- Pritzker Fellows
- Current Fellows
- Matt Gorman
Matt Gorman
Former Senior Communications Advisor, Tim Scott for America & Communications Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
Winter 2024
Pritzker Fellow
Seminar Series: “Controlling the Message: How Candidates & Their Staff Shape the Narrative, What Works & What Doesn’t”
Matt Gorman has advised presidential candidates, members of Congress, and Fortune 50 companies on communications and messaging. He is currently a Vice President at Targeted Victory, a Washington D.C.-based public affairs and digital marketing firm.
A veteran of three presidential campaigns, he most recently served as a senior advisor to Tim Scott for America. Before that, he was the Communications Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), rapid response director and national spokesman for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, and an aide to Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. Gorman also worked for the world’s largest biotech trade association (BIO), helping lead several healthcare advocacy campaigns.
Gorman regularly appears as an analyst on network and cable news programs. A native of Torrington, Connecticut, he is a graduate of Stonehill College and resides in Washington, DC.
Seminars
“Controlling the Message: How Candidates & Their Staff Shape the Narrative, What Works & What Doesn’t”
Behind every candidate are key staffers who shape the themes and messages; pick out the ties and pins; research policy positions and dole out opposition research; prep their boss for debates, press conferences, donor calls and clean up when things go terribly wrong. Winter IOP Pritzker Fellow Matt Gorman has served in numerous roles in Republican politics, most recently as a senior advisor and spokesman for Senator Tim Scott during his White House run. Matt will give a comprehensive, spirited behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a campaign communicator in today’s political landscape.
What does it mean to wake up each day working toward a message, helping your candidate make news on their terms - all while engaging with the press and madly trying to avoid pitfalls. Is it like The West Wing? Veep? Somewhere in between?
In this first seminar, Matt will tell you about his background, what led him to his various roles in Republican politics, how communications has changed over the last decade and why it’s something everyone thinks they’re an expert in, but few people actually are. He’ll be joined by Meredith Kelly, Matt’s former counterpart at the DCCC and Communications Director for Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaign.
Special Guest: Meredith Kelly, former DCCC & Gillibrand for President Communications Director
There’s nothing like a presidential debate. Nothing. Campaigns can be won or lost in a few seconds behind a podium, all live on TV. And yet, most people don’t actually know what goes on behind the scenes. How do campaigns and the press prepare for them? Why are they so important? What does their future look like? Who picks lines like “I've had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT," and how does the candidate choose when to land it?
Matt will take you from preparing the candidate to spinning the press and everything in between with someone who has done it at the highest levels, Mari Will.
Special Guest: Mari Will, former White House Communications Director & Longtime Republican Debate Consultant
After almost a year on the Tim Scott for President campaign, dozens of nights in assorted Marriotts, and hundreds of thousands of American Airlines points, what did Matt learn about how campaigns, the media and the voters have changed since he first got in the game with Mitt Romney?
Matt will be joined by Ali Vitali, who is covering her third presidential cycle for NBC News. Matt and Ali will talk about what they saw on the campaign trail and how it’s different from when they started.
Special Guest: Ali Vitali, NBC News Political Correspondent
Stepping back from traditional communications, what are other, more subtle ways that candidates sell themselves without voters even realizing it? From the choice of words in an ad to how they set up events, everything candidates do is telling a broader story (or at least it should be).
Matt will be in conversation with Will Ritter, co-founder of Poolhouse - a Republican ad firm that helped Glenn Youngkin get elected in Virginia, along with dozens of other candidates nationwide. Before his time as an ad maker, Will was also director of advance for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. He’ll tell us not only how he tailors candidate ads to fit their races, but also how he used a bubble machine and dogs to crash a David Axelrod event.
Special Guest: Will Ritter, Co-Founder & CEO of Poolhouse