David Urban | |
---|---|
Chair of the American Battle Monuments Commission | |
In office July 2018 –January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Merrill McPeak |
Succeeded by | Mark P. Hertling |
Personal details | |
Born | David John Urban [1] March 6,1964 Aliquippa,Pennsylvania,U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Education | United States Military Academy (BS) University of Pennsylvania (MPA) Temple University (JD) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1986–1991 |
Unit | 101st Airborne Division |
Battles/wars | Gulf War |
Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
David Urban (born March 6,1964) [2] is an American lobbyist and political commentator for CNN. He is the managing director for BGR Group and serves on the board of directors for numerous companies.[ example needed ][ citation needed ]
Urban served as a senior advisor to the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign and helped orchestrate the 2016 Republican National Convention in a successful effort to win Pennsylvania. [3] [4] [5] [6] He also advised Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. [7] [8]
A native of Aliquippa,Beaver County,Pennsylvania, [4] [9] Urban was recruited to play football at Harvard University,but opted to instead attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, [6] [10] where he was featured in the Black Knights' 1982 media guide. [10] An injury cut short his football career, [10] and he graduated in 1986 with a B.S. [5] Urban later simultaneously attended the University of Pennsylvania where he earned an M.P.A.,and Temple University School of Law,where he received a J.D. [4] [6] [10]
Urban served as an artillery officer in the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division, [3] from 1986 to 1991. While serving in the Persian Gulf,he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement during combat operations in Operation Desert Storm. [3] [5] [9]
Urban worked with the Philadelphia-based law firm of Ballard Spahr as a public finance attorney from 1994 to 1997, [5] [6] when he became chief of staff to Senator Arlen Specter. [3] [6]
In 2002 Urban became a partner at the American Continental Group (ACG). He later served as president until he left the company in July 2020. [11] ACG is a Washington-based lobbying firm that has worked with companies such as Comcast,Hewlett Packard Enterprise,and Raytheon. He was recognized on The Hill's "Top Lobbyists" list in 2015, [12] 2016, [13] 2017, [14] and 2019. [15]
In April 2016,Urban joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign as senior advisor. [16] He was the deputy director of caucus operations and senior member on the ground in Cleveland for the 2016 Republican National Convention,spending over two months on that effort,and working to quell disruption by "Never Trump" delegates from the campaigns of other candidates. [3] Urban developed a relationship of frequent cell phone contact with Trump. [9] In November 2016,Urban helped gain the first presidential Republican win for Pennsylvania in over 28 years,and it was initially reported that he was being considered as the next chair of the Republican National Committee [17] The potential appointment was supported by former Republican Senator Rick Santorum and former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell. [18] It was also reported that Urban had been considered for several positions in the Trump Administration,including White House Deputy Chief of Staff, [18] [17] White House Chief of Staff, [4] [11] [19] and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. [20] It was frequently reported that Trump was considering Urban to replace Reince Priebus,and later John Kelly,as White House Chief of Staff. [21] [4] [19] [22]
As a political commentator for CNN, [23] Urban has commented on matters such as the House passage of the AHCA, [24] Trump's April 2017 National Rifle Association speech, [25] and Trump's 100 day mark. [26]
In May 2018,he was appointed by President Trump to the board of the American Battle Monuments Commission,and in July 2018,was elevated by Trump to be Chairman of that Commission. [27] Urban was the first (and to date,only) person to serve in this role without having served as a flag officer in the U.S. Armed Forces. In August 2019,Trump appointed Urban to the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy. [1] In 2020,Urban's firm represented businesses including Walgreens and Ultimate Fighting Championship in lobbying with respect to COVID-19-related issues. [28]
Urban was an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. [5] As of 2021 [update] Urban is a member of the board of directors of the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, [29] and a co-owner of PoliticsPA. [30] He serves on the Board of Directors of Virtu Financial, [31] Subcom and Stratolaunch Systems. [32]
In 2020,he became the Executive Vice President for North American corporate affairs at ByteDance (the Chinese corporate owner of TikTok),a position he left in 2022. [33] He took a position as the managing director of BGR Group in April 2022. [32]
Edward Walter Gillespie is an American politician,strategist,and lobbyist who served as the 61st Chair of the Republican National Committee from 2003 to 2005 and was counselor to the President from 2007 to 2009 during the Presidency of George W. Bush. In 2012 Gillespie was a senior member of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign.
