David Krone

Chief of Staff, Senate Majority Leader

Why He Matters

Twenty years ago, Krone had just started a new job and wanted to make a good impression. "You know, you're young and you'll do anything," he reminisced. "I was asked if I would go pick up this senator at the airport." That's how he met his future boss, Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.)

Two decades later, Reid is the Senate majority leader and Krone is tackling the role of his chief of staff.

Read more

As the top aide and confidante to the most powerful Hill Democrat, Krone took charge of Reid's leadership office at a crucial moment. After losses in the 2010 elections, the Democrat's Senate majority shrunk by six seats. With Reid at the helm of a more partisan Senate, Krone must decide when to compromise with resurgent Republicans and when to stand for progressive principles.

"I hope the Republican caucus will help us in our quest to find a middle ground and will move away from the strategy of 'no,'" Krone said. But he added, "We're fully prepared to stand up for what we believe in."

Krone, who has been a senior adviser to Reid since 2008, described his chief-of-staff style as "direct." "I've had to learn how to temper my," he paused, "some people would say, my 'aggressiveness.'"

Krone came by his hard edge honestly. He spent more than 15 years in the private sector, where he once lobbied for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and more recently was a top Comcast executive.

"When you work for one company . . . you only have to advocate for that one company," Krone said. "Here in Congress there are various constituencies."

During his private-sector career, Krone remained friends with Reid. "We always just kept in touch," he said. "He just always looked after me."

Krone also became one of the senator's biggest donors, giving about $35,000 to Reid's campaigns and leadership political action committees, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Krone said he never had much interest in working on Capitol Hill, until Reid asked. "It was one of those things where a friend asks, and you just come and help out." "I don't come from a traditional political background, but what I've always valued is that Sen. Reid always gave me a chance to express my opinion...He knew I had nothing but his best interest at heart."

Krone likes to tell the story of Election Day 2010, when he and Reid, finding themselves with an unscheduled hour, made an unannounced breakfast run to the Las Vegas restaurant The Egg and I.

Reid was in the fight of his political life against tea-party activist Sharron Angle (R), and many media outlets predicted he was going to lose. To Krone, the impromptu visit was a bellwether. "You're about to find out, when you go into a place unannounced, whether people love you or people hate you," he said. "And you have no idea what's going to happen."

The reception Reid received overwhelmed Krone. "It was unbelievable how warm it was," he said. That, Krone said, is when he said to himself, "You know what? We're gonna be okay."

In His Own Words

Krone himself said his job "is to throw himself in front of a bus" for his boss.

More on: David Krone

At a Glance
Path To Power
The Issues
The Network
Campaign Contributions
Additional Resources

Corrections?

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Senior Vice President, Comcast Corporation (2008 to 2010); Executive Vice President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) (2002 to 2007); Executive Vice President of Marketing, YES (Yankees Entertainment and Sports) Network (January 2001 to July 2002); Executive Vice President of Communications and Marketing of GlobalCenter, Inc. (2000 to 2001); Executive Vice President of Government Relations at AT&T Broadband (1998 to 2000); Manager for Government Affairs,Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) (1992 to 1998); Campaign management and consulting, Southern Strategies, Inc.
Birthday: October 30, 1966
Hometown: Philadelphia, Penn.; Washington, D.C.

Alma Mater: Pennsylvania State University, B.A. (political science), 1989
DC Office: S-221, The CapitolWashington, DC 20510202-224-5556
Web site

Path To Power

Krone, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, attended Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science.

Like many now in President Obama's inner circle, Krone is a protege of former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), starting as an intern in 1987 for the former House majority leader on Capitol Hill. The next year he decided to forgo law school in favor of staffing Gephardt's presidential campaign.

Read more

Southern Strategies, Inc.

When Gephardt's campaign lost momentum, Krone returned home and eventually decided not to attend law school. Instead he chose to work on campaigns, joined the influential lobbying and political consulting firm Southern Strategies, Inc.

In 1991, Krone worked on behalf of the telecommunications firm TCI to oppose a Morganton, N.C., referendum which would have created a municipal cable system and thus booted TCI from town. The referendum passed, but TCI hired Krone as a manager for government affairs in 1992.

Meeting Reid

A week into his tenure at TCI, Krone was asked to pick up Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) from the airport for a fundraiser. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

"I pick up Harry Reid; we have this nice drive. He's in a chatty mood," Krone told Politico of meeting his future friend and boss. "We went to dinner, and then I drove him back to the airport. He couldn't have been nicer to me. He's got this sweetness about him that people don't know."

The two kept in touch. Their friendship, Politico reported, owed much to the fact that both men had lost their fathers at a young age, a fact which bonded them.

"We stayed in touch over the years; we'd always be friendly," Krone said. "He was always just really genuinely nice to me. We had a good relationship; we'd always be talking about things. Honestly, we became friends."

Private Sector

In 1998, TCI merged with AT&T to become AT&T Broadband. Krone stayed on at AT&T as the executive vice president of government relations.

In 2000, Krone struck out for California, to join Silicon Valley's Internet boom with a startup called GlobalCenter. The Internet bubble burst shortly after he arrived, and Krone returned East the next year.

He became executive vice president of marketing for the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network in 2001. He worked on the early marketing campaigns and helped launch the network in March 2002.

In 2002, Krone moved to Washington, D.C., and became executive vice president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a trade group. He worked there for five years.

In 2008, after a short time at a lobbying firm, the giant Comcast corporation hired Krone as a senior vice president for corporate affairs. He earned more than $5 million in 2008.

Office of the Senate Majority Leader

After Obama's 2008 election to the White House, Krone took a significant pay cut to return to the Hill. Reid, who was by then Senate majority leader, hired Krone as a senior consultant.

A year later, Reid made Krone his deputy chief of staff.

When Reid's chief of staff, Gary Myrick, left for the powerful secretary of the majority position at the end of 2010, Reid asked Krone to take his place.

The Issues

At the end of 2010, Politico reported, "Krone's mission will be to advise Reid on when to hold his ground against the Republican onslaught and when to look for compromise in the divided Senate."

But Krone, somewhat more bluntly, said his job "is to throw himself in front of a bus" for his boss.

Read more

The Network

Krone has been friends with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) for two decades, and has donated more money to his campaigns than any other individual.

When Krone joined Reid's office he worked with then-chief of staff Gary Myrick, spokesperson Jim Manley,and communications head Rodell Mollineau. When Myrick left to become secretary for the majority, Krone took his place. In Reid's office, he works with Deputy Chief of Staff Bill Dauster.

Read more

Campaign Contributions

Krone's work in the private sector made him wealthy, and he has donated thousands upon thousands of dollars to political candidates-mostly, but not exclusively, to Democrats-before he entered the public sector.

He gave more than $35,000 to Harry Reid's campaigns and political action committee, making him Reid's single largest donor.

Read more

Additional Resources