PERSON: Cheri Jacobus

Political/PR Consultant

Cheri Jacobus is a nationally-recognized political strategist, pundit and writer. She is a long-time and frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CBS.com, CNBC, FBN, HLN, C-Span and other media outlets, offering political opinion and analysis from the Republican perspective and is regularly quoted in national publications such as USA Today, The Washington Times, Daily Caller, Human Events and others. She has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management since 2007 and a political columnist at The Hill newspaper since February, 2009, as well as a contributor to The Hill’s pundit blog and Jewish World Review.

In addition to political campaign strategy, Cheri’s expertise is in message development, media strategy and training, press relations and communications services, as well as policy and legislative strategy, communications and public affairs consulting for companies and organizations dealing with Congress, the White House and federal agencies. She founded Capitol Strategies PR and public affairs in 1998, building a client base that includes political campaigns, business and labor coalitions, political grassroots organizations and legislative campaigns.

Cheri Jacobus has managed and advised several noteworthy political campaigns, and was a media spokesperson at the Republican National Committee. While serving as Communications Director for the House Education and Workforce Committee after the Republican takeover of Congress in 1995, Ms. Jacobus helped shape policy by incorporating communications strategy into issue development, as well as directing press relations for the Committee’s issues in the Congress and serving as press spokesperson.

In 1988, after graduating from the American Campaign Academy, an intense, 10-week campaign management program dubbed “The West Point of Politics” by Newsweek magazine, Cheri Jacobus served as campaign manager and chief political strategist for Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) in his uphill battle to defeat an entrenched, well-financed Democrat incumbent at a time when incumbent congressmen enjoyed a 98.5 percent reelection rate. Though the then-unknown Mr. Gilchrest received no PAC contributions and was outspent more than 6 to 1. Ms. Jacobus devised and implemented a strong earned media strategy resulting in Mr. Gilchrest garnering 49.6 percent of the vote in one of the nation’s closest races, surprising “conventional wisdom” in both Maryland and Washington, thus paving the way for Mr. Gilchrest to easily win the seat in 1990.

Cheri’s political experience also includes working for former House Republican leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.) and Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) in addition to devising and implementing grassroots, lobbying and media strategy for successful repeal of the job-killing boat luxury tax while at National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). She also was communications director at National-Wholesale Grocers Association and acted as spokesperson and press secretary for NAWGA President, former Secretary of Agriculture, John Block.

A native of Peoria, Ill., Cheri Jacobus graduated from West Virginia University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism.

— politico.com