertise is "organizing coalitions for candidates at political conventions and party caucuses."[3]

In May 2024, the Republican Party of the U.S. Virgin Islands elected Yob to serve as the U.S.V.I. Republican Party chairman.[4]

Career

John McCain presidential campaign, 2008

Yob worked on John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, first as a Michigan state operative and eventually as Deputy Political Director. The campaign's senior national advisor, Mike Dennehy, credited Yob with McCain's primary election comeback and eventual nomination: "Needless to say, we pulled off the greatest political comeback in American history. John went above and beyond his duties, slept on the office floor for six months and led a very small political operation to victory."[5]

Rick Snyder Michigan gubernatorial campaigns, 2010 and 2014

See also: Rick Snyder

In 2010, Yob directed the successful gubernatorial campaign for Republican Rick Snyder in Michigan.[3] Yob was partially responsible for the campaign's most visible moment, a Super Bowl ad in Michigan that claimed, "Rick Snyder for Michigan. He’s One Tough Nerd."[6] In September 2010, Snyder released Yob from his campaign so Yob could work on other national campaigns. At the time, Snyder had a 20 point lead in the Michigan race.[7]

Yob was also the manager of Snyder's successful re-election campaign in 2014. This time, Yob and other strategists modified the campaign slogan, casting Snyder as "one successful nerd."[8]

Mark Neumann U.S. Senate campaign, 2012

See also: Mark Neumann

In 2012, Yob and Strategic National were hired to work on the U.S. Senate campaign for former Wisconsin Representative Mark Neumann (R). During the campaign, Yob worked with Chip Englander, director of Rand Paul's 2016 presidential campaign. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Yob's hiring indicated a more aggressive approach for the campaign. The paper quoted Saul Anuzis, a Republican national committeeman, as saying that Yob was "extremely effective at guerrilla warfare. His company is the best manipulator of the process."[9] Neumann lost the primary to incumbent Tommy Thompson.

Presidential election, 2016

Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016

See also: Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016

In July 2014, Yob joined RAND PAC, Rand Paul's leadership PAC, as a Michigan strategist.[1] At the time, according to the Wall Street Journal, RAND PAC backed "a number of candidates crucial to a GOP takeover of the Senate, including Cory Gardner in Colorado, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Steve Daines in Montana, Terri Lynn Land in Michigan and Joni Ernst in Iowa."[10] The PAC officially transitioned to Paul's presidential campaign in April 2015. Of Paul's candidacy, Yob stated: "The Republican Party is going to need to learn how to reach out to non-traditional Republican groups in order to win a national election again given the changing demographics in a post-Obama era. Senator Paul has the ability to inspire a new generation of conservatives, libertarians, and disaffected Democrats in states across the country. I am proud to join the team and look forward to building the strongest political operation in America."[1]

Paul suspended his presidential run on February 3, 2016.[11] After Paul suspended his campaign, Yob told reporters that he would not endorse another candidate immediately and suggested that Marco Rubio was not the candidate for Paul's base of supporters. He told The Detroit News, "Liberty-leaning voters have good options but will reject Marco Rubio because of his spending policies that would bankrupt the country and his ever changing positions on important issues."[12]

U.S. Virgin Islands delegate

See also: Presidential election in the U.S. Virgin Islands, 2016

Yob appeared on the ballot at the 2016 Virgin Islands caucus as a candidate to be an unpledged Virgin Islands delegate to the Republican convention. Yob and five other delegates—including his wife, Erica Yob—were elected on March 10, 2016.

On March 4, 2016, Yob's bid faced opposition from Caroline Fawkes, the supervisor of elections for the U.S. Virgin Islands. The supervisor ruled Yob ineligible to vote in the Virgin Islands caucus, claiming he had not established residency for 90 days before registering to vote. The ruling would have also made Yob ineligible to appear on the ballot, since candidates must be registered Republican voters.[13] Fawkes alleged in an email:[13]

“

Mr. Yob appeared at the St. John Elections Office in order to register to vote in early January. He was informed by the Elections Assistant, he has to reside in the Virgin Islands for ninety days before he can register. He informed the Elections Assistant, he arrived on the island a week before, which made him ineligible. He then took the information gained and travelled to the St. Thomas Elections offices and provided a falsified date within the parameters to meet the requirement.[14]

”

Fawkes also claimed to have a copy of a Facebook post indicating Yob moved to the Virgin Islands on December 28, 2015.[13]

On the day of the caucus, however, Yob obtained a restraining order from Judge Kathleen Mackay of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands that allowed him to vote, and therefore still appear on the ballot as a delegate candidate.[13] Said Yob:[13]

