Megan Lewis is a former lobbyist and the co-founder and executive director of the left-of-center Voting Rights Lab. Lewis has experience in state and federal government, in addition to many years of experience working on behalf of left-of-center causes. Most notably, Lewis worked as the executive vice president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a left-of-center lobbying group founded by former New York City Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg that advocates for strict gun control measures. ^{[1] [2]}

After leaving Everytown under circumstances an anonymous source characterized as a firing to the right-leaning Daily Caller,^[3] Lewis founded the Voting Rights Lab, a left-of-center advocacy organization that supports the increased usage of absentee ballots. As executive director of the Voting Rights Lab, Lewis has supported calls to implement universal mail-in-voting. ^[4]

Education

Megan Lewis received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1995. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 1999. ^[5]

Career

Early Career

Lewis has years of experience working in government, in addition to working for multiple left-of-center organizations. After graduating law school, Lewis worked as the fellow in public interest and constitutional litigation for Gibbons P.C., a New Jersey-based law firm with offices in multiple states and Washington, D.C. ^[6] During her fellowship, Lewis participated in litigation dedicated to advancing a number of left-of-center causes. ^[7]

From 2007 through 2011, Lewis worked in the office of the New Jersey Attorney General. ^[8] Her tenure in the office coincided with the administrations of New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, appointed by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, as well as New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, appointed by Republican Governor Chris Christie. ^[9]

In January of 2012, Lewis jointed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a senior advisor. The government agency has long been criticized for its lack of accountability to Congress and the president. ^[10]

Everytown for Gun Safety

In April 2013, Lewis joined Everytown for Gun Safety as its director of law and policy. In January 2014, she became the advocacy group’s executive vice president. ^[11] Everytown is a left-of-center lobbying organization founded by Michael Bloomberg that advocates for strict gun control measures and opposes laws that expand firearm ownership and carry rights. ^[12] Lewis oversaw Everytown’s 50-state strategy to advance gun control legislation at the state and local level. ^[13]

Lewis also lobbied Congress on behalf of Everytown. She promoted bills to expand background checks for sale of firearms and restrict the sale of firearms to certain individuals. ^[14] Tax records reveal that Lewis made over $1 million working for Everytown, with her annual compensation as executive vice president regularly exceeding $300,000. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18]}

Under Lewis’s leadership, Everytown for Gun Safety gained a reputation for exaggerating its statistics. ^{[19] [20]} PolitiFact ranked a statement that Lewis made regarding a firearm involved in the death of a police officer as “mostly false.” ^[21]

Lewis left Everytown after the 2016 election. According to The Daily Caller, a series of departures from Everytown at the same time was prompted by the abrasive management style of Everytown advisory board member Shannon Watts; an anonymous source characterized Lewis’s departure as a firing. ^[22]

Voting Rights Lab

Following her departure from Everytown, Lewis founded the Voting Rights Lab, a left-of-center advocacy organization that focuses on increasing absentee voting. As executive director of the organization, Lewis has advocated for universal mail-in voting. ^[23] Lewis has also advocated for states to increase opportunities for a voter to “cure” an absentee ballot if that voter failed to correctly fill out the ballot in accordance with state rules. ^{[24] [25]}