Chris Gallaway
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Chris Gallaway is a leader, innovator and strategist within the United States Democratic Party. He is also the current President of the Young Democrats of America (YDA). Chris has worked in professional politics since 1998 when he was hired by the Kansas Democratic Party to serve as the State Field Director for the Coordinated Campaign. In that position, Chris oversaw the development of a voter contact, advance vote, and GOTV program that resulted in the election of Dennis Moore to a congressional seat not held by a Democrat in 40 years.
In 2000, Chris became the Executive Director of the Kansas Democratic Party and was asked to serve as Director of the Kansas Coordinated Campaign. The 2000 effort was successful in the re-election of Congressman Moore and in laying the ground work for a statewide effort in 2002.
The election of Kathleen Sebelius as Governor, the first Kansas Democrat in decades to be elected to a statewide open-seat, was the highlight of the 2002 Kansas Coordinated Campaign. Congressman Moore was also re-elected, withstanding a tough re-districting map. Chris again served as Director of the more than $3 million dollar effort in addition to his responsibilities at the State Party. He left the State Party in September 2003 and is now a Vice President at FieldWorks, a Washington based grassroots political consulting firm.
In August of 2003, Chris was elected National President of the Young Democrats of America. He also served as Treasurer from 2001-2003 and was a key leader in the decision for YDA to financially separate from the DNC in order to more effectively run youth organizing programs as an independent 527 group. The decision to become a separate organization from the DNC proved to be a critical strategic move for YDA.
Chris was the first YDA President in 28 years to be elected to a second term, and only the second in the organization's history when he was re-elected in San Francisco in August of 2005.
In 2004, Chris led a diverse coalition of youth groups to form the Young Voter Alliance. The Alliance was an historic coordinated campaign in five swing states which had 10 offices and over 500 staff members. The Alliance, a project of YDA raised $1.2 million dollars and turned out thousands of young voters in the first step toward making young people a viable and reliable voting block for the Democratic Party.
Prior to his work at the Kansas Democratic Party and YDA, Chris ran for the Kansas House of Representatives at age 19. He was soundly defeated, but after the campaign was asked to take over the leadership of his county party. Chris has since served in Democratic Party and Young Democrats leadership positions at the local, state, regional and national levels, including as board member of the historic coalition of progressive organizations formed for the 2004 election cycle, America Votes.
Chris enjoys deciphering data issues within campaigns and has earned a reputation for his in-depth solutions and strategic targeting. He has managed campaigns and programs in nine states. He and his wife Allison have two cocker-spaniels, Jake and Maddie, and live in Alexandria, Virginia.
