Ken Mehlman
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Brian Mehlman is an American businessman, attorney, and political figure who served as the campaign manager
for the 2004 re-election campaign of George W. Bush
and Chairman of the Republican
National Committee
from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, President Bush appointed Mehlman to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
On August 26, 2010, Mehlman came out
as gay
, making him one of the most prominent openly gay figures in the Republican Party.
Mehlman is currently a member and Head of Global Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.. He oversees the firm's global external affairs activities, including corporate marketing, regulatory affairs and public policy, communications, and engagement with the firm and portfolio companies' key stakeholders. He previously served as a partner
at the law firm
of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
.
, for which he was the head of the firm's auditing department in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
. Mehlman's brother Bruce Mehlman works as a lobbyist at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.
Mehlman received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, where he became a member of Phi Kappa Tau
's Xi chapter. He received his J.D.
from Harvard Law School
in 1991, where he was a classmate of future President Barack Obama
.
at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
in Washington, D.C.
(1991–1996) and assisted campaigns in Massachusetts
(William Weld's
1990 gubernatorial campaign
), Ohio
, Virginia
, Texas
, and Georgia
, as well as the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns.
Mehlman was chief of staff to Representative Kay Granger
of Texas's 12th congressional district
and legislative director to Representative Lamar S. Smith
of Texas's 21st congressional district
.
Mehlman served as field director for the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush
. When Bush became President, Mehlman became director of the White House
Office of Political Affairs. He managed the Bush re-election campaign in 2004. In January 2005, the American Association of Political Consultants
gave Mehlman the "Campaign Manager of the Year" award for his management of the Bush/Cheney presidential ticket.
In addition to his role at KKR, Mehlman is a trustee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
, Franklin & Marshall College
, and the National Endowment for Democracy
. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
and serves on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics and the executive leadership cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
.
as the chair of the Republican National Committee
and was elected to the post on January 19, 2005.
Mehlman announced after the November 2006 general election that he would not seek re-election to another term as Republican National Chairman. One of his top deputies, RNC political Director Michael DuHaime
, announced in December 2006 that he would become campaign manager for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign
.
Mehlman addressed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) a full year before Bush addressed the civil rights
organization. In his address to the NAACP on July 14, 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, Mehlman apologized for the Republican Party's failure to reach out to the black community in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
, stating, "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization... I am here as Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong." In a CNN
interview a couple of days after the speech, he reluctantly mentioned the "Southern strategy
" by name.
Although Mehlman's speech seemed to suggest a new approach towards the African-American community, most have considered the approach to be unsuccessful, with several polls indicating that Republicans have not improved in terms of African-American approval. A Washington Post poll shows that Bush's approval rating among African Americans fell to two percent at one point, and a report card issued by the NAACP gave "F's" to a majority of Republicans in the 109th Congress, although the grading was based upon positions assumed to be liberal African-American issues or liberal issues in general.
As the head of the RNC, Mehlman played a key role, along with Karl Rove
, in executing the Republican Party's long-term, yet ultimately unsuccessful, plan for electoral dominance. This is discussed at length in Peter Wallsten
and Tom Hamburger's book, One Party Country
. Ken Mehlman voluntarily stepped down as Chairman of the RNC at the end of 2006. He was replaced by Mike Duncan
and Mel Martinez
.
, the Northeast political director for the RNC in 2002, show that he made 115 outgoing calls — mostly to the same number in the White House office of political affairs — between September 17 and November 22, 2002. At the time, the office of political affairs was headed by Mehlman. Two dozen calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. on the night after the voting, a three-day period during which the criminal phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out, and then abruptly shut down. Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same phone number. In April 2006, Mehlman issued a statement on the matter, noting that his deputy for the Northeast states routinely discussed election business with RNC officials, and categorically stated that "none of my conversations nor the conversations of my staff, involved discussion of the phone-jamming incident."
that he is gay
. Prior to this revelation, rumors about Mehlman's sexual orientation
had circulated since at least 2004. In May 2006, Mehlman denied that he was gay, telling the New York Daily News
, “I’m not gay, but those stories did a number on my dating life for six months.” On November 8, 2006, comedian Bill Maher
made an appearance on CNN
's Larry King Live
, during which he referred to Mehlman as a closeted
gay man. The incident became controversial because CNN edited out Maher’s comments in later taped editions and removed the reference to Mehlman's sexual orientation from the transcript of the show. The day after Maher's comments, Mehlman announced he would step down as chairman of the RNC (although reports said that his resignation had been expected for some time).
