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Jen O'Malley Dillon

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In this article, the surname is O’Malley Dillon, not Dillon.
Jen O'Malley Dillon
O'Malley Dillon in the White House Oval Office in 2023
White House Deputy Chief of Staff
In office
January 20, 2021 – February 8, 2024
Serving with Bruce Reed and Natalie Quillian
PresidentJoe Biden
Chief of StaffRon Klain
Jeff Zients
Preceded byEmma Doyle
Succeeded byAnnie Tomasini
Personal details
Born
Jennifer Brigid O'Malley

(1976-09-28) September 28, 1976 (age 48)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePatrick Dillon
Children3
RelativesMatt O'Malley (cousin)
EducationTufts University (BA)
Occupation
  • Political strategist

Jennifer Brigid O'Malley Dillon (born September 28, 1976)[1] is an American political strategist who served as the campaign chair for Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign.[2] She held the same position with President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign.[3]

O'Malley Dillon served as White House deputy chief of staff for the first three years of Biden's presidency, after managing his 2020 presidential campaign. She is the first female campaign manager for a successful Democratic presidential ticket.[4] In 2019, she managed Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign until its suspension in November of that year.[5]

Early life and education

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O'Malley Dillon's great-grandparents were Irish Catholic immigrants from Gorumna Island, County Galway.[6][7] Born in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, she has three siblings. Her parents are Kevin O'Malley, a school administrator, and Kathleen O'Malley.[8] When O'Malley Dillon was a child the family relocated from Jamaica Plain to Franklin, Massachusetts, to be closer to her father's job.[8]

O'Malley Dillon graduated from Franklin High School in Franklin, Massachusetts.[9] In 1998 she graduated with a bachelor's degree from Tufts University, where she majored in political science and captained the softball team.[8][10][11] O'Malley Dillon decided she wanted to work in politics while on a family vacation to Washington, D.C.[8]

Career

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O'Malley Dillon's first role in politics was answering phones for Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger. She joined Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign as a field organizer in 1999 and rose to become a regional field director by the end of the campaign. She worked as a field director for the U.S. Senate campaigns of Tim Johnson and Mary Landrieu. In 2003, she worked as Iowa field director for John Edwards's 2004 presidential campaign, and, after Edwards left the race, became deputy campaign manager for Senator Tom Daschle's reelection campaign.[10][11]

In 2007, O'Malley Dillon again went to work for John Edwards on his 2008 presidential campaign as his Iowa state director and later deputy campaign manager. After Edwards was again eliminated, she joined Barack Obama's presidential campaign for the general election as battleground states director. After Obama's election, she worked on the presidential transition as associate director of personnel, and then was hired as the executive director of the Democratic National Committee under Tim Kaine.[10][11]

In 2011, O'Malley Dillon joined Obama's 2012 reelection campaign as deputy campaign manager, contributing to Project Narwhal.[12] After Obama's reelection, she co-founded the political consulting firm Precision Strategies with fellow Obama campaign alumni Stephanie Cutter and Teddy Goff. She led Precision's consulting effort for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2015 Canadian federal election.[10][11]

After the 2016 United States presidential election, O'Malley Dillon chaired the Democratic National Committee's Unity Reform Commission. In 2019, she was involved in an effort by Democratic Party data and political personnel to create a data exchange to allow for greater information sharing between Democratic campaigns and allies, a project that party leaders see as crucial for catching up with the Republican data program.[13] Later in 2019, she was hired as manager of Beto O'Rourke's 2020 presidential campaign.[10][11][14]

Through Precision, O'Malley Dillon also advised Gates Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Bill Gates; the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan; General Electric; and Lyft; her deferred compensation and severance from Precision was at least $420,000.[15]

