Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.

Sam Fischer

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Sam Fischer
Sam Fischer.jpg
Basic facts
Organization:Meridian Central Public Affairs
Role:Owner and partner
Location:Omaha, Neb.
Education:University of Nebraska-Lincoln
(B.S., Criminal Justice)



Sam Fischer is owner and partner of Meridian Central Public Affairs in Omaha, Nebraska.

  • Fischer founded Meridian Central, a subsidiary of the national consulting firm Meridian, in 2005.[1]
  • He was the chief operating officer of the pro-Ben Carson (R) super PAC, Our Children's Future, which merged with another Carson group in October 2015.[2][3]
  • Fischer has worked with the Republican Party of Nebraska and the Republican National Committee.

    • Career

    Early career

    Sam Fischer began his career in politics working at the state party level, first as a telemarketer for the Republican Party of Nebraska; he eventually moved to work as the party's finance director in 1992. Fischer served the same role for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 1997.[4]

    He helped Jon Christensen (R-Neb.) raise $1.8 million dollars in an unsuccessful primary bid to be the 1998 Republican candidate for Governor of Nebraska. From 1998 to 1999, Fischer was executive director of the Douglas County GOP in Omaha, Neb.[5] In 2001, he was a field representative for Progress for America, a 501(c)(4) organization.[6][5] From 2001 to 2005, Fischer was a regional finance director for the Republican National Committee.[7] While at the RNC, he was field director and get-out-the-vote director for the Bush/Cheney 2004 re-election campaign in Nevada.[5][1]

    Meridian Central Public Affairs

    In July 2005, he founded Meridian Central Public Affairs in Omaha, Nebraska.[1][4] He has worked on campaigns for former governor of Nebraska Dave Heineman (R), former Governor and U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R), and former U.S. Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.).[8] Fischer was also the campaign manager for David Kramer (R) in the primary election for U.S. Senate in Nebraska in 2005.[9]

    In addition to work on electoral politics, Fischer has been involved in issue campaigns. According to the North Platte Bulletin, he " managed the successful campaign in Norfolk [Nebraska] to institute a Quality Growth-type fund in Norfolk’s primary election. The measure had failed previously in that community." The paper also reported that he was behind the successful 2010 campaign to renew the Quality Growth Fund in North Platte, Nebraska.[10]

    In 2014, he was a campaign advisor to Republican U.S. Senate primary candidates Shane Osborn (R) and Sid Dinsdale (R).[11][8][12][13][14]

    From 2008 to 2014, Fischer was one of the organizers of Nebraskans for a Better Tomorrow PAC, a state-level independent committee that supported a number of Republican candidates in the 2008 election cycle, such as Dennis Utter, Kurt Geschwender, and Beau McCoy.[15] After 2008, the committee reported no receipts or disbursements and was dissolved in 2014.[16]

    For the 2014 election cycle in Nebraska, Fischer signed on to advise Beau McCoy, who lost the primary election to eventual Governor Pete Ricketts (R). Speaking to National Journal, Fischer said that Ricketts' family connections—his father Joe Ricketts founded TD Ameritrade—were a significant factor in the election. Fischer said, "There's no doubt there's a correlation between national figures and the Ricketts family's help and the endorsements that he's received."[17]

    In 2012, Fischer was named to the list of Top 500 Influencers in American Politics by Campaigns & Elections Magazine, which noted that he has "expanded his expertise over a long career."[18]

    Presidential election, 2016

    Our Children's Future PAC

    In October 2015, Fischer was named chief operating officer of Our Children's Future PAC, a pro-Ben Carson super PAC.[2] Soon after, the group combined with another super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee, taking the latter's name. According to Politico, the organization's press release promised a more cohesive voter education strategy supporting Carson: "Starting immediately, both organizations will unleash a unified, comprehensive strategy to increase voter education in early primary states through print, online and broadcast advertising as well as grassroots engagement via The 2016 Committee’s volunteer army of 31,000 Americans."[3] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the organization spent $88,125 before combining with the 2016 Committee.[19]

    Nebraska Republican Convention

    At the May 2016 convention for the Republican Party of Nebraska, Fischer was involved in a convention resolution aimed at those opposing the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump. One of Nebraska's senators, Ben Sasse (R) had been a vocal supporter of the NeverTrump movement. Fischer introduced a resolution "threatening to pull support from Republicans who oppose Trump or advocate a third party," according to The Washington Post.[20] According to Politico, Fischer insisted that his aunt Deb Fischer (Nebraska's senior senator), had "nothing to do with this."[21]

    2016 Republican National Convention

    See also: Republican National Convention, 2016

    Fischer was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Nebraska. All 36 delegates from Nebraska were bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention.[22] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.

