Obama 2012 General Election Campaign Organization, Washington
Obama for America/Organizing for America/Coordinated Campaign*  
|  
901 Rainier Ave. S.  |  Seattle
WASHINGTON  |  Obama Main Page

(page in the process of being updated Feb. 24, 2013)
...for additions, corrections and other changes contact

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State Director  Chelsea Turnbull (née Waliser)

(Jan. 2012)  Special assistant to the regional administrator at the General Services Administration, 2009-early 2012.  Account executive at Nyhus Communications, 2009.  Worked on Obama for America, including Polk County regional field director for the Iowa caucus campaign and Washington state director, and in the fall Washington state field director on the Campaign for Change, 2007-08.  Public information officer for the Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus in first part of 2007.  Political director on Adam Smith for Congress, 2005-07.  Field organizer on People for Patty Murray, 2004.  B.A. in politics and government from University of Puget Sound, 2004.


Washington/Oregon Digital Director/Press Secretary  Paul Bell

(Aug. 2012) New Media director on Kendrick Meek for Florida, April-Nov. 2010.  Online marketing director at TwinCitiesFun.com, 2006-09.  Bachelor's degree from University of Minnesota-Duluth, 2009.


Director  Timothy Anderson

(hired by WA Democrats in 2011; assumed Coordinated role in 2012)  Served as field director of the Washington State Democrats 2010 Coordinated Campaign and earlier as Nebraska state director of Organizing for America.

Field Director  Robert Dible

(March 2012)  Deputy campaign manager on Tom Henry for Mayor (Fort Wayne, IN).  Field director in PA-15 for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, 2010.  New Jersey field director for the DNC, 2009-10.  A regional field director on Obama's Missouri Campaign for Change in Fall 2008.  Political/field on Hillary Clinton for President, Nov. 2007-June 2008.  B.A. in political science from The College of Wooster, 2007.

Deputy Field Director/GOTV Director  Max Brown

Previously political director of the M.L. King County Labor Council.  A regional field director on the 2010 Washington Democrats Coordinated Campaign.

Regional Field Directors
Pierce and Thurston Counties (6th and 10th CDs)  Dillon Gilbert

Constituent services representative for Sen. Patty Murray, 2011-12.  Field organizer on People for Patty Murray, Fall 2010.   Studied political science/pre-law at the Seattle University.

Eastern WA  Colin Bannon

(May 2012)  Regional field director on John Delaney for Congress in Maryland.  Executive assistant and development bookkeeper at the American Constitution Society, 2011-12.  Campaign manager on Friend of Joe Same Queen in North Carolina, 2010.  B.A. in political science and government from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009.

SW Washington (Vancouver)  Allie Denny

(July 2012; field organizer from May 2012)  B.A. in political science from Washington State University, 2012.

NW Washington (Greater Seattle area)  Amie Cullop

(Aug. 2011)  Counterintelligence agent in the U.S. Army, 2004-09; operations and clerical sergeant, 2008-09.  B.A. in political science and government from Saint Martin's University, 2011; A.A. and A.S. in criminal justice and corrections from Grays Harbor College, 2004.

King County  Scott Laeser

Government and policy relations at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership from Juy 2010.  Climate change fellow at Trout Unlimited, 2009-10.  Worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  Master's degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; undergraduate degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004.  Grew up in Wisconsin.

Kitsap County/Olympic Peninsula  Katherine Woods

(Oct. 2012; field organizer from May 2012; started in Jan. 2012 as an organizing fellow)  B.A. in political science and government from University of Utah, 2011.

Offices (22)
HQ:  901 Rainier Ave. S, Seattle
RHQ:
2212 Broadway, Everett
4412 6th Ave. Tacoma
239 W. Main, Ste. A, Spokane
2819 NW Kitsap Pl, Ste. 160, Silverdale
...Vancouver
FO:
423 4th Ave., Olympia
1155 N. State St., Unit 510, Bellingham
16 South First St., Yakima
Lakewood
Bellevue
Tri-Cities
Shoreline
Auburn
Wenatchee
Bainbridge
Stanwood
North Seattle
Pullman
Longview
Gig Harbor
Port Angeles


Data Director  Justin Miller

Worked on the Walker recall campaign in Wisconsin.  Field organizer on the "We Are Ohio" effort to repeal Senate Bill 5.

Deputy Data Director  Dorian Caal

Information technology manager at the Korean Youth and Community Center in Los Angeles.  Master's in Public Administration from New York University.

Operations and Training Director  Priscilla Min

Promoted in early part of 2012 from King County RFD.


CFO  Anthony Kesler

(Jan. 2012)  Independent consulting.  Finance and analytics fellow for Washington State Democrats.  Business analysis for Mary Anne Radmacher, Inc, 2008-09.  M.A. in religion from Yale University, 2011; M.B.A. in entrepreneurship from Willamette University, 2008; B.A. in religion from Linfield College, 2006.


Voter Protection Director Colin S. Dixon

Paralegat at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, DC, 2007-08.  Legislative correspondent to Sen. Patty Murray, 2006.  J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, 2011; undergraduate degree from Middlebury College, 2005.


*A Democratic operative provided this important clarifying note:

As in all other states with an Organizing for America, OFA WA staff were all employed by the state party. In most states, this was funded entirely or almost entirely through a transfer-down account which Obama for America would transfer money down to. Due to their status as state party employees, all Organizing for America staff/programs across the country existed not just for the President, but also to elect other Democrats.

In WA, we were in somewhat unique position, in that we had a gubernatorial election widely viewed as one of the most competitive statewide elections in the country, but were obviously not very competitive in the presidential campaign. This meant we'd need a much larger staff than Obama for America would reasonably pay for - it would not have been realistic to expect them to pay for a NH/WI-size staff in a state that the President was certainly going to win.

Rather than have Organizing for America WA be a separate operation while the state party ran a separate coordinated campaign for Jay Inslee, we simply combined them and made Organizing for America WA the coordinated campaign.

The legal/financial part of it is, unsurprisingly, MUCH more complicated...the accounts still had to be separate, and we could only pay for certain things through the transfer-down, had to make sure we were using federal money rather than state soft money for certain things, etc.

Total full-time statewide and field staff size was around 70; there were also part time deputy field organizers and youth vote organizers.  




Washington State Democrats  +

Chairman  Dwight Pelz

(elected chair in Jan. 2006; re-elected in 2007, 2009 and 2011)  Appointed to take Ron Sims's place on the King County Council, representing South Seattle, in 1996; elected in 1997 and re-elected for a second term in 2001.  Elected to the State Senate in 1990, where he represented the 37th District for six years.  In 1977 he organized the statewide initiative campaign that repealed the sales tax on food.  Worked as a community organizer for a variety of grassroots groups on a variety of social issues for 15 years.  Graduated from the University of Michigan in 1974.

Executive Director  Jaxon Ravens

(since 2005)  Has worked for the Washington State Democrats since 2004 when he managed the caucus cycle.  Executive director for the King County Democrats for a couple of years around 2000.  President of the Washington State Young Democrats, 2000-01. Spent the 1990s traveling overseas.  Bachelors degree in politics and economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an M.B.A. in international management from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management.  Grew up in Missoula, MT.

Development & Special Events Driector  Shawna Ousse
Technology Director  Patrick Mead
Digital Media Director  Misty Shock
Finance Director  Kim Cobuzzi
Party Affairs Manager  Greg Haffner
Digital Media Coordinator  Dan Weisbeck
Finance Coordinator  Heather Hess
Office Coordinator  Aonya McCruiston