Dan Newman (political consultant)

Last updated

Dan Newman is an American political consultant, who has served as campaign manager, communications director, press secretary, and consultant to dozens of campaigns around the country. He is a partner in SCN Strategies, with Ace Smith and Sean Clegg. [1]

Contents

Career

Initiative 773 Campaign

In 2001, Newman led the campaign for Washington's Initiative 773, a ballot initiative to add 60 cents to each pack of cigarettes sold in the state, to increase access to health-care to more low-income families, and to pay for tobacco-control programs. The Seattle Times on July 13, 2001 reported that when Newman and supporters of the initiative were turning in signatures to the Washington Secretary of State in Olympia, they caught the attention of a curious tourist.

There's something to learn from a story Dan Newman, Initiative 773 campaign manager, has been telling.

The incident occurred last Friday as I-773 forces were getting ready to file petitions with the Secretary of State's office in Olympia. Supporters had gathered for speeches on the Capitol steps and were getting their act together when they ran into the prototypical tourist — T-shirt, shorts, goofy hat and a carful of kids.

Newman says: "The guy kept asking questions. Where should he park? What were we doing? He stuck around and took a ton of pictures."

Newman told him the initiative, if approved, would add 60 cents to a pack of cigarettes. It aims to extend health-care access to more low-income families and pay for tobacco-control programs.

The tourist continued to snap pictures, accompanying the I-773 supporters into (Secretary of State) Sam Reed's office. Afterward, someone asked Newman, "Do you know who that is?"

Newman said he didn't. That's when he found out the identity of the "tourist": Joe Daniels, a lobbyist for Philip Morris. Asked about the encounter, Daniels said: "It was just a coincidence. I was showing my niece Alicia, here from Florida, around."

Still, there's a moral: Beware of tourists wearing goofy hats. [2]

Despite questionable campaign tactics on the part of tobacco company opponents, [3] Initiative 773 passed overwhelmingly: 66%-44% [4]

MessageWorks LLC

Before joining Treasurer Angelides, Newman founded Message Works LLC a firm that provided communications services for campaigns around the country. [5] He was also a partner in SCN Public Relations (now defunct - an earlier incarnation of the current SCN Strategies), a firm that provided research, press strategy, message development, rapid response, debate preparation as well as other strategic support to campaigns at all different levels of government. Newman has been a featured speaker at national conferences and conducted many communications and media trainings. Newman has served as a Congressional aide and worked for a Washington D.C. think tank. [1]

Phil Angelides administration

In 2006, Newman managed media relations and communications for the California State Treasurer's Office and for State Treasurer Phil Angelides' 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Involvement in Schwarzenegger remark controversy

On September 7, 2006, it was revealed that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to Latino Republican Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia as being fiery and hot-tempered because "black blood" mixed with "Latino blood" equals "hot." He further stated "I mean, they [Cubans and Puerto Ricans] are all very hot...they have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them and together that makes it." Schwarzenegger apologized for the remarks the next day, in a joint press conference with Garcia in Santa Monica, California. [6]

The Schwarzenegger administration claimed that it was the victim of a breach of security protocols, and Andrea Lynn Hoch, Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary falsely stated that the file was stored "in a password-protected area of the governor's office network computer system." The California Highway Patrol was asked to investigate.

On September 13, it was discovered that the recording was obtained by members of the Angelides campaign on August 29 and August 30 stored in an MP3 file and that Newman and campaign researcher Sean Sullivan submitted it to the Los Angeles Times. Katie Levinson, a spokeswoman for the Schwarzenegger campaign wanted Angelides to "denounce the unethical actions taken on his behalf," stating that he was trying to personally smear Schwarzenegger. [7]

In response to the claims from the Schwarzenegger administration, Angelides campaign manager Cathy Calfo dismissed the claims as being politically motivated and "completely false." In regards to the recording she stated: "What I have been told is, there was information accessed by one of our computers off of a taxpayer-funded, publicly available Web site that any member of the public would have access to..." [8]

According to The Inquirer, the supposed URL where the recording was taken from is http://speeches.gov.ca.gov/dir/06-21.htm%5B%5D (now offline) [9]

