Joel Benenson | |
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| Born | July 24, 1952 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Queens College, City University of New York |
| Occupations | Pollster, political operative |
| Political party | Democratic |
Joel Benenson (born July 24, 1952) is an American pollster and consultant known for his role as a strategist for Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. [1] [2] He was the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. [3]
Benenson was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He grew up in Laurelton, Queens [4] and Manhattan with his family. He attended Andrew Jackson High School in the late 1960s. [4] Benenson is a Queens College graduate. [5]
He is the CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, a strategic consulting firm, and served as a communications and polling advisor to the White House for Barack Obama. [6] He has been a strategist for U.S. senators, governors and mayors, as well as Fortune 500 companies. He was a pollster for the DCCC in 2006, when the Democrats won back the majority in the House of Representatives. [7]
In 1995, he worked as a Political Journalist for the Daily News in New York [8] and served as Communications Director for Governor Mario Cuomo’s 1994 campaign. [9] He was previously a vice president at the New York ad agency FCB. [10]
Benenson has served as a consultant to American companies and CEOs, including Procter & Gamble’s A.G. Lafley, General Electric’s Jack Welch and AOL’s Bob Pittman. He has helped corporate clients. [11] He was a strategic researcher for Procter & Gamble's launch of Olestra, the fat substitute; [12] he helped AOL manage its capacity crisis in the late 1990s and a New York City coalition block Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans for an Olympic stadium in Manhattan. [13]
Benenson is also the co-founder of iModerate Research Technologies. [14] [15]
In January 2015, Hillary Clinton hired Benenson and Robby Mook as strategists. [16]
The Israeli Blue and White political alliance appointed Benenson as its strategist for the September 2019 Israeli legislative election. [17] [18]
