- Pritzker Fellows
- Former Fellows
- Alex Castellanos
Alex Castellanos
Republican Political Strategist & Communications Consultant
Winter 2016 Pritzker Fellow
Seminar Series: “The 2016 Shake-Up: How Demographics, Party Identification, & Social Media Are Changing Our Politics”
Biography
Alex Castellanos has served as media consultant to five U.S. presidential campaigns, helped elect eight U.S. senators, six governors and enjoys over four decades of political consulting experience. He also has developed communications strategies and campaigns for Fortune 100 Companies.
Castellanos brings a wealth of campaign strategy, public opinion research and communications experience to public policy campaigns and corporate communications. He has been credited with the discovery of the political “soccer-mom” and has been called the “father of the attack ad.” Fortune singled out Castellanos as a “new style media master.” In 2007, GQ Magazine called Castellanos one of the 50 Most Influential People in D.C. Castellanos regularly appears as part of CNN’s “Best Political Team on Television.” Most recently, Castellanos founded NewRepublican.org, an organization dedicated to advancing conservative principles into the political campaigns of the communications age.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Castellanos is fluent in Spanish and English. His parents, refugees who fled Castro’s Cuba in 1961, came to this country with one suitcase, two children and eleven dollars. A Morehead and National Merit Scholar at the University of North Carolina, Castellanos has lectured domestically and internationally, with venues ranging from Harvard University to the United States Army Communication School.
Seminars
“The 2016 Shake-Up: How Demographics, Party Identification, & Social Media Are Changing Our Politics”
Presidential campaigns have always been expensive, complicated, exhausting, and unpredictable. The 2016 campaign is all that, plus it’s breaking entirely new ground. Long-term demographic trends and recent shifts in party identification are playing out in an election season upended by terrorist attacks, reality TV and social media. These changes will decide which candidate wins and how he or she will govern.
Two campaign veterans will explore what it takes to win, using examples from the past two decades. They also will offer play-by-play commentary as the 2016 primary and caucus season unfolds — from Iowa through Super Tuesday. Castellanos and Solis Doyle will review how the relative power of America’s racial and ethnic groups is changing the balance of political power — and how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and reality TV are altering the way campaigns work. They also will explore what these changes mean for American policy and governance moving forward.
*This is a joint seminar series with Patti Solis Doyle
In this introductory seminar, Patti and Alex will discuss campaigning and government through the lens of their respective political careers. Starting with a look back at how races have been won, they will outline general principles of campaign politics and examine how those principles are changing. What do changes in demographics, technology, communication, and policy development mean for our two-party system? Alex and Patti also will assess the state of the 2016 race as the candidates gear up for the first ballots to be cast.
In 2012 President Obama won the presidency by building a coalition of African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The Republican Party responded with a plan to invest heavily in recruiting and organizing minority and women voters. But some of the party’s candidates in 2016 are taking a different approach, hoping to win the White House by increasing their share of white voters and by getting more white voters to the polls. Can Hillary Clinton hold the Obama coalition together? How will these strategies play out in an election where people of color will represent more that 30 percent of eligible voters? Alex and Patti will consider how these trends are playing out as the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses approach.
The development of key policy positions for the political parties is changing as Democrats move to the left and Republicans have moved to the right. What do these changes mean for gridlock in Washington and how does the deepening divide affect government’s ability to manage complex issues like the economy, immigration reform, climate change and abortion? Policy experts from both sides of the aisle will discuss this, as well as recap the results of the Iowa caucuses and look ahead to the New Hampshire race.
Special Guest: Neera Tanden, CEO, Center for American Progress
This seminar, which follows Super Tuesday, will examine the state of the 2016 race, using insights from our prior classes and real time data from the 2016 primaries. What does voting in early states tell us about each party’s chances of controlling Congress, winning the White House and governing America? How will each party’s nominee pivot from primary politics to the general election? What issues matter most in 2016, and which candidates do they benefit?
Special Guest: Michael DuHaime, Senior Strategist for Gov. Chris Christie's Presidential Race