Jesse Ferguson

Jesse Ferguson is a battle-tested political strategist. He has top-level experience ranging from presidential campaign media relations with every major national outlet to managing polling and advertising for a nearly $70 million independent expenditure in the midterms and beyond. Of his media relations work, the National Journal wrote, “Jesse Ferguson’s skill is shaping a media narrative while remaining behind the scenes.”

Ferguson was the Deputy National Press Secretary and Senior Spokesperson at Hillary for America, handling national media from the April 2015 announcement through the November 2016 election. He handled major media about all aspects of the campaign, oversaw dozens of policy rollouts and major endorsements, coordinated the launch of countless advertisements, and influenced media narratives, especially on broadcast and cable television.

For the 2014 midterms, Ferguson was the Executive Director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Independent Expenditure, overseeing $67 million in television, radio, and digital advertising, making it the largest Democratic Party advertiser in the midterms. The National Journal observed, “The committee’s creative, out-of-the-box independent-expenditure ads, tailored to each district, are a bright spot, and something aides argue have helped move the dial in a handful of tough races.” Meanwhile, Politico highlighted the committee’s digital advertising program, which targeted “the most persuadable voters with an online onslaught.”

In the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, Ferguson served first as Communications Director and then as Deputy Executive Director of the DCCC, overseeing one of the largest and most aggressive communications teams in Washington and shaping House Democrats’ message and managing rapid response to define the Republican Congress. On the 2012 cycle, Charlie Cook of the Cook Report wrote that the DCCC team exceeded expectations—“beating the point spread”—in 2012 because they “excelled at hand-to-hand combat.”

Before working at the DCCC, Ferguson was Communications Director and Senior Advisor to a Virginia gubernatorial campaign and previously served as Chief of Staff to the Democratic Caucus Chairman in the Virginia House of Delegates. During Ferguson’s tenure, Virginia House Democrats made their largest gains since Watergate.

Ferguson started his career as the founding Executive Director of Virginia21, a higher education advocacy organization based in Richmond. After College, he took a fellowship in the office of Virginia Governor Mark Warner.

BuzzFeed named Ferguson to the 24 people who will be running Washington Next Year, and the National Journal selected him as one of its “35 and Under Power Set.” Recently, his op-eds have been published in USA Today, Time Magazine, POLITICO, Fortune and others.

Ferguson earned a bachelor’s degree, with highest honors, in Government and Economics from the College of William and Mary and a certificate in Political Leadership from the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. BuzzFeed named Ferguson to the 24 people who will be running Washington, and the National Journal selected him as one of its “35 and Under Power Set.”