Ed Gillespie

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Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
Counselor to the President
In office
July 5, 2007 – January 20, 2009
President George W. Bush
Preceded by Dan Bartlett
Succeeded by Pete Rouse (2011)
Chair of the Republican Party of Virginia
In office
December 4, 2006 – June 13, 2007
Preceded by Kate Obenshain
Succeeded by John Hager
Chair of the Republican National Committee
In office
July 25, 2003 – January 20, 2005
Leader George W. Bush
Preceded by Marc Racicot
Succeeded by Ken Mehlman
Personal details
Born Edward Walter Gillespie
(1961-08-01) August 1, 1961 (age 55)
Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Cathy Gillespie
Children 3
Education Catholic University of America (BA)

Edward Walter Gillespie (born August 1, 1961) is an American Republican politician who served as the 61st Chairman of the Republican National Committee and Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush administration. Gillespie, along with Democrat Jack Quinn, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm. Gillespie is also the founder of Ed Gillespie Strategies, a strategic consulting firm that provides high-level advice to companies and CEOs, coalitions, and trade associations.

In January 2014, Gillespie announced he was running for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat held by Mark Warner. In the 2014 general election, Gillespie ended up narrowly losing to Warner by a margin of 0.8% in a surprisingly close race.[1]

In October 2015, Gillespie announced his plans to run for Governor of Virginia in 2017.[2] In June 2017, he won the Republican nomination for governor in the 2017 election and faces Democratic nominee Ralph Northam in the general election.[3]

Early life[edit]

Gillespie was born August 1, 1961 in the Mount Holly Township, and raised in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, New Jersey.[4] He is the son of Conny (Carroll) and Sean (later John) Patrick Gillespie, an immigrant from Ireland who grew up in North Philadelphia.[5][6] He is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C and Pemberton Township High School. While at CUA he began his career on Capitol Hill as a Senate parking lot attendant. He is married to Cathy Gillespie and has three children, John, Carrie, and Mollie.[7]

Political career[edit]

Gillespie, raised in a Democratic family, began his political career as intern for Andy Ireland, at the time a Democrat from Florida. In 1984, Ireland joined the Republican party with Gillespie following, saying, "I liked President Reagan's approach to governing and it just made sense to me."[8] He worked as telephone solicitor for the Republican National Committee in 1985, and later worked for a decade as a top aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), and was a principal drafter of the GOP's 1994 "Contract With America."[7][9]

In 1996 he served as communications director for the RNC, and in 1997 he joined the lobbying firm, Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, and advised Senate Republicans during the Impeachment of Bill Clinton.[9]

In 1999, Gillespie worked as the Press Secretary for the Presidential campaign of John Kasich until his withdrawal from the race and endorsement of George W. Bush.[9] In 2000, Gillespie served as senior communications advisor for the presidential campaign of Bush, organizing the party convention program in Philadelphia for Bush's nomination and Bush's inauguration ceremony. He played an aggressive role as spokesman for the Bush campaign during the vote recount in Florida.[9] In 2000 Gillespie founded the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates with Democrat Jack Quinn and within a year had an income of $8.5 million and was eleventh on Fortune's list of the most powerful lobbying firms in the US.[9]

One of the firm's clients was Enron, which paid it $1,225,000, including $700,000 to lobby the Department of Energy and the Executive Office of the President to resist efforts to re-regulate the western electricity market during the California Electricity Crisis.[10][9][11]

In 2002, he was a strategist for Elizabeth Dole's 2002 Senate campaign.[8] By the end of 2002, Quinn Gillespie & Associates had received $27.4 million in lobbying fees.[12]

In 2003, Gillespie was selected as Chairman of the RNC, serving in that role through the 2004 elections that saw President Bush win re-election and Republicans retain control of the House and Senate.[8] His book Winning Right was released in September 2006.[13]

Gillespie served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from December 2006 to June 2007. In the 2006 Virginia Senate elections he served as spokesman for defeated Virginia Senator George Allen. He had been tapped by Allen as a political adviser for a possible presidential run in 2008 before that loss. In February 2009, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced that Gillespie would serve as General Chairman of his campaign for Governor. Gillespie has served as an adviser to American Crossroads.[14]

White House counselor[edit]