As of September 13, 2006, a cached version of the site could be found on Google, suggesting that the site was available to the public at the time, and that it was indexed on Google's servers. [10]

Roger Salazar, a California Democratic Party spokesman also was quoted as saying - "They want to put it off onto some massive conspiracy theory... The governor's office is trying to play up the nefarious angle to deflect attention from their own incompetence — accidentally posting the recording on its own Web site. And from the recordings themselves." [11]

In early 2007, the California Highway Patrol issued a report clearing the Angelides campaign and Sullivan and Newman of any wrongdoing. The CHP concluded in its 38-page report that the digital audio files were placed on a website that was "accessed by backwards browsing ... which does not constitute a crime." The report also indicated that "there were no security measures in place that would prevent backwards browsing." The CHP recommended that no criminal charges be filed against anyone involved in "Tapegate." [12]

Upon being vindicated by law enforcement investigators, Newman questioned Schwarzenegger's use of law enforcement for political purposes.

Dan Newman, spokesman for the Angelides campaign, said that the results prove "that the governor's office was directly 100 percent responsible for making the tapes public...and then called in taxpayer funded law enforcement in a crude attempt to cover up his error."

He said the CHP report spells out the need for inquiries to determine if the governor's office "exerted pressure on the (Highway Patrol)" to delay the results of the inquiry until after the election. "They took five months to determine something they knew in five minutes," said Newman, who added that questions still remain about whether the governor's office used the law enforcement agency during the gubernatorial election "for purely political purposes." [12]

Employment with Coughlin Stoia

In 2007, Newman became public affairs director for Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, a top plaintiffs' law firm in California. Newman also served as spokesman for William Lerach, a former partner at Coughlin Stoia who was indicted and pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and making false declarations under oath. Lerach credited Newman with helping him craft his departure memo, [13] which had allusions to Richard Nixon [14] and The Godfather . [15]

Related Research Articles

2003 California gubernatorial recall election Special gubernatorial election in California, United States

The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003. Seven of the nine previous governors, including Davis, had faced unsuccessful recall attempts.

1994 California Proposition 187 measure to deny non—emergency public services to illegal immigrants; struck down in federal court

California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit undocumented immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public education, and other services in the State of California. Voters passed the proposed law at a referendum on November 8, 1994. The law was challenged in a legal suit the day after its passage, and found unconstitutional by a federal district court on November 11. In 1999, Governor Gray Davis halted state appeals of this ruling.

California Highway Patrol Law enforcement agency in California, USA

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and are also known as the state police. They also have jurisdiction over city roads, and have the right to conduct law enforcement procedures there.

Steve Westly

Steven Paul Westly is an American venture capitalist and politician. He was the State Controller of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who later lost to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 2006 elections. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Westly served as California Campaign Co-chair for Obama for America and also as a member of Obama for America's National Finance Committee. Westly was briefly considered for a cabinet-level position in the Obama administration. Currently, Westly is a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a clean technology venture capital firm he founded.

Fabian Núñez

Fabian Núñez is an American politician and labor union adviser. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three two-year terms as a member of the California State Assembly, leaving office in late 2008. During his last two terms, Nunez was the Assembly Speaker, the 66th person to hold that position.

California ballot proposition

In California, a ballot proposition can be a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote. If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of California, one or more of the 29 California Codes, or another law in the California Statutes by clarifying current or adding statute(s) or removing current statute(s).

Same-sex marriage is legal in the U.S. state of California. The state first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples June 16, 2008 as a result of the Supreme Court of California finding in In re Marriage Cases that barring same-sex couples from marriage violated the state's Constitution. The issuance of such licenses was halted from November 5, 2008 through June 27, 2013 due to the passage of Proposition 8—a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages. The granting of same-sex marriages recommenced following the United States Supreme Court decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which restored the effect of a federal district court ruling that overturned Proposition 8 as unconstitutional.

Phil Angelides American politician

Phillip Nicholas Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections. Angelides served as the Chair of the Apollo Alliance and of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

2006 California gubernatorial election

The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won re-election for his first and only full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California Democratic Party nominee. Peter Camejo was the California Green Party nominee, Janice Jordan was the Peace and Freedom Party nominee, Art Olivier was the California Libertarian Party nominee, and Edward C. Noonan was the California American Independent Party nominee.

