Dems Defy Midterms Conventional Wisdom

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With the polls all over the place these last weeks, it was hard to know which end was up. But when everything shook out, one thing was clear: Democrats defied expectations and there was no “red wave” or Trump-dominated victories. As Stephen Colbert said, it was more of a “pink trickle.”

House Republicans are still trying to figure out how they can govern, given their caucus of conspiracy-theorists, election deniers, and the Trump gold standard – Marjorie Taylor Greene. Meanwhile, Democrats have big plans for the Lame Duck session and our Senate majority in the new year. Not to mention the key Georgia Senate run-off coming up on December 6.

So, while the dust is settling, I want to highlight some big wins that we are celebrating. First, two Democratic women were elected governor for the first time in New York and Massachusetts, and Democrat Wes Moore is the first Black person to be elected governor of Maryland. 

CCAH congratulates our partners for their hard work in these races:

EMILY’s List, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association, NAACP LDF, and LCV Give Green.

We congratulate Senator Michael Bennet on his reelection. And a huge thank you to Rep. Val Demings for her hard-fought race in Florida and also to Cheri Beasley and Marcus Flowers for their dogged pursuit of democracy against Trump-endorsed candidates.

A big shout-out to my CCAH colleagues across all departments who, through it all, dealt with impossible deadlines and last-minute edits due to political winds changing, as our political clients fought for the soul of our nation. No pressure! 

These midterm elections will echo for generations to come, as we literally rewrote the political status quo. I’m so proud to work with our clients and colleagues to keep fighting for progress, equality, and a strengthened democracy for this country that we love.

AAPC Names Chrissy Hyre to 40 Under 40 List for 2020

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Each year, the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) selects some of the best in our nation’s political business community to honor on their 40 Under 40 list, recognizing their leadership and innovation. This year CCAH is fortunate enough to have one of our own on that list – Ms. Chrissy Hyre.

Chrissy was nominated for the award by a fellow CCAH employee, Catherine Algieri. Chrissy and Catherine have been working together since 2018, when Chrissy was Catherine’s consultant for her work at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Catherine has since joined the CCAH team to head our new political digital program and, in her words, “realized I didn’t know the half of what Chrissy brings to the table.”

Chrissy’s work to expand the use of telemarketing programs in progressive political campaigns has helped her to make millions of voter contacts for candidates like Andrew Gillum for Governor and Kamala Harris for President, as well as for politically motivated organizations like Collective PAC and Citizen Action. She paved the way for peer-to-peer mobile platforms like Hustle and Get Thru to work with telemarketing firms and utilize live operators that would allow organizations and candidates to dramatically scale up their engagement efforts over SMS.

Chrissy wasn’t always planning on innovating the world of political fundraising; in college, she initially registered as a musical theatre major. The common thread between her aspirations as a thespian and her work now as a consultant? Vulnerability. According to Chrissy: “We ask our clients to put an incredible amount of trust in us … so we need to show up in a really authentic way to build those relationships.”

In that spirit, Chrissy’s work in the industry of political consulting has been nothing short of visionary. As an inventive team player, Chrissy has earned accolades from her clients, business contacts, and here at CCAH, where she was made a partner in March of this year. We are so glad that the AAPC has recognized her hard work by adding her to their 40 Under 40 list, and we look forward to honoring her future accomplishments. Congratulations, Chrissy!

Women’s History Month – Part 2

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As we continue to celebrate women’s history month, we are taking a moment to celebrate the women who made history when they were elected to Congress last November. Many of these women are representing groups that deserve a seat at the table but didn’t have one before, and they bring valuable perspective to Washington.

Women’s History Month – Part 1

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March has always been a month we celebrate women in history — but this year in particular, we get to celebrate women making history. At CCAH, we are always focused on what’s going on in politics: even less politically motivated clients need to be up to date on recent legislation that can impact their missions and their donors. That focus meant we had front row seats to history being made.

Women’s history month can be traced back to 1911, when the first International Women’s Day was held to celebrate women’s contributions to society and history. By 1919, women had won the right to vote with the 19th Amendment, and they did not stop making their voices heard. 1979 saw International Women’s Day upgraded to a full week-long conference held at Sarah Lawrence College, and the event’s success led to many conference goers instituting a similar event in their home communities, and these women began pushing for the week to become a national event.

President Jimmy Carter agreed, and National Women’s History Week was established for the year of 1980. In his proclamation, he stated that “men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

By 1987, following a petition by the National Women’s History Project, Congress established for the first time a National Women’s History Month, and the president has declared an annual proclamation confirming the month of March annually ever since.

This year in the 116th Congress, we saw more women than ever making history. There were a record-breaking number of women sworn into Congress, with 128 Congresswomen serving right now — 23 Senators and 105 Representatives — making up nearly a quarter of the House and Senate. These women are not historic just due to their gender either.

Among these women, we see the first Native American Congresswomen; the youngest ever member of the House; the first bisexual member of Senate; the first Muslim women elected to Congress; and a record number of female veterans serving in Congress.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month this March, I urge you to take a moment to look at the history that has been made, is being made, and will be made in the years to come. At CCAH, we cannot wait to see what will be coming next.