People in the news

Brendan Daly

Executive Vice President and National Director for Public Affairs, Ogilvy Washington

(Sean Daly)

Why He Matters

As Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) public voice, Daly was the man in charge of Democratic messaging in the U.S. House, until 2010. He and his team translated the priorities of House Democrats into a unified message that lawmakers could take back home to voters.

With Democrats in power at the time, Daly, who had worked for the speaker since 2002, moved from defense to offense. "We're in charge now and the people know we have to deliver on our promises," he said.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Communications Director for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (2007 to 2011); Communications director, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. (2003 to 2006); Communications director, House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi (2002); Communications director Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (2001); Assistant representative for public affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (2000 to 2001); Press director, Peace Corps (1996 to 2002)
Birthday: July 12, 1962
Hometown: Chevy Chase, Md.

Alma Mater: Duke University, B.A., political science, 1984
Spouse: Julie Rasicot
Religion: Catholic

Path to Power

Daly has Washington media in his blood.

The Chevy Chase, Md., native's great-grandfather was a pressman at The Washington Post. His grandfather, the Post's theater critic, was reviewing a play in the Knickerbocker Theater in 1922, when the roof collapsed, killing 98 people in one of the worst disasters in Washington history. John Jay Daly wrote the story for the Post.

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Daly's mother, father and brother, Matthew, also worked in various positions at The Washington Post at different times.

Daly grew up in Chevy Chase, Md., a block away from the Washington, D.C. line, one of eight children of parents Lu Corbett Daly and John Jay Daly, Jr.

Daly was not the only one of his seven siblings to follow the family tradition by going into media. Brendan's brother Sean is a local news reporter in Providence, R.I.; two other brothers cover politics in Washington, D.C.,-one of them, Matthew, is Brendan's identical twin. "We have never intentionally tried to trick anyone, but we are often confused," Daly told the Boston Phoenix.

But the Daly boys try not to conflate their work and family lives. "We try to keep that separate," Daly said in an interview with WhoRunsGov.com.

Daly attended St. Anselm's Abbey, an all-boys Catholic school in Northeast D.C., before heading to college at Duke University. When he arrived on campus in 1980, students were abuzz over Ronald Reagan. "I was the only one in my freshman dorm who didn't vote for him," the Democrat said.He earned a degree in political science in 1984.

Journalism Career

After college, Daly worked as a reporter, first at the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut, then at the Patriot Ledger in the Boston suburbs from 1987 to 1993.

Daly covered the 1992 re-election campaign of Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.), the first openly gay person elected to Congress. When Studds won, he offered Daly the job of press secretary in his office. "At first I said 'no,'" Daly recalled. "But he persisted."

Public Relations in the Public Service

So Daly made the move back home to Washington and to the other side of the media divide. "It was a little tricky. It's a different mindset on this side of the aisle," he said. "You lose some independence, but you gain a lot of knowledge."

Studds advocated increasing funding for HIV/AIDS research, and Daly's work on the issue brought him into contact with the office of another member of Congress, Rep. Pelosi, and her then chief of staff Judy Lemons. Daly and Lemons kept in touch. Years later, she would recruit him to work for Pelosi.

In 1996, with Studds planning to retire, Daly took a job as press director at the Peace Corps, where he happily spent four years traveling the world to promote a program he still raves about.

But Peace Corps employees are limited to five-year stints, so after his fourth year there, Daly found a job at the Office of the U.S Trade Representative. It was 2000, the last year of the Clinton administration, and the office was focused on establishing permanent, normal trade relations with China. Daly worked under Clinton's second-term trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, as director of public affairs.

Pelosi's Office

When President Bush took office in 2001, Daly moved on to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, but when Lemons recruited him to work for newly-elected House Minority Whip Pelosi, Daly could not resist the siren call of Capitol Hill. "I'd been itching to get back into the middle of things," he said.

When Daly started as Pelosi's communications director in early 2002, "it was just me," he said. Seven years later, Pelosi is the speaker of the House, and Daly oversees a staff of 13. Roll Call has frequently named him one of the top staffers on the Hill on their "Fabulous 50" list.

When the Democrats reclaimed the White House in 2009, Daly's job shifted in tone. Rather than being the voice of the opposition, he and his team are now promoting major legislation and working with President Barack Obama to push the overall Democratic agenda.

Despite the intense work hours, Daly makes sure to leave on time on Fridays to coach his daughters' sports teams: basketball for 5th grader Natalie and softball for 8thgrader Emily. Both girls are in school in Silver Spring, Md., where Daly lives with wife Julie.

The Washington Redskins fan also plays a regular basketball game with a group of New York Times reporters. "They're all trying to get me to get President Obama to come out to games," he said, admitting he doubted the commander-in-chief would make an appearance.

The Issues

"We're in charge of the Democratic message," Daly said of his team. "The message we want to send to our members and the public."

The Speaker's communications staff translates the House Democrats' agenda into understandable terms, and encourages members to convey the same, unified message to voters back home.

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The Network

Daly got his start in politics working for Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) During his time in the Studds office, he worked with Judy Lemons, who was then chief of staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Daly and Lemons kept in touch for years, and she eventually recuited him to work in Pelosi's leadership office. Lemons now works as a lobbyist for Dutko Worldwide.

In Pelosi's office, Daly and his deputies, Drew Hammill and Nadeam Elshami, worked under Chief of Staff John Lawrence and Deputy Chief of Staff George Kundanis. Elshami succeeded Daly as communications director.

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Campaign Contributions

In 2006 and 2007, Daly donated to the campaigns of Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Additional Resources