BLA Associate Colin Campbell Named to Campaigns & Elections Magazine's 2011 Democratic Rising Stars

Exhilarated by Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Colin Campbell left the political sidelines and joined up as an organizing fellow while still an undergraduate at New York University. On the campaign, he helped get out the vote in northern New Jersey, New York City, and Philadelphia. He describes 11:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on election night, when the networks declared that Obama would be the next president, as a highlight of his early career in politics.

Colin Campbell

Since then, Campbell has made a name for himself as an extremely hard worker with an ability to inspire coworkers and get results. He talked his way into an internship with Democrat Bill Thompson's 2009 New York City mayoral campaign and was rapidly promoted to field organizer and then internship program director. Thompson fell short on Election Day, but Campbell impressed his colleagues with his ninety-hour workweeks and prolific phone work.

In the 2010 cycle, Campbell helped elect three new Democratic New York State senators, including the only one to defeat a Republican incumbent. His biggest accomplishment of the year, however, was scoring an upset victory as campaign manager for Larry Hanley's bid to become international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union. This required unseating an incumbent, a feat that hadn't even been attempted for almost three decades. Campbell helped devise a number of innovative tactics to secure and track endorsements from union leaders and delegates, and Hanley won with 372 out of 644 votes.

"Campaign strategy has always fascinated me," Campbell says, adding that he has considered running for office himself, but is satisfied for now to remain a consultant. "In my eyes, it is better to be the kingmaker than the king."