Blue Crab Strategies is a political consulting firm that caters to left-of-center clients. In 2020, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg hired the firm to consult on strategy for his Democratic presidential primary campaign in Maryland. ¹

Blue Crab Strategies’ staff has deep connections to former President Barack Obama’s campaigns and the Obama administration. Jason Waskey is the firm’s CEO and is a longtime Democratic strategist who worked on the 2008 Obama campaign. ² Amanda Aguirre and Rebecca Dane, principles at Blue Crab Strategies, worked on Obama’s 2012 campaign and for his 2013 inaugural committee. ^{3 4} Jessica Loya worked for the Obama White House’s Office on Environmental Quality’s Office of Public Engagement. ⁵

Jason Waskey

Jason Waskey is the CEO of Blue Crab Strategies and has worked on the campaigns of left-of-center politicians since 2004. ² Between 2007 and 2009, Waskey worked as a special assistant to the Democratic Secretaries of State of Maryland. During that time, Waskey also worked for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign. From 2013 to 2018, Waskey worked for the left-of-center Climate Action Campaign as its deputy director. ² In 2020, Waskey worked on Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign in Maryland. ¹ Blue Crab Strategies received over $18,000 from the Bloomberg campaign for general strategy consultation. ⁶

Waskey is also the founder and CEO of Civic Nation, a left-wing nonprofit that engages in social activism. High ranking Obama administration officials Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, and Cecilia Munzo, director of the Domestic Policy Council, are board members at Civic Nation. ⁷ In both the 2016 and 2018 elections, Civic Nation headed up voter engagement campaigns focused on college students. Civic Nation was so closely tied to the Obama White House that the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities did not endorse its effort to register students. ⁸

Waskey has also been an active Democratic donor. He gave over $2,300 to the 2008 Obama campaign and $2,000 to President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. ⁹ In 2020, Waskey gave to numerous Democratic Senate candidates including U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jaime Harrison, and Sara Gideon. ⁹

Staff

Amanda Aguirre is a principle at Blue Crab Strategies. Prior to her employment with Blue Crab Strategies, Aguirre worked for left-of-center politicians and groups for a decade.  Aguirre worked for the Obama 2012 presidential campaign and went on to work on President Obama’s 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee. ³ In 2013, Aguirre worked for the Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Terry McAuliffe, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). ³ Aguirre went onto work in the Obama administration as Associate Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and as Acting Director of Public Engagement and Environmental Education for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ³ Aguirre also worked on President Biden’s transition team for the EPA. ¹⁰ Aguirre has also worked for the environmentalist groups Climate Action Campaign and GreenLatinos. ³

Rebecca Dane is the managing director of Blue Crab Strategies. Dane worked for the Obama 2012 campaign and the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee. ⁴ In 2013, Dane worked on Elizabeth Colbert-Bush’s congressional campaign. ⁴ Dane worked for the Climate Action Campaign from 2013 to 2016. ⁴

Jessica Loya is a principle for Blue Crab Strategies. Loya worked for the Obama administration in the White House Office on Environmental Quality’s Office of Public Engagement. ⁵ Loya was also the national policy director for GreenLatinos. ⁵

1. “Mike Bloomberg Campaign Puts Together Maryland Leadership Team, Baltimore HQ Opens Saturday.” CBS Baltimore. February 3, 2020.  https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/02/03/mike-bloomberg-campaign-puts-together-maryland-leadership-team-baltimore-hq-opens-saturday/.
2. “Jason Waskey.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-waskey/.
3. “Amanda Aguirre.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-aguirre-1558221a/.
4. “Rebecca Dane.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccamdane/.
5. “Jessica Loya.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-loya-86a14467/.
6. “Mike Bloomberg 2020: Schedule D.” FEC. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00728154/1384301/sd/12.
7. “About.” Civic Nation. Board of Directors. Accessed January 6, 2021. https://civicnation.org/about/.
8. Lederman, Doug. “Civic Engagement or Get out the Vote?” Inside Higher Ed Website. July 8, 2016. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/08/confusion-surrounds-student-voting-effort-linked-white-house.
9. Center for Responsive Politics. “Search: Jason Waskey.” Opensecrets.org. Accessed February 13, 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=jason+waskey.
10. “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Biden Transition Organization Names Agency Review Team.” Mitchell Williams. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://www.mitchellwilliamslaw.com/us-environmental-protection-agency-biden-transition-organization-names-agency-review-team.