Jim Messina (political staffer)

Jim Messina
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
In office
January 20, 2009 – January 26, 2011
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byBlake Gottesman
Succeeded byAlyssa Mastromonaco
Personal details
Born (1969-10-29) October 29, 1969 (age 55)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Montana (BA)

Jim Messina (born October 29, 1969)[1] is an American political adviser who was the White House deputy chief of staff for operations under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and served as the campaign manager for Obama's successful 2012 re-election campaign.[2][3][4] He is the CEO of the Messina Group.[5]

Messina became President Obama's White House deputy chief of staff and earned the nickname "the fixer."[6] Dan Pfeiffer called Messina "the most powerful person in Washington that you haven't heard of."[7] Messina was integral to the passage on the Affordable Care Act and was widely credited with the effort to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.[8][9]

In January 2013, the Obama administration announced the launch of Organizing for Action, an advocacy organization that would promote President Obama's policies, with Jim Messina as national chair.[10] That same year, Messina became co-chair of Priorities USA Action.[11]

In various roles he has advised a number of international campaigns and candidates, including former UK Prime Minister David Cameron,[12] Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy,[13] Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

  1. ^ "Obama's People". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
  2. ^ "Obama makes early appointments". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 17, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  3. ^ Tapper, Jake (January 27, 2011). "Jay Carney Picked as New White House Press Secretary". ABC News. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  4. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (April 2, 2011). "An Obama Insider, Running the Race From Afar". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "The Messina Group". Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  6. ^ Huey, Caitlin (April 11, 2011). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Jim Messina". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  7. ^ "Jim Messina, Obama's Enforcer". The Nation. March 30, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (August 6, 2009). "White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  9. ^ Gerstein, Josh. "White House sets 'don't ask' strategy session - Josh Gerstein". Politico. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  10. ^ "Obama unveils 'Organizing for Action'". Politico. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  11. ^ "Obama campaign to support super PAC fundraising". Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Jacobs, Ben (May 8, 2015). "Does David Cameron's win mean Jim Messina is better than David Axelrod?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  13. ^ "May Hires Jim Messina for U.K. Conservative Election Team". Bloomberg.com. April 24, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017.