In late June 2007, President Bush brought Gillespie into the White House on a full-time basis, to replace the departing Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett with the mandate to help raise Bush's flagging popularity ratings. When Karl Rove also departed in August, the Washington Post described Gillespie as stepping up to do part of Karl Rove's job in the White House.[15] A later Post article described Gillespie's role orchestrating a PR unit dedicated to "selling the surge to American voters and the media."[16] According to the latter article:

From the start of the Bush plan, the White House communications office had been blitzing an e-mail list of as many as 5,000 journalists, lawmakers, lobbyists, conservative bloggers, military groups and others with talking points or rebuttals of criticism...Gillespie arranged several presidential speeches to make strategic arguments, such as comparing Iraq to Vietnam or warning of Iranian interference. When critics assailed Bush for overstating ties between al-Qaeda and the group called al-Qaeda in Iraq, Gillespie organized a Bush speech to make his case. "The whole idea is to take these things on before they become conventional wisdom," said White House communications director Kevin Sullivan. "We have a very short window."

Later in 2007, the Washington Post reported that Gillespie had taken a substantial pay cut to become Bush's counselor. "A disclosure form shows he made nearly $1.3 million in salary and bonus in the previous 18 months at his consulting and public affairs firm.... His annual government salary is $168,000. The form, obtained by the Associated Press, reports that Gillespie, ... a former Capitol Hill aide who co-founded his lobbying shop in 2000 ..., has accumulated a fortune estimated to be between $7.86 million and $19.4 million."[17]

Post-White House[edit]

In 2009, Gillespie was the chairman of Bob McDonnell's successful campaign for governor of Virginia.[18]

In January 2010, Gillespie was announced in as the national chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which helps elect state attorneys general, lieutenant governors, secretaries of state and state house and senate candidates. After Gillespie was announced chairman the RSLC is reported to have laundered $1.5 million from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard and a group associated with Jack Abramoff.[19] From January 2010 to January 2014 the RSLC paid Gilespie $654,000.[19] Gillespie was not legally listed as the RSLC chairman until February 2011, when the organization filed updated documents with the IRS.[19]

In April 2012, Gillespie became a senior advisor to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.[20]

2014 U.S. Senate run[edit]

Main article: United States Senate election in Virginia, 2014

In December 2013, Gillespie told Politico that he was considering a first-time political run in 2014 against Mark Warner, a popular Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator in Virginia.[21]

In January 2014, he officially launched his candidacy.[22] He named Chris Leavitt, campaign manager of Mark Obenshain's 2013 run for Virginia Attorney general, his campaign manager.[23] On June 7, 2014, he became the Republican nominee after receiving about 60% of the vote at the state party convention.[24] At GOP convention in Roanoke, Republicans pick Gillespie to face Warner in Senate race]</ref>

Although Warner had been consistently leading Gillespie by double-digit margins in polls before October, Gillespie nearly upset Warner on Election Day, losing by a margin of just 0.8% and 17,723 votes, with 37% turnout.[1] Gillespie conceded the race on November 7, 2014.[25]

2017 gubernatorial run[edit]

Main article: Virginia gubernatorial election, 2017

Speculation began immediately after Gillespie's narrow 2014 loss that he would run for Governor of Virginia in 2017.[25] In October 2015, Gillespie confirmed reports that he was preparing to run for governor in 2017.[2] He officially declared his candidacy in November 2016.[26] Gillespie was considered the favorite to win the Republican nomination.[27]

On June 13, 2017, Gillespie won the Republican nomination for governor and was set to face incumbent Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, the Democratic nominee, in the November general election.[3]

Political positions[edit]

Gillespie has stated that he is opposed to the 2010 Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare), criticizing it for its "negative impacts" and stating that he would "repeal and replace it."[28]

He has called for increased federal spending in defense, specifically stating that the US Navy needs more ships. He has voiced support for the Keystone Pipeline and criticized federal regulations that "[slow] down the development of energy infrastructure."[29]

