Biography
For nearly two decades, Mike Madrid has been changing the outcomes of political campaigns throughout the country. His active involvement in local, state, and federal races has helped him to develop a keen insight into the successful characteristics of winning campaigns.
Madrid is a nationally recognized expert on Latino voting trends. He graduated from the Edmund G. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1997, where he wrote his senior thesis on Latino politics and the perspective that politicization of emerging Latino voter groups in Southwestern states was unique in American history. The completion of his thesis became the basis for his pioneering work on Latino communications and outreach strategies in California, Texas, Florida and nationwide. He has served as the press secretary for the California Assembly Republican leader and as the political director for the California Republican Party. In these roles, Madrid played a key role in developing and executing innovative Latino outreach and communications strategies.
In 2001 he was named as one of America’s “Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business Magazine. He is a regular commentator on Latino political issues in statewide and national media publications.
Since 2000, Madrid has also developed an expertise in local governments in California. He served as the public affairs director to the League of California Cities and as a strategic adviser to the California Redevelopment Association. Madrid is the editor and publisher of California City News (www.californiacitynews.org), a news site dedicated to “the best politics, policy and practices of local government in California.,” and among the most widely read local government publication in California. In 2011, Madrid helped develop the Leadership California Institute, an organization dedicated to educating and training future legislators before they get in office.
As a partner in the political research, data and consulting firm GrassrootsLab, Madrid has developed new data and analytic approaches to political modeling. Madrid is a fellow at the Unruh Institute for Politics at USC and is a co-director of the Los Angeles / USC Times Poll. In 2013, Madrid was appointed to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).