“

I appreciate the court granting this restraining order against the Board of Elections and look forward to participating in the caucuses and maintaining my rights as a voter. Voting rights is a bigger issue than John Yob or anyone else – it is a fundamental right that should not be infringed upon by biased officials.[14]

”

On March 22, 2016, a court partially ruled in favor of Yob on the question of his Virgin Island citizenship. The court ruled that there is no 90 day requirement for residency, but the matter of whether he is actually a Virgin Island citizen remained to be determined by the courts.[15]

Also on March 22, 2016, the Virgin Islands Republican Party disqualified the six U.S. Virgin Islands delegates elected at the territorial caucus based on a violation of party rules. According to the Virgin Island GOP chair's statement, delegates must confirm that they accept election in writing within five days of being elected, which according to Virgin Island GOP chair John Canegata, the delegates failed to do.[16] Yob responded in a prepared statement, saying, "The chairman is not a dictator and cannot unilaterally break the USVI GOP rules to hand select his preferred delegates. We are confident we will be properly certified (as delegates) by the certification committee."[17]

In early July 2016, however, the Republican National Committee's Committee on Contests reversed Canageta's decision and reinstated Yob and the original delegate slate. In a report on the conflict, the committee's chairman, Doyle Webb, wrote, "As became obvious in reading the parties’ venom-full submissions to this committee, this contest arises out of the months of contentious, unprofessional infighting that has been going on between some in the Virgin Islands party’s leadership, including its chairman, and certain contestants. Seemingly every week, news arises of more alleged misbehavior by both factions — including acts of assault, threats, defamation, fraud, subterfuge and misuse of party rules."[18]

Earlier in 2016, Yob published the book Chaos: The Outsider's Guide to a Contested Republican Convention. In the book, according to St. Thomas Source, Yob highlights the potential influence of delegates from U.S. Territories on the convention. The paper quoted Yob as saying,[19]

“ Uncommitted delegates are free agents at the convention and able to support the candidate of our choice on the first ballot and on important matters such as Rule 40(b) ballot access. This gives the Virgin Islands tremendous relevance at the national convention and uniting behind our delegation and party leaders is critical.[14] ”

Mitten News

In July 2017, Yob and his communications company, Mitten News, purchased three northern Michigan radio stations from Stone Communications. Yob told Crain's Detroit Business, "Conservative consumers are fed up with the biased news coming out of much of the mainstream media and therefore conservative talk radio is a good investment at this time."[20]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 RAND PAC, "National Political Director and Michigan RANDPAC Chief Strategist Announcement," July 28, 2014
  2. ↑ P2016, "Rand Paul for President, Inc.," accessed May 14, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Detroit News, "Snyder victory mastermind joins Rand Paul's Campaign," April 8, 2015
  4. ↑ Virgin Islands Daily News, "Local GOP taps John Yob to serve as chairman of State Committee," May 7, 2024
  5. ↑ MLive Media Group, "Yob 'will always be a key part of the McCain Team,'" July 16, 2008
  6. ↑ Politico, "Snyder's Super Bowl ad: 'One tough nerd,'" accessed May 14, 2015
  7. ↑ MLive Media Group, "Polpourri: Rick Snyder releases local strategist John Yob," September 18, 2010
  8. ↑ The Michigan Daily, "From the Daily: One successful nerd?" September 29, 2013
  9. ↑ Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, "Neumann hires controversial political consultant," May 10, 2012
  10. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Sen. Rand Paul Hires John Yob Ahead of Potential 2016 Bid," July 28, 2014
  11. ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul dropping out of White House race," February 3, 2016
  12. ↑ The Detroit News, "Paul aide tells libertarian GOPers to avoid Rubio," February 4, 2016
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Talking Points Memo, "What The Heck Is Going On With The Virgin Islands Republican Party?" March 10, 2016
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  15. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Fighting intensifies in USVI over Republican delegates," March 23, 2016
  16. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Chaos In Virgin Island GOP Continues As Controversial Delegates Are Disqualified," March 22, 2016
  17. ↑ MLive, "John Yob, political consultant elected in Virgin Islands, ruled ineligible by GOP 'dictator'," March 23, 2016
  18. ↑ The Detroit News, "Mich. native wins contentious bid for GOP delegate seat," July 3, 2016
  19. ↑ St. Thomas Source, "Contested New V.I. GOPers Win Three National Convention Slots," March 11, 2016
  20. ↑ Crain's Detroit Business, "GOP strategist buys talk radio stations," July 23, 2017
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=John_Yob&oldid=10105475"