People in the news

Hari Sevugan

Former National Press Secretary and head of rapid response at the Democratic National Committee (March 2009 - June 2011)

(Democratic National
Committee)

Why He Matters

As former national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, Sevugan was in charge of the DNC's rapid response operation, meaning he usually had about an hour to release a colorful, hard-hitting quote on the key issues of the day.

Politico reporter Ben Smith said Sevugan "was, for some reason, always given the press office's harshest lines."

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Senior spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign (January 2008 to November 2008); Communications Director for Christopher Dodd's 2008 presidential campaign (2007 to 2008); Communications director for Martin O'Malley's 2006 gubernatorial campaign (2006); Policy director for Tim Kaine's 2005 gubernatorial campaign (2005); Research and policy director for Daniel Mongiardo's 2004 senatorial campaign (2004)
Birthday: Dec. 30, 1974
Hometown: Born in Madras, India and raised in Glendale Heights, Ill.

Alma Mater: University of Illinois-Champaign, B.A. (political science); Northwestern University Law School, J.D..
Email: Help complete
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Path to Power

Sevugan was born in Madras, India in 1974. Two years later, his parents moved to Glendale Heights, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago, where his father worked in marketing and his mother was a small-business owner. He went to the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., and studied political science. But when he graduated, Sevugan didn't immediately enter politics. Instead, he worked as a middle-school teacher in New York.

Sevugan said he loved teaching middle school because the students were old enough to have developed personalities but young enough to be gullible and fun to joke around with. He once dyed his hair blond in front of the entire school after losing a bet with his students. "It was very rewarding," Sevugan said. But after two years, he became frustrated with the bureaucracy outside of the classroom. "I thought a greater way to make a difference would be through a policy role," Sevugan said.

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He changed course and attended Northwestern University Law School. After graduation, he worked for a few years for the law firm of Neal, Gerber and Eisenberg in Chicago. In 2004, Sevugan was recruited to work on his first political campaign: Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes' unsuccessful run against Obama in the 2004 Democratic primary for Senate.

From there, Sevugan hit the road, heading from campaign to campaign. He was recruited to work as research and policy director for Kentucky Governor Daniel Mongiardo's (D) 2004 run against Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). Sevugan said that was a fun, intense campaign because they were on a shoestring budget in the Republican state. The Democratic challenger had no direct mail and aired just two television ads. The small staff allowed Sevugan to work on all facets of the campaign. Mongiardo lost, but closed the gap in the final few months of the campaign.

Sevugan had better luck when he joined Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine's (D-Va.) successful 2005 gubernatorial campaign as policy director. It was the opposite of Mongiardo's campaign: high-profile, nationally-watched and well-funded. After Kaine's victory, Sevugan went north to Maryland where he served as communications director for then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) in his successful run for Maryland governor, scoring another high-profile race.

Dodd and Obama Presidential Campaigns

From there, Sevugan joined the presidential campaign of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), another relatively underfunded enterprise in which the senator was a distinct underdog. But Dodd got some attention for moving to Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, and ran a cyber-savvy effort that utilized Twitter, YouTube and blogs. But Dodd's campaign never gained traction and the lawmaker pulled out of the race shortly after losing the Iowa caucuses.

When Dodd dropped out, Sevugan, who is a big Cubs fan and cites Bill Simmons as his favorite writer, returned to Chicago, where he joined Obama's presidential campaign. Initially, he received the "Hillary Clinton Account," and was in charge of rapid response against the former first lady. After the primary, he took aim at GOP nominee and vice presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).

After Obama won, Sevugan continued to press the Democratic political agenda as national press secretary for the DNC. "You're still trying to accomplish the same thing, which is get your message out and explain to people why it's better to listen to us," Sevugan said. "The way I always ran my policy shops was I felt policy was very much a tool for communicating your message."

The Issues

"In a news cycle that's as fast-paced as the one we're currently living in, getting your message out as quickly as possible is critical," Sevugan said. Sevugan worked with a large DNC team dedicated to getting out the message of the day, or in many cases the message of the hour.

On Sevugan's first day with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, the Tennessee Republican Party released a video highlighting Michelle Obama's comments that she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life." The video became a rallying cry for Republicans who accused the future first lady of being unpatriotic.

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The Network

Sevugan has worked for a half-dozen high-profile campaigns in his career, including the efforts of Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who Sevugan works for at the DNC, Martin O'Malley (D-Md.) and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.).

Most recently, Sevugan worked on the Obama campaign, where he worked alongside Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesperson, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

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Additional Resources