Almost four years later, in an article in The Atlantic, Mehlman stated that he is in fact gay, and that he plans to be an advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage
. According to the New York Times, Mehlman's "announcement makes him apparently the most prominent Republican official to come out." This disclosure followed years of him avoiding and denying inquiries about his sexual orientation. During his RNC chairmanship, Mehlman supported social positions of the Republican Party, including opposition to same-sex marriage. Mehlman claimed that he could not have gone against party consensus, but acknowledged that, had he come out of the closet earlier, he could have impacted Republican efforts to pass state initiatives and referenda banning same-sex marriage.
and Joe Jervis, going so far as to award him a "Roy Cohn
Award" and dubbing him a "Quisling
Homophobic scumbag"; personalities such as Cenk Uygur
and Michael Rogers (the latter of whom has long advocated for the forced outing of closeted gay politicians who vote or advocate against LGBT interests) both condemned and rejected his request for sympathy on MSNBC
's The Ed Show
.
Other members of the LGBT community have expressed support for Mehlman. Dustin Lance Black
, the Academy Award winning writer of Milk
, said, "Ken represents an incredible coup for the American Foundation for Equal Rights ... As a victorious former presidential campaign manager and head of the Republican Party, Ken has the proven experience and expertise to help us communicate with people across each of the 50 states." Stephen Petrow, former president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, wrote in a Huffington Post column, "... the 43-year old Mehlman found the courage to be honest about his identity with family, friends, former colleagues and current colleagues [who have] been wonderful and supportive." Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe said in a public statement, "We hope the fact that Ken Mehlman has reached this level of honesty will now encourage other political leaders to reject divisive anti-gay campaign tactics..."
In June 2011, Mehlman went to Albany to speak to leaders of New York’s legislature, where he encouraged lawmakers to vote in favor of same-sex marriage. Mehlman told the group, “There’s a strong Republican and conservative case to be made in favor of the right to marry.”
Mehlman often spoke with undecided GOP senators, including three of the four who eventually voted in favor of the bill. Mehlman, who gained the support of many prominent gay-rights backers, discussed the political and ideological reasons why lawmakers should vote for the bill. He said, “Letting two adults who love each other get married strengthens and promotes families.” Mehlman told the GOP senators that legalizing gay marriage aligned with the Republican interests and principles. He also emphasized that polls showed a significant shift toward voter support of gay marriage. Subsequently, the votes of the four Republican led to the end of a deadlock in the legislative session and made New York the largest and most influential state to adopt same-sex marriage.
Several gay rights leaders and bloggers recognized Mehlman’s role.
neighborhood of Manhattan
, in New York City
.
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
for the 2004 re-election campaign of George W. Bush
George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004
This article is about the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, the former President of the United States and winner of the 2004 Presidential Election. See George W. Bush for a detailed biography and information about his full presidency, and George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000 for a...
and Chairman of the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, President Bush appointed Mehlman to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
On August 26, 2010, Mehlman came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, making him one of the most prominent openly gay figures in the Republican Party.
Mehlman is currently a member and Head of Global Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.. He oversees the firm's global external affairs activities, including corporate marketing, regulatory affairs and public policy, communications, and engagement with the firm and portfolio companies' key stakeholders. He previously served as a partner
Partner (business rank)
A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position. Originally, these businesses were set up as legal partnerships in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits of the enterprise. The name has remained even though many of these...
at the law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a law firm founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1945 by Robert Strauss and Richard Gump. The firm now numbers more than 800 attorneys and advisers in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia...
.
Early life and education
Mehlman is the son of Judith A. Mehlman and Arthur S. Mehlman, a director of MuniMae and formerly a partner at KPMGKPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
, for which he was the head of the firm's auditing department in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West...
. Mehlman's brother Bruce Mehlman works as a lobbyist at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.
Mehlman received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, where he became a member of Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...
