Recent Experience
PRINCIPAL, Hilltop Public Solutions
Washington, DC | May 2024 - Present
COMMUNICATIONS/CAMPAIGN LAUNCH AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT
Dec 2017 - May 2024
Advised campaign launches including a US Senate primary
Provided strategic communications consulting for progressive and good governance groups
Contracted to augment rapid response efforts by Protect Our Care, America’s Voice, Democracy21, MoveOn, People for the American Way, United We Dream, FWD.us, The Hub Project, and others
Operated a round-the-clock rapid response, messaging, and research shop to protect the investigations into the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia
CAMPAIGN MANAGER, Jamie McLeod-Skinner for Oregon (OR 5th Congressional District)
Portland, OR | Jun 2022 - Nov 2022
Restructured and managed one of the top 20 most competitive and expensive Congressional races of the 2022 cycle with a staff of 14 and full consultant team for the General Election
Oversaw $2.89M General Election raise with a robust digital and large dollar fundraising operation
Significantly outperformed Democratic gubernatorial nominee in district
Secured endorsements from over 70 labor unions, organizations, and PACs
CAMPAIGN MANAGER, Michael Grieco for Florida State Senate
Miami, FL | Jan 2022 - Jun 2022
Managed a targeted State Senate race in Florida with an initial $6 million budget
Raised $370k and generated national headlines before campaign was suspended in June 2022
CAMPAIGN MANAGER, Mark Murphy for Staten Island Borough President
New York, NY | Mar 2021 - Jun 2021
Built winning campaign operation less than 3 months before Primary Day, beating four established campaigns with sizable volunteer bases
Managed 4 full-time staff, 15 canvassers, and 7 consultants
Raised and spent $456,000, more than had been raised in any previous primary race for this office
Secured endorsements from all Democratic elected officials in the borough, 5 major labor unions, and the League of Conservation Voters
Successfully petitioned for independent ballot line in General Election
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, Congressman TJ Cox
Washington, DC & Central Valley, CA | May 2019 - Jan 2021
Ran an aggressive, four-person press, media, and digital operation in highly competitive Frontline House office
Managed six-figure, bilingual franking outreach program including mailings, emails, targeted web ads, robo-polls, SMS campaigns, a COVID-19 information web page, and a telephone town hall, resulting in millions of constituent contacts and impressions during the COVID-19 crisis
Organized and executed press events to generate earned media in two-market, rural congressional district with 40% Spanish-preferring population
Produced high quality bilingual media, including videos, semi-annual reports to the public
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR, TJ Cox for Congress
Selma, CA | May 2019 - Dec 2020
Built 3-person team and ran communications and digital strategy on the most competitive House campaign in the nation, driving message on the candidate’s fight to protect health care access and his opponent’s subservience to Donald Trump
Led candidate preparations for prime-time television debate, editorial board meetings, and dozens of interviews
Produced engaging, visually distinctive content for social media platforms
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, Democratic Party of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM | Jun 2018 - May 2019
Helped secure wins in all 11 statewide and federal races in New Mexico and boosted Democratic majorities in the New Mexico Legislature in the 2018 Election
Deployed to the most competitive Congressional campaign in the nation to assist with strategy, conduct media prep, staff television and print interviews, draft content, photograph and video record events, and travel across district with the candidate
Worked daily with gubernatorial, Senate, Congressional, statewide, and legislative campaigns and the coordinated field operation to execute an effective and consistent communications strategy
Executed creative messaging and research operations including debate war rooms, protests, bird-dogging, web videos, tracking, and campaign events to highlight key campaign issues
Advised and coordinated with House and Senate Caucuses and Office of Governor Lujan Grisham during legislative session
DIRECTOR OF LGBTQ MEDIA, Democratic National Committee
Washington, DC | Jan 2017 - Dec 2017
Spoke on the record and handled press relations for the DNC on LGBTQIA+ issues
Drafted, edited, and pitched op-eds, statements, releases, talking points, tweets, opposition research documents, and other content that held Donald Trump and Republicans accountable
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, Democratic National Committee / Hillary for America
Washington, DC & Brooklyn, NY | March 2016 - January 2017
Built comprehensive bodies of research and daily briefs on likely contenders for the 2016 Republican nomination for vice president
Devised thematics and crafted over a dozen research white sheets for use by the DNC, Hillary for America, and interested media parties
Performed data analyses on opposition fundraising data
REGIONAL GET OUT THE VOTE DIRECTOR, Iowa Democratic Party
Cedar Rapids, IA | Oct 2016 - Nov 2016
Deployed by Hillary for America to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for final 30 days of the 2016 campaign. Co-managed a team of 11 organizers and led efforts to promote early vote-in-person sites in Linn County
PRESS ASSISTANT, New Hampshire Democratic Party
Concord, NH | Jul 2015 - Mar 2016
Our stories aren’t told with words alone.
Engaging communication requires every tool at an organization’s disposal. Here are some samples of Joel’s video, photographic, and design work.
Joel@Kasnetz.com
202.930.2228