Daniel Lewis is a Democratic Party philanthropist and brother of late businessman Peter B. Lewis, the former CEO of Progressive Insurance, the third-largest insurance company in the United States.

Early Life

Daniel Lewis was born on August 1, 1946. ¹ He received an accounting degree from Miami University in 1968. ²  He then worked as a real estate developer in Phoenix, Arizona, but eventually returned to his family’s company and took on general management, control, claims, product management, and board membership responsibilities. ³ Daniel Lewis’s father, Jack Lewis, founded Progressive Insurance in 1937. In 1965, Daniel and his brother Peter took over their father’s small insurance company and grew it into the third-largest insurance company in the United States. ⁴

Political Contributions

Lewis has consistently supported Democratic Party candidates and aligned political action committees (PACs) since 1984. ⁵

Between 2019 and 2020, Lewis contributed $5,600 to the presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and $966.66 to the Democratic Party of Virginia. ⁶ In 2016, Lewis contributed $25,000 the Hillary Victory Fund PAC and $2,700 to the presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D), as well as $22,300 to the Democratic National Committee. ⁷ In 2012, Lewis contributed $5,000 to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama⁸ and $5,000 to the campaign of Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY). ⁹

Third Way

Lewis sits on the board of Third Way. ¹⁰ Third Way claims to hold center-left positions on a variety of policy areas, including economic policy, national security, healthcare. While the organization’s economic policy does align closely with more moderate center-left politics, much of the organization’s other policy positions, such as advocating for increased government control over healthcare,¹¹ and support for abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood that seek taxpayer funding, indicate that on many issues Third Way is more of a left-of-center organization. ¹²

Lewis Music Prize

In 2018, Lewis established the Lewis Prize for Music Foundation, an organization that provides funding for young individuals to obtain formal education in music. A document created by the organization for applicants claims that inequities in the United States stem from “systems that devalue, exploit, and exclude people.” ¹³ The document states that the program seeks “applicants who have a solid progressive change initiative underway and are beginning to see progress toward a tipping point or are sustaining the transition to a new system.” ¹⁴

1. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Public Data Digger. https://publicdatadigger.com/FL/miami/ne-miami-ct/109541043/Daniel-Lewis
2. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Third Way. https://www.thirdway.org/about/board-of-trustees/daniel-r-lewis
3. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Third Way. https://www.thirdway.org/about/board-of-trustees/daniel-r-lewis
4. Fitzsimmons, Emma G. “Peter B. Lewis, Philanthropist Who Led Progressive Auto Insurance, Dies at 80.” New York Times. November 24, 2013. Accessed July 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/business/peter-b-lewis-philanthropist-who-led-progressive-auto-insurance-dies-at-80.html
5. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Federal Election Commission. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=daniel%20r.%20lewis
6. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Federal Election Commission. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=daniel%20r.%20lewis
7. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Federal Election Commission. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=daniel%20r.%20lewis
8. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Federal Election Commission. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=daniel%20r.%20lewis
9. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Federal Election Commission. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=daniel%20r.%20lewis
10. “Daniel R. Lewis.” Lewis Prize for Music. https://www.thelewisprize.org/aboutus 
11. Ahmadi, Ladan and Kendall, David. “The Can’t-Miss Way to Expand Obamacare” Democracy Journal. April 30, 2021. Accessed July 18, 2021. https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/the-cant-miss-way-to-expand-obamacare/
12. “Talking About Reproductive Rights in 2020.” Third Way. February 27, 2020. Accessed July 18, 2021. https://www.thirdway.org/memo/talking-about-reproductive-rights-in-2020 
13. “2020 Definition of Systems Change.” The Lewis Prize for Music. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d51a410b7e2cc00012a7edf/t/5f1a0cd7ffbf7e08ad9b2c65/1595542743555/2020_LP_Systems.Change_Definition.pdf
14. “2020 Definition of Systems Change.” Lewis Prize for Music. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d51a410b7e2cc00012a7edf/t/5f1a0cd7ffbf7e08ad9b2c65/1595542743555/2020_LP_Systems.Change_Definition.pdf