's Xi chapter. He received his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1991, where he was a classmate of future President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Career
Mehlman practiced environmental lawEnvironmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a law firm founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1945 by Robert Strauss and Richard Gump. The firm now numbers more than 800 attorneys and advisers in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(1991–1996) and assisted campaigns in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
(William Weld's
William Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
1990 gubernatorial campaign
Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1990
The 1990 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Republican William Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts for the first time. He beat Democrat John Silber to become the first Republican Governor of Massachusetts since 1975....
), Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, as well as the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns.
Mehlman was chief of staff to Representative Kay Granger
Kay Granger
Kay Granger , a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas, currently represents the 12th congressional district in the U.S...
of Texas's 12th congressional district
Texas's 12th congressional district
Texas District 12 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the western half of Tarrant County as well as all of Parker and Wise counties in the state of Texas. The current Representative from District 12 is Kay Granger.-List of representatives:-Election...
and legislative director to Representative Lamar S. Smith
Lamar S. Smith
Lamar Seeligson Smith is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. The district includes most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as well as nearly all of the Texas Hill Country...
of Texas's 21st congressional district
Texas's 21st congressional district
-References:*...
.
Mehlman served as field director for the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush
George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2000
This article is about the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush, winner of the 2000 presidential election and re-elected in the 2004 election.See George W. Bush for a detailed biography and information about his presidency, and George W...
. When Bush became President, Mehlman became director of the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
Office of Political Affairs. He managed the Bush re-election campaign in 2004. In January 2005, the American Association of Political Consultants
American Association of Political Consultants
The American Association of Political Consultants is the trade group for the political consulting profession in the United States. Founded in 1969, it is the world's largest organization of political consultants, public affairs professionals and communications specialists...
gave Mehlman the "Campaign Manager of the Year" award for his management of the Bush/Cheney presidential ticket.
In addition to his role at KKR, Mehlman is a trustee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
, Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College is a four-year private co-educational residential national liberal arts college in the Northwest Corridor neighborhood of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States....
, and the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
and serves on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics and the executive leadership cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is located in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., southwest of the National Mall . The memorial is America's 395th national park...
.
Republican National Committee chairmanship
Mehlman was Bush's choice to replace Ed GillespieEd Gillespie
Edward W. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House. Gillespie, along with Jack Quinn, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm...
as the chair of the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
and was elected to the post on January 19, 2005.
Mehlman announced after the November 2006 general election that he would not seek re-election to another term as Republican National Chairman. One of his top deputies, RNC political Director Michael DuHaime
Michael DuHaime
Mike DuHaime , a Republican strategist and public affairs executive, is a managing director at Mercury Public Affairs, LLC,a national public affairs firm. He was the chief strategist for the successful campaign of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie for Governor of New Jersey in 2009. Christie...
, announced in December 2006 that he would become campaign manager for Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign
Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign, 2008
Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign began following the formation of the Draft Giuliani movement in October 2005. The next year, Giuliani opened an exploratory committee and formally announced in February 2007 that he was actively seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican...
.
Mehlman addressed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP) a full year before Bush addressed the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
organization. In his address to the NAACP on July 14, 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, Mehlman apologized for the Republican Party's failure to reach out to the black community in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, stating, "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization... I am here as Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong." In a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
interview a couple of days after the speech, he reluctantly mentioned the "Southern strategy
Southern strategy
In American politics, the Southern strategy refers to the Republican Party strategy of winning elections in Southern states by exploiting anti-African American racism and fears of lawlessness among Southern white voters and appealing to fears of growing federal power in social and economic matters...
" by name.
Although Mehlman's speech seemed to suggest a new approach towards the African-American community, most have considered the approach to be unsuccessful, with several polls indicating that Republicans have not improved in terms of African-American approval. A Washington Post poll shows that Bush's approval rating among African Americans fell to two percent at one point, and a report card issued by the NAACP gave "F's" to a majority of Republicans in the 109th Congress, although the grading was based upon positions assumed to be liberal African-American issues or liberal issues in general.
As the head of the RNC, Mehlman played a key role, along with Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, in executing the Republican Party's long-term, yet ultimately unsuccessful, plan for electoral dominance. This is discussed at length in Peter Wallsten
Peter Wallsten
Peter Wallsten is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who covers national politics. Wallsten joined the Journal in October 2009 from the Los Angeles Times, where he authored, with Tom Hamburger, One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century.A graduate of the...
and Tom Hamburger's book, One Party Country
One Party Country
One Party Country refers to the Republican Party's vision for long term electoral supremacy in the United States through a generation-long effort to develop its political infrastructure, its knowledge of voter motivations, and by appealing to voter demographics that have traditionally leaned to the...
