Brandon Davis is a Democratic political operative and the managing director of the public affairs firm GPS Impact’s Washington, D.C. office. He is a Senior Advisor to House Majority PAC, was formerly chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee, and previously the national political director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). ¹²

GPS Impact

GPS Impact is a self-described progressive public relations and advertising company promoting Democratic politicians and progressive campaign groups. The group focuses on digital mediums for their media buying, advertisements, and audience-targeting methods. ³

GPS Impact expressed opposition to Twitter’s decision to restrict paid political ads and causes. GPS Impact partner Roy Temple called the move a cop-out and questioned how the policy would be regulated: “Universal healthcare is a cause, but is there a bill related to that? Are you talking about the bill or the cause? How is that determined?”⁴

GPS Impact managed 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) television advertising. ⁵ Other clients of GPS Impact include:

• Representative Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)
• Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum
• Representative Conor Lamb (D-PA)
• Representative Kim Schrier (D-WA)
• Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly
• Congressional candidate Randy Bryce (D-WI)
• North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper
• Serve America PAC
• Nevada Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak
• Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
• Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf

Bloomberg Campaign

In December of 2019 Davis was appointed as a senior advisor on former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination. The former New York City Mayor and multibillionaire hired Davis to work at his headquarters while developing multiple campaign offices across the United States. ⁶ That following March, Bloomberg suspended his campaign, into which he invested over $500 million, after detrimental results from the March 4^th “Super Tuesday” primaries. ⁷

Democratic National Committee

Following the 2016 presidential primaries, Hillary Clinton’s campaign installed Davis to be the chief of staff for the Democratic National Committee for the general election campaign. ⁸ Davis’ appointment was part of a DNC shakeup of other senior leaders following an scandal in which Wikileaks released email messages believed to have been obtained by persons working on behalf of Russian military intelligence suggesting DNC leaders were trying to undermine the campaign of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to elevate Clinton’s chances for the Democratic nomination. ⁹

Democratic political operative Donna Brazile worked with Davis during the 2016 presidential election. Brazile, who served as the acting chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee during the general election season, authored a tell-all book about the fall of the Clinton campaign in which she described Davis’ behavior towards her as adverse. She wrote, “Brandon often rolled his eyes as if I was the stupidest woman he’d ever had to endure on his climb to the top. He openly scoffed at me, snorting sometimes when I made an observation.” ¹⁰

Early Career

Prior to his position with the Democratic National Committee, Davis was the national political director for the Service Employees International Union from 2011 through 2016. ¹¹

1. “Progressive Strategist Brandon Davis Joins GPS Impact.” GPS Impact. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.gpsimpact.com/progressive-strategist-brandon-davis-joins-gps-impact/.
2. Frizell, Sam. “Hillary Clinton: Democratic Committee Hire Shows Pivot.” Time. Time, June 16, 2016. https://time.com/4371920/hillary-clinton-democratic-national-committee-brandon-davis/.
3. “Our Portfolio.” GPS Impact. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.gpsimpact.com/portfolio/.
4. Sheila Dang and Paresh Dave. “UPDATE 1-Twitter Tightens Bans on Political Ads and Causes Ahead of 2020 U.S. Election.” CNBC. CNBC, November 15, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/reuters-america-update-1-twitter-tightens-bans-on-political-ads-and-causes-ahead-of-2020-u-s-election.html.
5. Schneider, Gabe. “Meet the Non-Campaign Staff Working on the Klobuchar Campaign.” MinnPost, February 28, 2020. https://www.minnpost.com/national/2020/02/meet-the-non-campaign-staff-working-on-the-klobuchar-campaign/.
6. “Mike Bloomberg 2020 Announces Robust State Operation.” Mike Bloomberg for President. Accessed March 9, 2020. https://www.mikebloomberg.com/news/mike-bloomberg-2020-announces-robust-state-operation.
7. “Bloomberg Drops out of Presidential Race, Endorses Biden.” POLITICO. Accessed March 9, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/04/mike-bloomberg-suspends-2020-campaign-120910.
8. Strauss, Daniel, and Tyler Pager. “Clinton Initiates DNC Takeover.” POLITICO, June 16, 2016. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/brandon-davis-dnc-224440.

9. ABC News. ABC News Network. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/top-dnc-officials-wikileaks-email-release/story?id=41078429.
10. “Democrats Survive Friendly Fire to Win Key Elections.” St. Louis American, November 22, 2017. http://www.stlamerican.com/news/political_eye/democrats-survive-friendly-fire-to-win-key-elections/article_3059d012-c4fe-11e7-b697-67e5093ae409.html.
11. “Progressive Strategist Brandon Davis Joins GPS Impact.” GPS Impact. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.gpsimpact.com/progressive-strategist-brandon-davis-joins-gps-impact/.