Jen O'Malley Dillon in 2021

In April 2020, O'Malley Dillon was announced as the new manager for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. She succeeded Greg Schultz and Anita Dunn, who had shared campaign management duties for the previous month and remained with the campaign as senior advisors.[13] O'Malley Dillon was the first person to serve as Biden's campaign manager who was not related to him. Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, had served as Biden's campaign manager for all his previous campaigns, but only served in a senior advisory role in his 2020 presidential campaign.[16] On November 16, 2020, it was announced that O'Malley Dillon would assume the role of White House deputy chief of staff in the administration.[17][18]

In January 2024, it was reported that O'Malley Dillon planned to leave the White House to become Biden's 2024 reelection campaign chair.[19]

On July 1, 2024, following Biden's disastrous performance in a presidential debate with Donald Trump on June 27, O'Malley Dillon told members of the Biden campaign's National Finance Committee that he is "probably in better health than most of us".[20]

On July 22, 2024, the day after Biden announced that he was ending his 2024 presidential run, Vice President Kamala Harris announced to campaign staff that O'Malley Dillon would manage her campaign for president.[2] Harris lost the general election to Trump.[21]

Personal life

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O'Malley Dillon is married to Patrick Dillon. They have three children. Her second cousin, Matt O'Malley, served on the Boston City Council from 2010 to 2022, and served as its acting president for most of 2021.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Jen O'Malley Dillon [@jomalleydillon] (September 28, 2018). "For my birthday I'm honoring women by giving them money. Here's my list so far-Will take requests" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b "Live Updates: Harris breaks donation record, claims most of the delegates she needs for the nomination". Associated Press. July 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Epstein, Reid J. (January 23, 2024). "Two Top Biden Aides Are Taking the Reins of His Re-election Campaign". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Smith, Chris (November 7, 2020). ""She Is a Master": Joe Biden's Campaign Manager Told the Political Future—And Was Right". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  5. ^ Bradner, Eric (November 1, 2019). "Beto O'Rourke ends 2020 presidential bid". CNN. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "O'Malley / Conneely Family History".
  7. ^ Weaver, Courtney (November 20, 2020). "History maker: how Jen O'Malley Dillon steered Joe Biden's run to the White House". The Irish Times. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e King, Alison (November 16, 2020). "Who Is Mass. Native Jennifer O'Malley Dillon? Meet Biden's New Deputy Chief of Staff". NBC Boston. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  9. ^ speterson@thesunchronicle.com, Stephen Peterson (November 8, 2020). "Franklin native helps Biden to White House". The Sun Chronicle.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Beto for America". Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Jen O'Malley Dillon". Precision Strategies. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Christmas, Stuart A. (June 10, 2014). "Vice President for Legal Investigations letter complaining of violations of the FEC Act by Obama for America, etc. [Letter written January 8, 2014, to Office of General Counsel, Federal Election Commission]" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Scherer, Michael (March 12, 2020). "Joe Biden appoints Jen O'Malley Dillon as new campaign manager". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  14. ^ Svitek, Patrick (March 25, 2016). "Beto O'Rourke hires former top Obama aide as campaign manager". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  15. ^ Schwartz, Brian (March 20, 2021). "Biden's closest advisors have ties to big business and Wall Street with some making millions". CNBC. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Gibson, Jenna; O'Keefe, Ed (March 12, 2020). "Biden taps new campaign manager as focus shifts to general election". CBS News. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  17. ^ Merica, Dan; Zeleny, Jeff (November 16, 2020). "Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon to get top White House job". CNN. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  18. ^ Korecki, Natasha; Thompson, Alex (November 16, 2020). "Biden begins to fill top White House positions". Politico. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  19. ^ Lee, MJ; Zeleny, Jeff; Dovere, Edward-Isaac; Saenz, Arlette (January 24, 2024). "Biden's top White House advisers will move to campaign". CNN. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  20. ^ "Biden campaign chair gives a staunch defense of the president's health, says campaign is clear-eyed about debate performance". CNN. July 2, 2024.
  21. ^ "2024 Election: Live results map". Associated Press. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
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