    Delegate rules

    See also: RNC delegate guidelines from Nebraska, 2016 and Republican delegates from Nebraska, 2016

    Delegates from Nebraska to the Republican National Convention were elected at a state convention in May 2016. Donald Trump won all 36 Nebraska delegates in the state primary election on May 10, 2016. Delegates from Nebraska were bound for the first two ballots at the national convention unless the candidate to whom they were pledged released them or received less than 35 percent of the vote on the first ballot.

    Nebraska primary results

    See also: Presidential election in Nebraska, 2016
    Nebraska Republican Primary, 2016
    Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates
    Green check mark transparent.pngDonald Trump 61.5% 122,327 36
    Ted Cruz 18.4% 36,703 0
    John Kasich 11.4% 22,709 0
    Marco Rubio 3.6% 7,233 0
    Ben Carson 5% 10,016 0
    Totals 198,988 36
    Source: The New York Times and Nebraska Secretary of State

    Delegate allocation

    See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules’’
    Logo-GOP.png

    Nebraska had 36 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, nine were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's three congressional districts). Nebraska's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's district delegates.[23][24]

    Of the remaining 27 delegates, 24 served at large. Nebraska's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the statewide primary vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[23][24]

    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leavenworth St., "Imagine a world…," October 26, 2015
    2. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Politico, "Pro-Carson super PACs join forces," October 22, 2015
    3. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Meridian, "Our team: Sam Fischer," accessed November 19, 2015
    4. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 George Washington University, "President George W. Bush-campaign organization, Nevada," accessed November 19, 2015
    5. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "FEC to collect $750,000 civil penalty from Progress for America Voter Fund," February 28, 2007
    6. ↑ George Washington University, "Republican committees-organization," March 17, 2007
    7. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Leavenworth St., "Nebraska #NESEN and #NEGOV races start to take shape," June 7, 2013
    8. ↑ Nebraska Democratic Party, "National Republicans Backing Wealthy Newcomer," September 14, 2005
    9. ↑ North Platte Bulletin, "Growth ain't cheap: Campaign to renew Quality Growth Fund had a big price tag," November 24, 2010
    10. ↑ Roll Call, "The open-seat Senate race no one’s talking about," September 11, 2013
    11. ↑ National Review, "Why conservatives have well-founded doubts about Sid Dinsdale," May 13, 2014
    12. ↑ Washington Times, "No clear-cut leader in Nebraska's Republican primary," March 16, 2014
    13. ↑ National Journal, "Is history repeating itself in Nebraska?" May 12, 2014
    14. ↑ Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "Nebraskans for a Better Tomorrow Schedule B Section 1, 2008," accessed May 16, 2016
    15. ↑ Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "Nebraskans for a Better Tomorrow Statement of Dissolution," January 24, 2014
    16. ↑ The Atlantic, "2016 Contenders Flock to Nebraska's Open Governor's Race," May 11, 2014
    17. ↑ Campaign and Elections (Via Acquire Media NewsEdge), "The Influencers 500 (Campaigns and Elections)," January 22, 2013
    18. ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, "Our Children's Future," accessed May 16, 2016
    19. ↑ The Washington Post, "RNC bullies do Clinton’s work for her," May 16, 2016
    20. ↑ Politico, "Ben Sasse under fire," May 14, 2016
    21. ↑ Lincoln Journal Star, "Nebraska GOP selects convention delegates," May 19, 2016
    22. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
    23. ↑ 24.0 24.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Sam_Fischer&oldid=10105733"