Elena Parent was the top success story for Georgia Democrats in 2010. She was the right woman, who ran the right race, in the right district and beat a Republican wave to be the only Democrat in Georgia – and one of only 10 nationally at the State Legislative level – to defeat an incumbent Republican.
We tell Elena’s story quite a bit. And we can’t talk about her race without talking about her campaign manager, Jeff Romig.
Jeff proved himself during his 18 months working to get Elena elected, and now, each of our endorsed women have Jeff’s expertise at their disposal.
WIN List is thrilled to announce that Jeff has been hired as our first Political Director.
Fittingly, Elena will officially introduce Jeff on Aug. 18 at our Men for WIN event honoring Gov. Roy Barnes at Zoo Atlanta.
“Georgia’s WIN List has excelled at impacting contested races involving their endorsed women,” Jeff said. “My job is to build on the foundation created by amazing women like our founder, Melita Easters, past chairs Rep. Stacey Evans, Mary Long and Amy Morton along with countless others. I look forward to working with our current Board and our fantastic Executive Director Anna Beck to design a comprehensive political program that recruits, trains, funds and protects Democratic women across Georgia.”
Jeff spent the 2011 Legislative Session working as Chief of Staff to Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and Rep. Elena Parent, was Outreach Director for Amir Farokhi’s 2009 Atlanta City Council race and volunteered on Congressman John Lewis’ 2008 primary race. But he brings more than just political expertise to the table.
He began his career as a print journalist for newspapers in South Carolina and Indiana, covering business, politics and community development from 2001-06. Upon his 2006 move to Atlanta, he left journalism to be the executive director of Involvement through News and Civics (Inc), a 501c3 nonprofit that he founded in 2005. Inc operated from 2005-2010, working to teach its families how to use news and information to create change. Inc provided newspaper subscriptions to 250 people and awarded more than $6,000 in scholarships.
Jeff grew up in Columbia, SC, is a 2000 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University.
Additionally, he is a 2009 graduate of Wellstone Action’s Advanced Campaign Management School and a 2010 LEAD Atlanta graduate. He is past president of the Red Clay Democrats and serves on the Board of Directors for Kate’s Club, a 501c3 nonprofit that works to empower children after the loss of a parent or sibling.
Jeff and his wife Kacy, an attorney at Jones Day, live on Atlanta’s west side with their yellow lab, Sandberg.
Please join us in welcoming Jeff to the WIN List team, and if you can make it, come meet him on Aug. 18 at Zoo Atlanta.