Bill Lockyer

William Westwood Lockyer is a retired American politician from California, who held elective office from 1973 to 2015, as State Treasurer of California, California Attorney General, and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate.

2004 California Proposition 71 California law

Proposition 71 of 2004 is a law enacted by California voters to support stem cell research in the state. It was proposed by means of the initiative process and approved in the 2004 state elections on November 2. The Act amended both the Constitution of California and the Health and Safety Code.

Don Korotsky Norte American gay rights political activist

Don Korotsky Norte is an American gay rights political activist. He is one half of a Los Angeles gay couple who have been together since meeting in high school in 1978. Don's initial desire to marry his high school sweetheart made headlines in a 1995 Los Angeles Times article when the couple expressed their desire to hop on a plane to Hawaii and then seek to enforce their marriage rights in California. The Times article was one of the first that documented the rise of Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA a year later. In 2008 The Advocate featured Norte's marriage to his spouse during the Summer of Love in 2008. Norte and his spouse were both Log Cabin Republicans during the campaign for marriage equality.

William "Bill" Shannon Lerach is a disbarred lawyer who specialized in private Securities Class Action lawsuits. The $7.12 billion he obtained as the lead plaintiff's attorney in the case against Enron is currently the largest sum ever recovered in a group of securities class-action lawsuits in U.S. history. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to two years imprisonment. In 2009 he was disbarred from practicing law in California. As part of the settlement, Lerach would not cooperate as a witness and his law firm would be protected from any further prosecution. Over the course of his career, Lerach recovered upward of $45 billion on behalf of defrauded investors.

Proposition 83 of 2006 was a statute enacted by 70% of California voters on November 7, 2006, authored by State Senator George Runner and State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner. It was proposed by means of the initiative process as a version of the Jessica's Law proposals that had been considered in other states.

2008 California Proposition 4

Proposition 4, or the Abortion Waiting Period and Parental Notification Initiative, also known to its supporters as Sarah's Law, was an initiative state constitutional amendment on the 2008 California General Election ballot

2008 California Proposition 11

Proposition 11 of 2008 was a law enacted by California voters that placed the power to draw electoral boundaries for State Assembly and State Senate districts in a Citizens Redistricting Commission, as opposed to the State Legislature. To do this the Act amended both the Constitution of California and the Government Code. The law was proposed by means of the initiative process and was put to voters as part of the November 4, 2008 state elections. In 2010, voters passed Proposition 20 which extended the Citizen Redistricting Commission's power to draw electoral boundaries to include U.S. House seats as well.

2010 California Proposition 23 Ballot proposition concerned with environmental regulations

Proposition 23 was a California ballot proposition that was on the November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot. It was defeated by California voters during the statewide election by a 23% margin. If passed, it would have suspended AB 32, a law enacted in 2006, legally referred to its long name, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Sponsors of the initiative referred to their measure as the California Jobs Initiative while opponents called it the Dirty Energy Prop.

2012 California Proposition 29 California law

Proposition 29, the California Cancer Research Act, is a California ballot measure that was defeated by California voters at the statewide election on June 5, 2012.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and LGBT rights Overview of the relationship between Arnold Schwarzenegger and LGBT rights

Arnold Schwarzenegger was an early opponent of same-sex marriage in the United States, including during his Governorship of California. He has since wavered in this opposition to reverse his political stance on gay rights in the United States, LGBT rights.

The second term of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California began on January 5, 2007 and ended on January 3, 2011. On November 7, 2006, the Republican incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger defeated Democratic state treasurer Phil Angelides in the California gubernatorial election to win a second term as Governor of California. Now in his new term, Schwarzenegger pledged to be a centrist politician and cooperate with the Democrats to resolve statewide political issues. Only days into the term, the governor proposed universal health insurance in the state and called for new bonds for schools, prisons, and other infrastructure. In May 2007, Schwarzenegger met with two of his counterparts in Canada, Dalton McGuinty and Gordon Campbell, in order to address climate change and advocate for stem cell research. An oil spill occurred in November when the Cosco Busan struck the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.