Ryan Keller
| Ryan Keller | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Location: | Des Moines, Iowa | ||
| Expertise: | Iowa politics | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Education: | •Grand View College •Drake University | ||
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Ryan Keller is a political strategist operating from the state of Iowa. He was the Iowa deputy state director for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[1] Previously, Keller worked on two U.S. House campaigns for Brad Zaun (R-Iowa), was an organizational director for Americans for Rick Perry and was the executive director of the Polk County (Iowa) Republicans.[2]
Career
In 2010, Ryan Keller worked as the political and organizational director for Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun's U.S. House campaign. Zaun won the primary election to represent Iowa's 3rd Congressional District as an underdog, according to The Iowa Republican: "Despite being outspent in a four-way Republican primary, Zaun cruised to victory largely on his strong name I.D. and reputation in Polk County."[3] Zaun lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Leonard Boswell.[4]
In the 2012 election cycle, Keller worked for Americans for Rick Perry, a 527 group unconnected to Perry's campaign that polled likely Iowa caucus voters in order to identify Perry supporters in the state."[5]
From 2011 to 2014, Keller was the executive director of the Polk County Republican Party, the largest county Republican Party in Iowa.[2] In this capacity, Keller oversaw a no-confidence resolution in the state party chair, A.J. Spiker. According to the Des Moines Register, the county party accused the state chair of "failing to work in the best interests of all Republicans statewide."[6]
Keller again worked with Zaun in 2014, this time as campaign manager for Zaun's U.S. House run.[2] Zaun won the most votes in the primary race but did not receive the required 35 percent for the outright nomination. According to The Iowa Republican, Zaun then lost the nomination in five rounds of voting: "Two weeks after the primary, 513 delegates met to nominate a candidate to face [Staci] Appel in [that] fall’s general election. Zaun led in the first four rounds of balloting, but he came up short in the fifth and final round of voting, losing out to David Young, the fifth place finisher in the primary."[7]
Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
On April 7, 2015, Ryan Keller joined Donald Trump's presidential exploratory committee as an Iowa advisor.[8] On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his bid for the presidency at Trump Tower in New York City.[9]
In March 2016, Keller confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that his contract with the Trump campaign had expired and that he no longer worked for the Trump campaign. He told the paper "he hadn’t 'put that much thought' into whether he would rejoin for the general election."[10]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ P2016, "Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.," accessed June 29, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 LinkedIn, "Ryan Keller," accessed June 29, 2015
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "Zaun's Poor Fundraising Performance Shakes Up Third District Race," April 17, 2014
- ↑ Washington Post, "Iowa election results 2010: Leonard Boswell defeats Brad Zaun in close race," November 2, 2010
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "Americans for Rick Perry Staffs Up and Surveys Iowa Republicans," July 9, 2011
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowa’s largest GOP county party calls for resignation of state chairman," September 24, 2013
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "Zaun Has Nobody to Be Upset With But Himself," July 7, 2014
- ↑ The Iowa Republican, "Trump Hires Three More Iowa Based Operatives," April 7, 2015
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Enters 2016 Presidential Race," June 16, 2015
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Clinton Digs In as Trump Moves On," March 28, 2016
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