Robert B. Asher is an American political figure and businessman from Montgomery County,Pennsylvania. He is the co-chairman of the board of directors of Asher's Chocolates in Pennsylvania and also served as Pennsylvania's committeeman on the Republican National Committee by appointment in 1998 by Governor Tom Ridge. He was a member of the 2016 Electoral College.
Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus is an American lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first six months of Donald Trump's presidency.
Phil Cox is an American long-time political operative,having served as the campaign manager or senior strategist to more than one hundred campaigns and super-pacs for Congress,Governor,U.S. Senate,and President. He is co-founder of 50 State,a bipartisan,state-focused government affairs firm,co-founder of GuidePostStrategies,a federal government affairs firm,Chairman of IMGE,a digital marketing firm,and partner at P2,a public affairs firm. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia,and lives in McLean,Virginia,with his wife and two children.
BGR Group is a lobbying and communications firm based in Washington,D.C.,with offices in London,Beijing and Austin,Texas. Founded in 1991 by former White House aides Ed Rogers and Haley Barbour,the firm was joined by Lanny Griffith to form Barbour Griffith &Rogers. In 2019,BGR was recognized by both The Hill and Bloomberg as a "Top Performing Lobbying Firm".
Ryan Anthony Costello is an American politician,lobbyist and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,he was first elected to the Congress in the 2014 midterms. Costello previously served on the Chester County Board of Commissioners (2011–2015),which he chaired from 2013 to 2015.
Corey R. Lewandowski is an American political operative,lobbyist,political commentator and author who is politically associated with Donald Trump. He was the first campaign manager of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and was fired by Trump during the Republican Primary. He later became a political commentator for One America News Network (OANN),Fox News and CNN.
The 2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8,2016,as part of the 2016 United States elections in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Pennsylvania voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote.
Planning for the 2016-2017 presidential transition of Donald Trump,led by then vice president-elect,former governor Mike Pence of Indiana,began before Trump won the United States presidential election on November 8,2016,and became the president-elect. Trump was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 19,2016. The transition was formerly led by Chris Christie until he and a number of his supporters were replaced or demoted on November 11. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 6,2017,and the transition ended when Trump was inaugurated on January 20,2017.
Kayleigh McEnany is an American conservative political commentator,television personality,and writer who served the administration of Donald Trump as the 33rd White House press secretary from April 2020 to January 2021.
Sean Michael Spicer is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications director of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017,and its chief strategist from 2015 to 2017.
Ronna Romney McDaniel is an American political strategist who served as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2017 until her resignation in 2024. A member of the Republican Party and the Romney family,McDaniel was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8,2022,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman won his first term in office,defeating Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz. Fetterman succeeded Republican incumbent senator Pat Toomey,who did not seek re-election after two terms. This was the only U.S. Senate seat to flip parties in the 2022 midterms.
Johnny DeStefano is an American political advisor who served as Assistant to President Donald Trump and Counselor to the President from 2017 to May 2019. He previously oversaw the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,White House Presidential Personnel Office,Office of Political Affairs,and Office of Public Liaison. DeStefano entered the Trump administration as Director of Presidential Personnel. After leaving the White House,DeStefano was appointed an adviser to the e-cigarette company Juul.
Katherine Marie Walsh is an American Republican political operative who served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation in the Donald Trump administration. She also worked with the Trump-aligned 501(c)(4) advocacy organization America First Policies.
Donald Trump,a member of the Republican Party,unsuccessfully sought reelection in the 2020 United States presidential election. He was inaugurated as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and filed for re-election with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on the same day.
Raj Shah is an American political aide who served as the White House Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President from 2017 to 2019. Before joining the Trump administration,Shah was in charge of opposition research at the Republican National Committee. He is currently deputy chief of staff for communications for House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Paris Dennard is an American conservative political commentator,columnist,and communications strategist. He previously worked from 2005 to 2009 in the White House of President George W. Bush,and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for over four years as the Senior Director of Strategic Communications. He has appeared as a conservative commentator on many national outlets including Fox News,Black News Channel,Newsmax,CNN and NPR.
Michael A. Roman is an American Republican political operative and opposition researcher. He was director of election day operations for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign,and was subsequently involved in Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He previously worked on Trump's 2016 campaign and served in Trump's White House in 2017 and 2018. Prior to joining the Trump campaign,he ran an in-house intelligence unit for the Koch brothers.