DLCC Announces Key New Hires For 2019-2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 4, 2019
PRESS CONTACT: Matt Harringer
[email protected] | (202) 449-6740

 

 

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is announcing four major hires today as they gear up to flip state legislatures blue in the 2019/2020 election cycle. The new staff members bring experience in fundraising, communications, organizing and directing national campaigns.

 

“The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is excited to grow our team to new levels as we work to build off 2018’s historic victories by flipping more chambers blue across the country,” said Jessica Post, Executive Director of the DLCC. “With redistricting on the line, this cycle is the most critical in a decade, and we’re putting together the best team our organization has ever seen to win.”

 

Leslie Martes is a veteran political strategist who previously served as the League of Conservation Voters’ State Electoral Campaign Director working on strategic political programs with LCV’s network of state leagues to elect climate champion governors and state legislators. Prior to joining LCV, Leslie served as the Program and Outreach Director at the Voter Participation Center, registering and turning out the Rising American Electorate. She is also proud to have served as the Director of the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus and worked on political campaigns at all levels from presidential to state legislative races in New Hampshire, Iowa, Oklahoma, Washington State.

 

Hallie (Schneir) Ross most recently served as Director of US Initiatives at the Women’s Equality Center, a project of the New Venture Fund, dedicated to advancing reproductive freedom. Previously, Hallie served in the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama, and as the Deputy Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls. She also worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and on then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign starting in Iowa in 2007. Hallie has run competitive state legislative races in Iowa and worked on campaigns at the local, state, and national level in Oregon, Virginia, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Indiana, and North Carolina. Hallie is a graduate of Barnard College in New York.

 

Matt Harringer cut his teeth as a staffer in Florida’s state Legislature before working on Democratic campaigns, on the Hill and in media consulting. In the 2018 cycle, he led gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham’s communications team and then worked with MVAR Media to produce TV and web ads for successful Democratic campaigns and independent expenditure groups across the country. He is a graduate of the University of Florida.

 

Eva Gavrish comes to the DLCC after spending the last campaign cycle in her home state of Florida, where she served as Deputy Finance Director for Gwen Graham’s gubernatorial campaign and then led the fundraising operation for a successful transportation ballot initiative in the Tampa Bay Area. Previously, Eva worked in DC as the scheduler for then-Congresswoman Graham and Congresswoman Julia Brownley. Eva began her career on the finance team for Graham for Congress after graduating from Florida State University.

 

The DLCC is also announcing two major promotions:

 

Ivan Cheung is the DLCC’s Director of Strategic Communications and Digital, where he oversees the committee’s communications, digital, and research operations. During the 2018 cycle, Ivan led the digital and multimedia teams to achieve record-breaking results for the DLCC. Ivan joined the committee from Blue State Digital where he was most recently Associate Creative Director. He also previously served as Digital Director for Katie McGinty’s U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, and on the marketing team at Human Rights Watch. He holds a BSc from the London School of Economics.

 

Amy Friedman is the DLCC’s Virginia State Advisor. She works with targeted candidates and campaigns across Virginia to ensure they have the tools they need to win in November. Previously, she acted as the DLCC’s Deputy National Field Director. She also worked as the campaign manager for Gretchen Driskell for Congress and was the field director for Jon Ossoff in his campaign for Georgia’s sixth congressional district. She also worked for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Virginia, Hillary for Iowa, and the Alison Lundergan Grimes campaign for U.S. Senate in 2014.

 

And the DLCC is excited to share the organization will continue to be led by Executive Director Jessica Post, as well as Deputy Executive Director Heather Williams, National Political Director Kevin Boyd, National Finance Director Josh Handleman, National Data & Analytics Director Tara Brosnan, and Chief Operating Officer Ellie Collinson.