Shop Talk: Obama Manager Messina Starts New Political Firm
President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, announced Wednesday the launch of his new political firm, The Messina Group.
The new firm “will employ innovative strategies and techniques developed and utilized during the 2012 election, including the advances in technology and data-analytics that were integral to the campaign’s success,” according to a news release.
The three principles — Messina, Ty Matsdorf and Tara Corrigan — are veterans of Obama presidential campaigns:
- Prior to the most recent campaign, Messina was White House deputy chief of staff and held a leading role on the 2008 campaign. He is a former Capitol Hill staffer, serving as a top aide for both Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. He also worked for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.
- Matsdorf most recently was the war room director for American Bridge, an opposition research super PAC, and worked for Obama’s Nevada campaign. Earlier in his career, Matsdorf was a communications director for Baucus.
- Corrigan was part of Obama’s 2007 effort to win Iowa. She worked on both campaigns, as well as in the political affairs department in the White House.