He describes himself as pro-life and participated in the March for Life in January 2017.[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Silver, Nate (6 November 2014). "Why Polls Missed A Shocker In Virginia’s Senate Race". FiveThirtyEight. 
  2. ^ a b Vozzella, Laura (October 2, 2015). "Republican Ed Gillespie confirms he is running for Virginia governor". Washington Post. 
  3. ^ a b Martin, Jonathan (13 June 2017). "Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie Beat Upstarts in Virginia Governor Primaries". The New York Times. 
  4. ^ DiUlio, Nick. "Ed Gillespie: The Face of the RNC", South Jersey Magazine, January 2005. Accessed May 22, 2013. "Born in Mount Holly at Burlington County Memorial Hospital and raised in Browns Mills, Gillespie, 43, went from being just another small-town boy who took humble bike rides with his dog and ran from the Jersey Devil, to Chairman of the Republican National Committee and regular strategic confidant of the leader of the free world."
  5. ^ National Review: "A Great Loss" By Ed Gillespie January 9, 2012
  6. ^ http://www.c-span.org/video/?303952-6/ed-gillespie-remarks
  7. ^ a b "Arena Profile: Ed Gillespie". Politico. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
  8. ^ a b c Lyman, Rick (May 16, 2004). "Scratching Behind Ears of Bush's 'Pit Bull'". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved June 18, 2014. 
  9. ^ a b c d e f Lizza, Ryan (10 January 2014). "Republican Lobbyist Ed Gillespie is Running for Senate: Republished July 2001 article". New Republic. 
  10. ^ "Ed Gillespie: The Embedded Lobbyist" (PDF). Public Citizen Congress Watch. June 2003. 
  11. ^ Tumulty, Karen; Weisskopf, Michael (January 28, 2001). "What $6 million can buy". CNN. 
  12. ^ "Ed Gillespie: The Embedded Lobbyis t" (PDF). Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. June 2003. 
  13. ^ "Winning Right". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved October 28, 2014. 
  14. ^ Strassel, Kimberley (April 9, 2010). "The Right Ramps Up". Wall Street Journal. News Corporation. Retrieved April 10, 2010. 
  15. ^ "As Rove Departs, President Again Turns to Gillespie." by Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post, August 16, 2007.
  16. ^ "Among Top Officials, 'Surge' Has Sparked Dissent, Infighting." by Peter Baker et al., Washington Post, September 9, 2007.
  17. ^ Baker, Peter (December 10, 2007). "Perino's 'Missile Crisis' Confession". Washington Post. Retrieved May 3, 2010. 
  18. ^ Catalina Camia (January 16, 2014). "Ex-GOP chairman Ed Gillespie declares Va. Senate bid". USA Today. Retrieved August 4, 2014. 
  19. ^ a b c Burns, Alexander (4 August 2014). "GOP group snared in money scheme". Politico. Retrieved 24 May 2016. 
  20. ^ Martin, Jonathan (April 5, 2012). "Ed Gillespie joins Team Romney". Politico. Retrieved May 27, 2012. 
  21. ^ Ex-RNC chair Ed Gillespie weighs Mark Warner challenge in Virginia
  22. ^ "Former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie launches Senate bid against Warner", The Washington Times. January 16, 2014. REtrieved January 31, 2014.
  23. ^ Gillespie will challenge Warner, hire Obenshain campaign manager
  24. ^ Portnoy, Jenna; Vozzella, Laura (June 7, 2014). "In a victory for establishment Republicans, Va. GOP picks Gillespie to take on Warner in Senate race". Washington Post. 
  25. ^ a b Kyle Cheney & Darren Samuelsohn (November 7, 2014). "Gillespie concedes Va. Senate race to Warner". Politico. Retrieved February 2, 2015. 
  26. ^ Shelbourne, Mallory (21 November 2016). "Ed Gillespie running for Va. governor". TheHill. 
  27. ^ Branscome, Jeff (September 19, 2016). "Ed Gillespie favored among GOP candidates for Virginia governor, UMW poll shows". The Free Lance-Star. 
  28. ^ Branscome, Jeff (April 4, 2014). "Warner urging changes in ACA". Fredericksburg.com. Retrieved June 18, 2014. 
  29. ^ Cooper, Elsie (April 14, 2014). "Gillespie Sticks with Conservative Values". americanthinker.com. Retrieved June 18, 2014. 
  30. ^ "One Republican running for Va. governor attacks another on abortion". Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2017. 

External links[edit]

Party political offices
Preceded by
Marc Racicot		 Chair of the Republican National Committee
2003–2005		 Succeeded by
Ken Mehlman
Preceded by
Kate Obenshain		 Chair of the Republican Party of Virginia
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
John Hager
Preceded by
Jim Gilmore		 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Virginia
(Class 2)
2014		 Most recent
Preceded by
Ken Cuccinelli		 Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia
2017
Political offices
Preceded by
Dan Bartlett		 Counselor to the President
2007–2009		 Vacant
Title next held by
Pete Rouse
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