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Person

Marissa McBride

Nationality:

American
Organization:

Mind the Gap

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Marissa McBride is a career Democratic operative and the executive director of Mind the Gap, a left-wing super PAC dedicated to helping Democratic political candidates win elections.

There is little public information on McBride. As of May 2023, she has no Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profiles. The only biography available online for McBride can be found on the Voter Participation Center‘s website in 2018. It states: 1

“Marissa McBride is the Executive Director. She oversees all facets of VPC’s work, makes sure the trains are running on time, and plans surprise birthday parties for the other people on this list. You can catch her early at cycling class or late-night playing competitive rec soccer. Prior to working at VPC, Marissa helped develop and grow advocacy groups.” 2

Career

Marissa McBride is the executive director of Mind the Gap, a left-wing Super PAC co-founded by Barbara Fried that funnels money from Silicon Valley to Democratic candidates and PACs. 3

In March 2021, McBride and Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information CEO Tom Lopach published an op-ed in USA Today on alleged voter suppression efforts against racial minorities by Republicans. McBride and Lopach wrote, “We cannot stand idly by as some work to pass laws that will disenfranchise American voters—laws that bear a scary resemblance to the racist Jim Crow laws of the past. Elections should be decided based on ideas, not on who was cut out of the process,” and endorsed the federal We the People Act to counteract alleged state-level voter suppression. 4

At least from 2020 to 2022, McBride worked as a principal at Mission Control, a Democratic political consulting firm. 5 6 In 2021, Harvard University professor Danielle Allen hired Mission Control and McBride to consult on a possible Massachusetts gubernatorial run. Allen ran but dropped out of the Democratic primaries in February 2022. 7

In 2020, McBride was a principal at the American Independent Foundation, a left-wing investigative journalism media outlet. She received no compensation for the role. 8

In 2020, Nesbitt Research listed McBride as a “Black Democratic Political Campaign [Consultant].” 9

From December 2017 to at least February 2019, McBride was the executive director of the Voter Participation Center (VPC). In February 2019, McBride appeared on WLKY, a local Washington D.C. news channel, for an interview on voter suppression. 10 11 12 In 2018, the VPC paid McBride over $140,000 in total compensation. That year, the VPC paid Mission Control, McBride’s future employer, $3,879,526 for “printing/production” services. 13

In 2018, McBride was the executive director of the VPC, sister-group, the Center for Voter Information (CVI), for which she was paid over $15,000 in total compensation. In December 2020, McBride was named board chair of the CVI, for which she was paid $130,000. 14

In some online articles, McBride is erroneously reported as the board chair of the VPC or the board chair of the CVI after she had already left the position. 15 16

According to Federal Election Commission search data, McBride worked for the Bonner Group, a Democratic fundraising firm, at least in 2012 and 2015. In 2018, while McBride was the executive director of VPC, the VPC paid the Bonner group $569,988 for fundraising services. 17 18

Political Donations

Since 2012, Marissa McBride has made over $11,000 in reportable contributions to Democratic federal candidates including U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), President Barack Obama, U.S. Congressional candidate Claire Russo (D-VA), and President Joe Biden. 19

References

  1. “Staff.” Voter Participation Center. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20180331144910/https://www.voterparticipation.org/our-team/staff/.
  2. “Staff.” Voter Participation Center. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20180331144910/https://www.voterparticipation.org/our-team/staff/
  3. Redman, Jamie. “FTX Lawyers Attempt to Question Bankman-Fried’s Family and Inner Circle for Financial Insight.” Bitcoin.com. January 27, 2023. https://news.bitcoin.com/ftx-lawyers-attempt-to-question-bankman-frieds-family-and-inner-circle-for-financial-insight/.
  4. Lophach, Tom; McBride, Melissa. “Elections should be a contest of ideas, not a race to disenfranchise minority voters.” USA Today. March 1, 2021. Updated March 3, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/03/01/fight-state-level-black-voter-suppression-by-republicans-column/6832883002/?fbclid=IwAR3T75I723phOb8lH9ggrC15LOXzS0gYw8aGoepeMsy7qb02BGmPanrFiDE.
  5. “Black Democratic Political Campaign Consultants.” Nesbit Research. July 28, 2020. Updated June 18, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.nesbittresearch.com/blog/Black-Democratic-Political-Consultants.html.
  6. “Federal Election Commission search: Marissa McBride.” Federal Election Comission. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=marissa+mcbride.
  7.  Norton, Michael P. “Possible governor candidate Allen bulks up team.” Glouchester Times. April 5, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/local_news/possible-governor-candidate-allen-bulks-up-team/article_cedf7dcb-cd15-5740-ad25-d2900f7156fb.html.
  8. “American Independent Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/331137541.
  9. “Black Democratic Political Campaign Consultants.” Nesbit Research. July 28, 2020. Updated June 18, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.nesbittresearch.com/blog/Black-Democratic-Political-Consultants.html.
  10. “Voter Participation Center.” Twitter. February 5, 2019. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://twitter.com/VoterCenter/status/1092807561470926848?lang=en.
  11. “Staff.” Voter Participation Center. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20180331144910/https://www.voterparticipation.org/our-team/staff/.
  12. “Staff.” Voter Participation Center. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20181012230024/https://www.voterparticipation.org/our-team/staff/.
  13. “Voter Participation Center.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/550889748/201913199349305346/full.
  14. “Center for Voter Information.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/30554750.
  15. Lophach, Tom; McBride, Melissa. “Elections should be a contest of ideas, not a race to disenfranchise minority voters.” USA Today. March 1, 2021. Updated March 3, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/03/01/fight-state-level-black-voter-suppression-by-republicans-column/6832883002/?fbclid=IwAR3T75I723phOb8lH9ggrC15LOXzS0gYw8aGoepeMsy7qb02BGmPanrFiDE.
  16. “Op-ed: Elections Should be a Contest of Ideas, Not a Race to Disenfranchise Minority Voters.” Center for Voter Information. March 1, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.centerforvoterinformation.org/op-ed-elections-should-be-a-contest-of-ideas-not-a-race-to-disenfranchise-minority-voters/.
  17. “Voter Participation Center.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/550889748/201913199349305346/full.
  18. “Federal Election Commission search: Marissa McBride.” Federal Election Comission. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=marissa+mcbride.
  19. [1] “Federal Election Commission search: Marissa McBride.” Federal Election Comission. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=marissa+mcbride.
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