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Person

David Donnelly

Nationality:

American
Political Party:

Democratic
Occupation:

Director, Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign
Residence:

Princeton, New Jersey

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David Donnelly is a left-of-center “political operative who is the executive director of the Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign and the director of the Democratic-aligned consultancy Of By For. 1

During the 2022 election cycle, Donnelly’s Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign raised $32 million that ultimately supported 126 different groups. 2 Donnelly supported the unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) 3 and participated in the 2016 Democratic National Convention’s Platform Hearing Committee. 4

In 2012, Donnelly launched the super PAC Friends of Democracy with liberal donor Jonathan Soros, the son of liberal finance billionaire and political donor George Soros, and Ilyse Hogue, now the president of abortion advocacy organization NARAL Pro-Choice America. 5

Career

David Donnelly is a left-of-center political operative who is the executive director of the left-of-center Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign and the director of the Democratic-aligned Of By For consultancy. 6 Donnelly is also a consultant for the State Democracy Project, a coalition representing left-of-center and left-wing organizations including Center for Popular Democracy, Demos, End Citizens United, MoveOn.org, NAACP, Planned Parenthood Federation of America,  Working Families Organization, and Of By For. 7 8

Donnelly has been active in left-of-center national and state-level political organizations and campaigns for 25 years. His career began as a staffer for then-U.S. Rep. Thomas Andrews (D-ME) in the early 1990s. 9 Since then, he has managed campaigns in 30 states, raised seven-figure budgets to support political campaigns, advised and coached philanthropic and nonprofit executives, and analyzed political and legislative strategies. Donnelly’s issue-advocacy focuses on the critical race theory-influenced concepts of equity, structural change, and climate justice. 10

Pro-Democracy Center

Following the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Donnelly established the Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign to fund left-of-center voting and election advocacy campaigns, increase voter engagement for elections at the state level, 11 and combat individuals whom Donnelly identifies as “election deniers” and others that are a part of what he calls the “battle on democracy.” The organization also works to provide support to state-level groups to increase their long-term capacity. 12 13

During the 2022 election cycle, Donnelly helped the Pro-Democracy Center and Campaign obtain $32 million. With this money, the organizations supported 126 different groups in 16 states during the election cycle. 14

Every Voice

In 2020, Donnelly co-signed a letter urging then-presidential candidate Joe Biden (D-DE) to select Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) as his 2020 Vice Presidential running mate. 15 Donnelly also participated in the 2016 Democratic National Convention’s Platform Hearing Committee. 16 From 2014 until 2019, Donnelly was the president and CEO of left-of-center Every Voice. 17

Friends of Democracy

In 2012, Donnelly launched the super PAC Friends of Democracy with liberal donor Jonathan Soros, the son of liberal finance billionaire and political donor George Soros, and Ilyse Hogue, now the president of abortion advocacy organization NARAL Pro-Choice America. 18 The super PAC has raised money to support Democrats 19 and  targeted Republican incumbents who opposed campaign finance reforms. 20

Other Work

From 2009 until 2014, Donnelly was the executive director of the Public Campaign Action Fund 21 in an effort to expand government funding of election campaigns at the state level. 22 23 Prior to this, he was the coordinator for campaigns in the left-of-center Maine Citizens for Clean Elections 24 and a similar issue set in Massachusetts to publicly fund elections. 25 26

Political Positions

David Donnelly supports the critical race theory-influenced concepts of racial, economic, and climate justice 27 and re-tweeted a post congratulating controversial 1619 Project author Nikole Hannah-Jones for winning a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism on Twitter. 28

Donnelly has said that supporters of former President Donald Trump have inherited a legacy of racism and bigotry that fuses interests with getting power and America’s “racist underbelly of history.” 29 He has also claimed that Donald Trump held “anti-democratic” stances and marginalized Americans based on race, gender, religion, country of origin, and other characteristics, fostering exclusion. 30

Political Contributions

David Donnelly has made Federal Election Commission-reportable contributions to Democratic campaigns and Democratic-aligned campaign committees including ActBlue, the New York State Committee of the left-wing Working Families Party, the unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and the unsuccessful Congressional campaigns of Zephyr Teachout (D-NY) and Cristina Ramirez (D-TX). 31

Personal Information

David Donnelly holds a bachelor of the arts in political science and government from Colby College. He also attended graduate school at Purdue University. 32 He lives in Princeton, New Jersey. 33

