- Pritzker Fellows
- Former Fellows
- Liesl Hickey
Liesl Hickey
Republican Strategist
Fall 2016 Pritzker Fellow
Seminar Series: “The Down-Ballot Dilemma: Running for Congress with Trump & Clinton at the Top of the Ticket”
Biography
Liesl Hickey is a veteran political strategist who has spent her career helping Republicans expand their reach in swing areas across the country. This election cycle, she has been an advisor to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Jeb Bush-affiliated Right to Rise Super PAC, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and ClearPath Action Fund.
During the 2013-2014 cycle, she was executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), where she oversaw a historic 13-seat pickup. This new Republican majority - the largest since 1928 - included a large number of members representing traditionally Democratic constituencies. During her tenure at the NRCC, the committee grew its online fundraising by over 400 percent, created a strategy and data division to run more effective campaigns, and focused its offensive efforts on electing a diverse Republican class.
In 2011 and 2012, Hickey led the NRCC’s Patriot Program, a dedicated effort to re-elect Republican incumbents in competitive districts. During this cycle, she raised an unprecedented $6 million for members’ campaigns and helped navigate their efforts through a tough political environment. Hickey also served as a consultant to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in 2010. Hickey previously was chief of staff to then-Rep. Mark Kirk (IL), where she helped author the Suburban Agenda, a first-time effort by national Republicans to craft a set of policies targeted at independent, suburban voters - a program that was instrumental to surviving the 2006 Democratic wave election. Hickey has worked on many congressional and statewide races across the country and served as former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald’s finance director during his successful 1998 campaign in Illinois.
Hickey also was a senior director for campaigns at Bono’s ONE Campaign during the 2008 cycle where she oversaw a $40 million advocacy effort to fight global poverty and disease. Hickey is a 1996 graduate of Southern Methodist University.
Seminars
“The Down-Ballot Dilemma: Running for Congress with Trump & Clinton at the Top of the Ticket”
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both suffer from unprecedented image problems, with large numbers of voters likely to vote based not on who they support but based on who they are against. In this environment, down-ballot Congressional candidates face an exceptionally thorny challenge. Liesl Hickey, a veteran GOP political operative who made her career helping Republicans expand their reach in swing areas across the country, will explore the strategies that candidates and political parties rely on to win in tough election years. Hickey also will offer commentary as the presidential race unfolds and conclude the seminar series with a post-election wrap up to discuss the future of the GOP and Washington’s new dynamic.
With Election Day less than three weeks away Liesl Hickey and IOP Fellow and GOP strategist Kirsten Kukowski will discuss the latest in the presidential race and their unique vantage point as women in the Republican Party - what it’s like now and how it’s changed over time. While Kukowski wraps up her seminar, Hickey will preview what she plans to cover in her four-week seminar series: How this tumultuous presidential race affects congressional contests across the country, and what that means for GOP party unity now and going forward.
Republican and Democratic congressional candidates are navigating tricky waters this year with an unpredictable political environment at the top of the ticket, particularly on the Republican side. What sort of tactics and strategies are most important in winning a race when you must outperform your presidential nominee? What does ticket splitting look like in swing districts in our polarized political environment? How are candidates reacting to the ways in which the Republican National Committee is adjusting its strategies with Trump as the nominee?
Special Guests: Greg Strimple, Republican Strategist and Pollster, GS Strategy Group and Pollster/Advisor to U.S. Senator Mark Kirk & Geoff Garin, Hart Research and Pollster to Hillary for America and Top Democrat House and Senate Candidates
From candidate recruitment to TV ads, the Republican and Democratic national committees can play a critical role in congressional races. How have the political committees changed their strategies in this unprecedented year? How do they make decisions on which candidates to support? How do they get candidates and campaigns to do what they want? How do party committee independent expenditures work? What role will outside groups play and how to do they effectively operate? What has historically worked well and did this cycle require other methods of engagement?
Special Guest: Ali Lapp, Executive Director of Democratic House Majority PAC
The election's finally over. What’s next for the GOP after such a tumultuous election cycle? We will discuss the future of the party, the “establishment” party leaders and the new dynamic in Washington. We also will explore whether bipartisanship is dead. Voters want solutions to problems but does the polarization of the country really allow for it? Do members of Congress believe there are opportunities to work together to accomplish big things? If so, how do they do it?
Special Guests: Rising Congressional Leaders Elise Stefanik (NY-R) & Seth Moulton (MA-D)