Ed Gillespie

Edward Walter Gillespie (born August 1, 1961) 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 1984, Ireland joined the Republican party with Gillespie following, saying, "I liked President Reagan's approach to governing and it just made sense to me."

In his book, Winning Right, Gillespie described himself as someone who "all but had 'Democrat' stamped on his birth certificate," but had become increasingly uncomfortable with the leftward tilt of the national party and believed it wasn't taking the threat of Communism seriously.

As he saw it, he and Ireland were classic Reagan Democrats who became Republicans–"a southern conservative and a young northeastern ethnic Catholic who no longer felt comfortable in the party of their heritage."

He worked as telephone solicitor for the Republican National Committee in 1985, and later worked for a decade as a top aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), and was a principal drafter of the GOP's 1994 "Contract With America."

In 1996 he served as communications director for the RNC.

In 1997, Gillespie joined the lobbying firm BGR Group (Barbour, Griffith & Rogers), and advised Senate Republicans during the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

In 1999, Gillespie worked as the Press Secretary for the Presidential campaign of John Kasich until his withdrawal from the race and endorsement of George W. Bush.

In 2000, Gillespie served as senior communications advisor for the presidential campaign of Bush, organizing the party convention program in Philadelphia for Bush's nomination and Bush's inauguration ceremony.

He played an aggressive role as spokesman for the Bush campaign during the vote recount in Florida.

In 2000, Gillespie founded the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates with Jack Quinn, and within a year had an income of $8.5 million and was 11th on Fortune's list of the most powerful lobbying firms in the US.

One of the firm's clients was Enron, which paid it $1,225,000, including $700,000 to lobby the Department of Energy and the Executive Office of the President to resist efforts to re-regulate the western electricity market during the California Electricity Crisis.

Gillespie has said that he was unaware of Enron's deceptive accounting practices.

The firm lobbied on behalf of AT&T, Bank of America, and Microsoft in the years 2001–2007, earning more than $3.2 million.

In 2002, he was a strategist for Elizabeth Dole's 2002 Senate campaign.

By the end of 2002, Quinn Gillespie & Associates had received $27.4 million in lobbying fees.

In 2007, Quinn Gillespie & Associates represented more than 100 clients.

In 2012 Gillespie was a senior member of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign.

Gillespie founded the bipartisan lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates with Jack Quinn, and founded Ed Gillespie Strategies.

Gillespie ran in the 2014 United States Senate election in Virginia.

Gillespie narrowly lost to incumbent Mark Warner by a margin of 0.8%.

In 2016, the firm reported $17.2 million in revenue from federal lobbying.

The firm pitched to potential clients that Gillespie, due to his involvement with the White House and association with individuals in power, could leverage those relationships to benefit clients.

In 2016, Gillespie lobbied on behalf of the health insurance company Anthem, as the nation's second-largest insurance firm tried to merge with third-largest insurance firm Cigna.

A federal judge blocked the mergers, citing insurance regulators who said the merger would raise costs and reduce competition in the health insurance market.

Gillespie ran for Governor of Virginia in the 2017 election.

After winning the Republican primary, he was defeated in the general election by Democratic nominee Ralph Northam; Gillespie received 1.17 million votes (45%) to Northam's 1.40 million (54%) in the election.

Gillespie shut down his lobbying firm Ed Gillespie Strategies shortly before launching his campaign for governor in January 2017.

The conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch said that Gillespie's ties to corporations may pose a conflict of interest for him as governor, and that this is a "nonpartisan concern".

Gillespie's former clients Anthem, AT&T, Microsoft, and Bank of America have ongoing interests in the state of Virginia, and these corporations or their top executives have donated to the Gillespie 2017 campaign.

Gillespie voluntarily released the list of his clients, disclosing more than is required by state law.

In 2020, Gillespie was hired by AT&T to serve as senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs.

Previously, he served as co-chairman of Sard Verbinnen & Co.'s public affairs practice.

Gillespie was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, and raised in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, New Jersey.

He is the son of Conny (Carroll) and Sean (later John) Patrick Gillespie, an immigrant from Ireland who grew up in North Philadelphia.

His parents owned a small grocery store in New Jersey, and Gillespie worked there after school.

He is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Pemberton Township High School.

While at CUA he began his career on Capitol Hill as a U.S. Senate parking lot attendant.

One of his co-workers there was an intern for Representative Andy Ireland of Florida, and through him, Gillespie got the same job after he graduated from college.

Gillespie, raised in a Democratic family, began his political career as intern for Andy Ireland, at the time a Democrat from Florida.