Nationality American Name Mike Henry Occupation political strategist Role Political strategist | Years active 1988 - present Political party Democratic Party Known for Political Strategist Employer Tim Kaine | |
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Citizenship United States of America | ||
Mike Henry is an American political strategist and current Chief of Staff to United States Senator Tim Kaine.
In 2011, former Gov. Kaine tapped him to run his Senate campaign. From 2009 to 2011, he was senior director of U.S. Field of Bono's The ONE Campaign, a global advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and working with political leaders to support effective policies and programs that save lives. He was responsible for guiding strategic grassroots initiatives. He worked to create political will in key congressional districts for bipartisan global poverty and disease-fighting legislation, helped expand ONE’s grassroots membership, mobilized bi-partisan political and business leaders, and raised awareness of global poverty issues.
Henry also worked in national-level politics, serving as deputy campaign manager of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, famously writing a memo that was later leaked to The New York Times outlining a controversial strategy suggesting that Clinton skip Iowa, a politically risky move.
Henry has a long history in Democratic politics in Virginia, including managing Kaine’s 2005 run for governor, now-Senator Mark Warner’s 2008 campaign and Terry McAuliffe’s unsuccessful 2009 gubernatorial bid. He also worked for Virginia House and Senate Democratic caucuses in the 1990s.
Henry began his career in 1988 working as a door-to-door canvasser for Clean Water Action while attending Old Dominion University. After graduation, Henry served as campaign manager for three congressional races and three senate races in Iowa, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Maryland.