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Bill Burton (political consultant)

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Bill Burton
Personal details
Born (1977-08-09) August 9, 1977 (age 47)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Laura Capps
​
(m. 2007)​
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota

Bill Burton (born August 9, 1977)[1] is an American political consultant.

Career

Burton worked as a press secretary for Minnesota Democrat Bill Luther.[1] He was press secretary for Tom Harkin[2] from 2001 until 2003 and communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)[1] in the 2006 election cycle. He has worked on the campaigns of Richard Gephardt, John Kerry, and Barack Obama.[3] Burton signed on with candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) after Gephardt dropped out of the presidental race of 2004. In the end Kerry lost the White House to officeholder George W. Bush after he attained the Democratic nomination.[4] In 2007 Burton joined the Presidental campaign of Senator Obama, where he worked as his national press secretary.[5]

During the Obama administration, Burton was Deputy White House Press Secretary[6] under Robert Gibbs[7] from January 2009 until February 2011. He traveled a lot (domestically and internationally) in this position. It was his job to advise the president and to brief reporters in locations like Air Force One or the podium in the White House briefing room.[8]

Burton left the White House in February 2011 to launch a consulting firm with White House adviser Sean Sweeney after a competition for Gibbs' job- which was given to Jay Carney.[4]

He was a co-founder and senior strategist with the Priorities USA Action super PAC.[2][9][10]

He was one of Business Insider's "Most Powerful People of 2012".[11]

In January 2013, Burton was hired by Global Strategy Group.[12]

Burton was Managing Director for SKDKnickerbocker in California.[13]

Howard Schultz's possible 2020 run

On January 28, 2019, it was reported that Burton, along with Steve Schmidt, had been hired to help shape a potential presidential run by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.[14] Burton left SKDKnickerbocker[13] to join his team as communications adviser.[15]

Personal life

Burton was born in Buffalo, New York on August 9, 1977.[1] He was raised by his father, Troy Burton, from the age of 11.[16] He is biracial.[1] He graduated from the University of Minnesota.[17]

Burton married Laura Capps, the daughter of Lois Capps, on July 7, 2007.[16] He met Laura for the first time during the 2004 presidential campaigns- where she was Kerry's Iowa press secretary and he was campaigning for Gephard. The rivalry ended after Gephard dropped out of the race and the two began working together for Kerry.[4] Capps still works in Democratic communications consulting (in the past she has worked in the Clinton White House and for Sen. Edward Kennedy).[18] They have a son and are living together in St. Barbara.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Bill Burton". Washington Post Politics. Retrieved 2019-01-29. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Bill Burton, former Deputy White House Press Secretary to speak with Rose Institute students on April 13 at 6:00 pm (Kravis Center 437) | The Rose Institute of State and Local Government". roseinstitute.org. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  3. ^ "Bill Burton". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Bill Burton". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-02-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ Stein, Sam (February 14, 2009). "Bill Burton Heading To Obama White House". Huffington Post.
  6. ^ CNN, Dan Merica, Cristina Alesci, Rebecca Buck and Jeff Zeleny. "Former Obama aide joins Howard Schultz's team. Democrats aren't happy". CNN. Retrieved 2019-01-29. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Obama's press spokesman Robert Gibbs to leave". Reuters. 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  8. ^ a b "Bill Burton". Politicon. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  9. ^ "Priorities USA Action". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  10. ^ "PR Week's 2016 40 Under 40: Bill Burton". SKDKnickerbocker. 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  11. ^ "The 36 Most Powerful People Of 2012". Business Insider. January 3, 2013.
  12. ^ Joseph, Cameron (January 18, 2013). "Bill Burton heads to Global Strategy Group". The Hill.
  13. ^ a b CNN, Dan Merica, Cristina Alesci, Rebecca Buck and Jeff Zeleny. "Former Obama aide joins Howard Schultz's team. Democrats aren't happy". CNN. Retrieved 2019-02-06. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ O'Keefe, Ed; Montoya-Galvez, Camilo. "Howard Schultz makes political hires as he mulls 2020 bid". CBS News. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  15. ^ Schwartz, Brian (2019-01-28). "Ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, mulling presidential run, hires ex-Obama aide as communications advisor". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  16. ^ a b Halbfinger, David M. (July 15, 2007). "Laura Capps and Bill Burton". The New York Times.
  17. ^ "Bill Burton | HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  18. ^ "Laura Capps". Community Environmental Council. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
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