Adam Parkhomenko

Adam Parkhomenko
Born (1985-10-22) October 22, 1985 (age 39)
Occupation(s)Former National Field Director, Democratic National Committee
Known forFounder of Ready for Hillary
Political partyDemocratic Party (United States)
PartnerAlly Sammarco (2021-present)
Children2

Adam Julian Parkhomenko (born October 22, 1985) is an American political strategist and organizer who served in 2016 as the national field director for the Democratic National Committee.[1] He was the co-founder and executive director of Ready for Hillary, a super PAC established to persuade Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency of the United States in 2016.[2][3][4] In the 2017 party election, Parkhomenko was a candidate for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.[5]

Career

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As a 17-year-old student in 2003 at Northern Virginia Community College, Parkhomenko set up VoteHillary.org, an independent website that urged voters to vote for Hillary Clinton during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary.[6][7][8][9] He later ran Draft Hillary for President 2004, which was founded in 2003 and shut down in 2004.[10]

HillPAC, Clinton's political action committee, hired Parkhomenko as a staffer while he was leading Draft Hillary for President 2004.[10][11][12][13] He worked in various capacities for Clinton, including a stint as assistant to Clinton's campaign manager during the 2008 Democratic primary.[14][15] He left the Clinton presidential campaign in March 2008.[12]

Shortly after leaving the Clinton campaign, Parkhomenko launched Vote Both with Sam Arora.[14][16][17] Vote Both was an independent expenditure committee dedicated to persuading then-Senator Barack Obama—at the time the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—to pick Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate.[14][16][17] Vote Both ceased operations in late July 2008, when it became clear to Parkhomenko and Arora that Obama would not select Clinton as his running mate.[17]

At the age of 23, Parkhomenko ran for the Democratic nomination for the 47th district in the Virginia House of Delegates during the 2009 Virginia state primary elections.[18][19] His candidacy was endorsed by Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark and Patsy Ticer.[20][21][22] Parkhomenko finished third among five candidates in the Democratic primary to replace Al Eisenberg.[23]

In January 2013, Parkhomenko and Allida Black, a George Washington University historian and professor, launched Ready for Hillary, a super PAC that aimed to persuade Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency of the United States in 2016.[2][24][25] Parkhomenko served as executive director of the PAC.[2] Most of the other staff members from Ready for Hillary were not offered positions on the campaign, causing some hostility [26]

In early April 2015, Parkhomenko left Ready for Hillary to join Clinton's official campaign as its director of grassroots engagement.[27] He also served as the state director for the Maryland and District of Columbia primaries, which Clinton won by 30 and 58 points, respectively.[28][29][30][31]

In September 2016, Parkhomenko was named the national field director for the Democratic National Committee.[1]

Immediately following the 2016 presidential election, Parkhomenko announced his run for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.[32] His campaign was unsuccessful.

Parkhomenko co-founded Party Majority PAC, a super PAC focused on grassroots organizing and electing Democrats.[33]

In 2020 Politico named Parkhomenko's prediction that Jaime Harrison would win the U.S. Senate election in South Carolina one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year."[34]

Personal life

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Parkhomenko was born in Washington, DC to a Jewish family and raised in Arlington, Virginia.[35] He is a graduate of Washington-Lee High School, Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.[35] Parkhomenko founded Ready for Hillary while attending George Mason. He also served as a reserve police officer during this period.[36]

Parkhomenko met Ally Sammarco in 2021 and they became engaged in 2022.[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b Seitz-Wald, Alex (September 1, 2016). "DNC Expands Footprint in Arizona, Georgia, Utah". NBC News.
  2. ^ a b c "Group is assembling building blocks of campaign". Buffalo News. 1 September 2013.
  3. ^ Toby Harnden (4 August 2013). "Bid to get youth vote for Hillary". The Sunday Times.
  4. ^ Philip Rucker Matea Gold (22 June 2013). "Early allies, and concerns, for Clinton". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ "Meet Adam". Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  6. ^ Mark Leibovich (24 September 2003). "Run? Hillary? Run?; Clinton Is One of the Few Who Say She Won't". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ Mark Leibovich (17 November 2003). "Iowa Ruckus; The Draft-Hillary Camps Push Their Buttons, and Each Other's". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Jill Lawrence (23 September 2003). "How firm is Hillary's no?; She says she won't run in '04, but speculation persists". USA Today.
  9. ^ Tony Allen-Mills (29 September 2003). "Grassroots geeks hanker for Hillary - US Elections 2004". The Australian.
  10. ^ a b IAN BISHOP (15 August 2005). "RUN OF THE HILL HIRING - '08 PREZ BOOST". New York Post.
  11. ^ "First U.S. Aid Arrives in Myanmar; West Virginia Voters Head to Polls; Deadly Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma the Hardest; Gas Prices Impacts RV Vacations; Earthquake in China Buries Students in Rubble". CNN: American Morning. 12 May 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Mayor Emerges From Parent's Basement To Endorse". The Hotline. 14 March 2008.
  13. ^ "Democrats Have Reason to Celebrate: Hill PAC Is Back". The Washington Post. 23 October 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  14. ^ a b c Amy Chozick (6 June 2008). "Campaign '08: Growing Number of Clinton Backers Push for 'Dream Ticket,' Despite Long Odds". The Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^ "Killing The Dream". The Hotline. 12 May 2008.
  16. ^ a b Michael Falcone. "The Vice Presidency". National Desk; SECTA.
  17. ^ a b c "Clinton for VP drive folds, as hopes for dream ticket fade". Agence France Presse. 31 July 2008.
  18. ^ "Adam Parkhomenko running for office". Politico. March 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  19. ^ Sandhya Somashekhar (25 May 2009). "Former Campaign Staffers Launch Their Own Bids". The Washington Post.
  20. ^ "Bill Clinton Steps Into Arlington Delegate Race". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  21. ^ "Another Big Name in the 47th House District". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  22. ^ Scott McCaffrey. "Parkhomenko Picks Up Sen. Ticer's Endorsement". Sun Gazette. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  23. ^ Beth Fouhy (11 June 2009). "Still reeling from 2008 loss, Clinton legacy takes another beating with McAuliffe's defeat".
  24. ^ Abby Livingston (18 March 2013). "Shop Talk: Who's Behind the Draft PAC for Hillary Rodham Clinton?". Roll Call.
  25. ^ David Weigel (1 April 2013). "Are You Ready for Hillary?". Slate. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  26. ^ Haberman, Maggie (July 17, 2015). "Job at Hillary Clinton's 'Super PAC' Didn't Assure a Campaign Post" – via NYTimes.com.
  27. ^ Haberman, Maggie (April 2015). "'Ready for Hillary' Workers Are Ready to Join Campaign". New York Times. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  28. ^ Sun, Baltimore. "Hillary Clinton names campaign staff for Maryland". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  29. ^ Chronicles, District. "Hillary for Washington, DC announces District leadership team". districtchronicles.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  30. ^ "2016 Election Center". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  31. ^ "2016 Election Center". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  32. ^ "AdamforDNC". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  33. ^ Allen, Jonathan (9 November 2017). "Former Clinton aides launch new Super PAC". NBC News.
  34. ^ Stanton, Zack (December 29, 2020). "The Worst Predictions of 2020". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  35. ^ a b SCOTT McCAFFREY. "47th District Race Gets Another Contender". Sun Gazette. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  36. ^ "How a volunteer cop and a history professor hatched Hillary Clinton's shadow presidential campaign". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  37. ^ Ross, Garrett (27 August 2022). "POLITICO Playbook: What's underneath all those redactions". POLITICO Playbook.
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