References

  1. Montellaro, Zach. “Inside the secret $32M effort to stop ‘Stop the Steal’.” Politico. December 12, 2022. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/midterm-election-trump-maga-00073354.
  2. “Meet The Most Powerful Pro-Democracy Group You Never Heard Of.” MSNBC YouTube. Uploaded December 2022. Accessed January 1, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjVNZ1EvdkA.
  3. “Individual Contributions.” Federal Election Committee search results for “David Donnelly” in Princeton, New Jersey. Accessed December 28, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=david+donnelly&contributor_city=princeton.
  4. “DemPlatform hearing Phoenix Day 2 – David Donnelly.” 2020 Democratic National Convention. Uploaded 2016. Accessed January 1, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POXgeFzjS6g.
  5.  Eggen, Dan. “Son of liberal financier George Soros launches anti-super PAC super PAC.” Washington Post. July 12, 2012. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/son-of-liberal-financier-george-soros-launches-anti-super-pac-super-pac/2012/07/12/gJQABQlufW_story.html.
  6. Montellaro, Zach. “Inside the secret $32M effort to stop ‘Stop the Steal’.” Politico. December 12, 2022. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/midterm-election-trump-maga-00073354.
  7. “David Donnelly.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-donnelly-145662a7/.
  8. “State Democracy Project.” Idealist. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/4ca816dd70284dd0be11bbbca22690b3-state-democracy-project-washington.
  9. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of The Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/
  10. “About Of By For.” Of By For. Accessed December 28, 2022. https://ofbyforconsulting.com/about/.
  11. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of The Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/.
  12. Montellaro, Zach. “Inside the secret $32M effort to stop ‘Stop the Steal’.” Politico. December 12, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/midterm-election-trump-maga-00073354?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014e-f109-dd93-ad7f-f90d0def0000&nlid=630318.
  13. Montellaro, Zach. “Inside the secret $32M effort to stop ‘Stop the Steal’.” Politico. December 12, 2022. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/midterm-election-trump-maga-00073354.
  14. “Meet The Most Powerful Pro-Democracy Group You Never Heard Of.” MSNBC YouTube. Uploaded December 2022. Accessed January 1, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjVNZ1EvdkA.
  15. “Letter to Vice President Biden.” June 12, 2020. Accessed January 7, 2023.
  16. “DemPlatform hearing Phoenix Day 2 – David Donnelly.” 2020 Democratic National Convention. Uploaded 2016. Accessed January 1, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POXgeFzjS6g.
  17. “David Donnelly.” Campaign for America’s Future. Accessed January 5, 2023. https://campaignforamericasfuture.org/signer/david-donnelly/.
  18. Eggen, Dan. “Son of liberal financier George Soros launches anti-super PAC super PAC.” Washington Post. July 12, 2012. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/son-of-liberal-financier-george-soros-launches-anti-super-pac-super-pac/2012/07/12/gJQABQlufW_story.html.
  19. Lovett, Kenneth. “Friends of Democracy to take on anti-campaign finance reform Dems and GOPs.” New York Dailly News. June 16, 2013. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/friends-democracy-targets-dems-campaign-reform-article-1.1374389.
  20.  [1] Gold, Matea. “George Soros’ son launches anti-big money ‘super PAC’.” Los Angeles Times. July 19, 2012. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-xpm-2012-jul-19-la-pn-george-soros-son-launches-antibig-money-super-pac-20120719-story.html
  21. “David Donnelley.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-donnelly-145662a7/.
  22. Nick Nyhart and David Donnelly. “Fair Elections Now!” The Nation. March 26, 2009. Accessed via Web Archive January 7, 2023. https://archive.ph/2MpXL.
  23. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of The Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/.
  24. “David Donnelly.” C-SPAN. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.c-span.org/person/?46643/DavidDonnelly.
  25. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of The Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/.
  26. “Maine Voters for Clean Elections.” C-SPAN. Accessed January 7, 2023. https://www.c-span.org/organization/?33996/Maine-Voters-Clean-Elections.
  27. “Tweet.” David Donnelly Twitter. Posted January 11, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2023. https://mobile.twitter.com/daviddonnelly/status/1348744060014637060?cxt=HHwWiMC54fPk2bclAAAA.
  28. “Tweet.” Greg Greene Twitter. Posted May 4, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2023. https://mobile.twitter.com/ggreeneva/status/1257426365974020097?cxt=HHwWgoC8scSno_MiAAAA.
  29. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of the Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. Timestamp 28:50. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/.
  30. Donnelly, David. “Trump Takes the Money.” U.S. News and World Report. May 9, 2016. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-09/trump-is-no-money-in-politics-reformer.
  31. “Individual Contributions.” Federal Election Committee search results for “David Donnelly” in Princeton, New Jersey. Accessed December 28, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=david+donnelly&contributor_city=princeton.
  32. “Strengthening Our Democracy in the States with David Donnelly of The Pro Democracy Campaign.” The Great Battlefield Podcast. September 30, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-great-battlefield-31025862/episode/strengthening-our-democracy-in-the-states-102697450/.
  33. “David Donnelley.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed December 27, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-donnelly-145662a7/.
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