Lis Smith
| Lis Smith | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | 50 State Communications | ||
| Role: | Co-founder | ||
| Location: | New York, N.Y. | ||
| Affiliation: | Democrat | ||
| Education: | Dartmouth College | ||
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Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York.[1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign.[2] Smith previously worked on campaigns for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). In 2018, she served as the political press coordinator for Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.[3]
Career
Lis Smith began working on campaigns shortly after graduating from Dartmouth College. She was a field representative in South Dakota for then-Sen. Tom Daschle's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2004 and press secretary for Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Mo.) first campaign in 2006.[4]
In 2012, Smith was the rapid response director for Barack Obama's (D) presidential campaign. During the campaign, Forbes considered her one of "the essential people to follow on Twitter," saying:[5]
| “ | The Obama campaign’s director of rapid response, Lis Smith, is not afraid to take the gloves off on Twitter. She uses her feed to, well, rapidly respond to the news. Smith also gets points for interacting. She often mentions others in her tweets and sometimes gets into multiple tweet disputes with people she disagrees with, which are always fun to watch.[6] | ” |
The New York Times noted that Smith's rapid response tweets "were a big reason that the campaign was able to define Mitt Romney before he could define himself."[4]
After the Obama campaign, Smith moved to Eliot Spitzer's run for Controller of New York City.[7] When Spitzer lost the primary election, she was hired on the communications team for Bill de Blasio's New York City mayoral campaign.[8] On the de Blasio campaign, Smith worked with campaign manager Bill Hyers, the campaign manager for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign.
Smith managed communications for de Blasio throughout the campaign and in his transition to office; she was slated to do the same when de Blasio took office. However, in the transitioning period, Phil Walzak was hired to run press operations for de Blasio's office.[4]
Martin O'Malley presidential campaign, 2016
According to the Washington Post, Lis Smith began working with Martin O'Malley in 2011 during "the first part of his tenure as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association."[9] In January 2013, Politico reported that Smith had joined O'Malley's political action committee, O'Say Can You See PAC.[10] O'Malley announced his presidential run on May 30, 2015.[11] Smith, who worked as a spokesperson for the PAC since her hire in 2013, then transitioned to the role of deputy campaign manager.[12]
O'Malley suspended his presidential campaign on February 1, 2016.[13]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 50 State LLC, "50 State LLC Adds Communications Arm," August 15, 2016
- ↑ P2016, "O'Malley for President," accessed June 19, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Buttigieg's campaign considering copying McCain bus tour strategy," April 29, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 New York Times, "A Tabloid Bashing, and a Lost Job With the Mayor," January 17, 2014
- ↑ Forbes, "Five Essential Obama Campaign Twitter Follows," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ New York Daily News, "Veteran Obama Rapid-Response Specialist Lis Smith Joins Eliot Spitzer's Campaign Team," July 29, 2013
- ↑ Capital New York, "De Blasio campaign adds Obama-Spitzer aide Lis Smith," September 23, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post, "With eye on 2016 White House bid, O’Malley has continued to hire PAC staff," November 20, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "Martin O'Malley Tells His Own Story," January 30, 2013
- ↑ The New York Times, "Martin O’Malley Announces Presidential Campaign, Pushing Image of Vitality," May 30, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "The power players behind Martin O'Malley's campaign," May 30, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "Martin O'Malley Suspends Presidential Campaign," February 1, 2016
