Michael Gehrke
Encyclopedia
Michael Gehrke is an American political consultant specializing in opposition research
. He has served as the research director for the Democratic National Committee
, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
, the John Kerry
presidential campaign, and in the White House during the Clinton Administration. He has also worked as executive director of the Senate Majority Project, which seeks to monitor the accountability of Republicans in the Senate.
Gehrke grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He holds a B.A. and a J.D. from the University of Utah
. He got his start in opposition research as a young volunteer, taping opponent events and researching courthouse records. Gehrke is an advocate of public records research over private spying against candidates. Gehrke has said that his most exciting discovery of information occurred in the 2002 Louisiana senate runoff, when he discovered that the George W. Bush
administration was secretly negotiating with the Mexican government to impose a tariff which would have harmed Louisiana trade. For the Republican senatorial candidate, who had enthusiastically aligned herself with Bush, the publicizing of the secret Bush deal was devastating, and the Bush administration ultimately canceled the deal.
Gehrke is somewhat of a pioneer in campaign "tracker programs." Gehrke also centralized video footage of Republican candidates and essentially made a digital archive from which voters could edit their own attack ads.
As the Research Director at the DNC, Gehrke established what amounted to systematic surveillance of Republican candidates and appealed to supporters to help him create "a Party apparatus that can immediately respond to missteps, lies, and scandals of the 2008 election cycle, and establish a narrative that our party’s nominee can use when the primary season ends," citing the "macaca moment" that put Democrat Jim Webb in the Senate as proof that tracker programs work: "Just as you helped put organizers on the ground in all 50 states, you can help build the Democratic Party’s research shop. Make a donation today."
Gehrke now works for the Benenson Strategy Group in Washington, D.C.
Opposition research
Opposition research is:# The term used to classify and describe efforts of supporters or paid consultants of a political candidate to legally investigate the biographical, legal or criminal, medical, educational, financial, public and private administrative and or voting records of the opposing...
. He has served as the research director for the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current chair is Sen. Patty Murray, who succeeded Sen. Robert Menendez following...
, the John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
presidential campaign, and in the White House during the Clinton Administration. He has also worked as executive director of the Senate Majority Project, which seeks to monitor the accountability of Republicans in the Senate.
Gehrke grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He holds a B.A. and a J.D. from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
. He got his start in opposition research as a young volunteer, taping opponent events and researching courthouse records. Gehrke is an advocate of public records research over private spying against candidates. Gehrke has said that his most exciting discovery of information occurred in the 2002 Louisiana senate runoff, when he discovered that the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration was secretly negotiating with the Mexican government to impose a tariff which would have harmed Louisiana trade. For the Republican senatorial candidate, who had enthusiastically aligned herself with Bush, the publicizing of the secret Bush deal was devastating, and the Bush administration ultimately canceled the deal.
Gehrke is somewhat of a pioneer in campaign "tracker programs." Gehrke also centralized video footage of Republican candidates and essentially made a digital archive from which voters could edit their own attack ads.
As the Research Director at the DNC, Gehrke established what amounted to systematic surveillance of Republican candidates and appealed to supporters to help him create "a Party apparatus that can immediately respond to missteps, lies, and scandals of the 2008 election cycle, and establish a narrative that our party’s nominee can use when the primary season ends," citing the "macaca moment" that put Democrat Jim Webb in the Senate as proof that tracker programs work: "Just as you helped put organizers on the ground in all 50 states, you can help build the Democratic Party’s research shop. Make a donation today."
Gehrke now works for the Benenson Strategy Group in Washington, D.C.