. Ken Mehlman voluntarily stepped down as Chairman of the RNC at the end of 2006. He was replaced by Mike Duncan
Mike Duncan
Robert M. "Mike" Duncan was the 60th Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was elected in January 2007, replacing Ken Mehlman, and served until January 30, 2009, when he withdrew from renomination to the chairmanship...
and Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
.
Phone jamming scandal
A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at the 2005 criminal trial of James TobinJames Tobin (political operative)
James Tobin was President George W. Bush's New England campaign chairman. He was convicted on December 15, 2005, of telephone harassment "for his part in a plot to jam the Democratic Party's phones on Election Day 2002"...
, the Northeast political director for the RNC in 2002, show that he made 115 outgoing calls — mostly to the same number in the White House office of political affairs — between September 17 and November 22, 2002. At the time, the office of political affairs was headed by Mehlman. Two dozen calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. on the night after the voting, a three-day period during which the criminal phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out, and then abruptly shut down. Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same phone number. In April 2006, Mehlman issued a statement on the matter, noting that his deputy for the Northeast states routinely discussed election business with RNC officials, and categorically stated that "none of my conversations nor the conversations of my staff, involved discussion of the phone-jamming incident."
Coming out
In August 2010, Mehlman revealedComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
that he is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. Prior to this revelation, rumors about Mehlman's sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
had circulated since at least 2004. In May 2006, Mehlman denied that he was gay, telling the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, “I’m not gay, but those stories did a number on my dating life for six months.” On November 8, 2006, comedian Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
made an appearance on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, during which he referred to Mehlman as a closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
gay man. The incident became controversial because CNN edited out Maher’s comments in later taped editions and removed the reference to Mehlman's sexual orientation from the transcript of the show. The day after Maher's comments, Mehlman announced he would step down as chairman of the RNC (although reports said that his resignation had been expected for some time).
Almost four years later, in an article in The Atlantic, Mehlman stated that he is in fact gay, and that he plans to be an advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in the United States
The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
. According to the New York Times, Mehlman's "announcement makes him apparently the most prominent Republican official to come out." This disclosure followed years of him avoiding and denying inquiries about his sexual orientation. During his RNC chairmanship, Mehlman supported social positions of the Republican Party, including opposition to same-sex marriage. Mehlman claimed that he could not have gone against party consensus, but acknowledged that, had he come out of the closet earlier, he could have impacted Republican efforts to pass state initiatives and referenda banning same-sex marriage.
Reactions
A few commentators criticized Mehlman for remaining closeted about his sexuality, with some, such as Michael RogersMichael Rogers (activist)
Michael Rogers is the Managing Director and partner of Raw Story Media, Inc. publishers of The Raw Story, an American fundraiser, blogger and gay rights activist in the Washington, D.C.-area best known for his activity in outing closeted gay politicians who actively oppose gay rights...
and Joe Jervis, going so far as to award him a "Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
Award" and dubbing him a "Quisling
Quisling
Quisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...
Homophobic scumbag"; personalities such as Cenk Uygur
Cenk Uygur
Cenk Kadir Uygur , is the main host and co-founder of the liberal Internet and talk radio show, The Young Turks . A naturalized U.S. citizen, Uygur was born in Turkey and raised from age eight in the United States. He worked as an attorney in Washington D.C. and New York before beginning his career...
and Michael Rogers (the latter of whom has long advocated for the forced outing of closeted gay politicians who vote or advocate against LGBT interests) both condemned and rejected his request for sympathy on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's The Ed Show
The Ed Show
The Ed Show is an hour-long weeknight news commentary program on MSNBC. The program is hosted by Ed Schultz, who hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, The Ed Schultz Show. It debuted on MSNBC on April 6, 2009, at 6 P.M. ET. It moved to 10 P.M. ET, filling the time slot previously...
.
Other members of the LGBT community have expressed support for Mehlman. Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer, and LGBT rights activist. He has won two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the television series Big Love and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk.-Early life:Black was born in Sacramento,...
, the Academy Award winning writer of Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, said, "Ken represents an incredible coup for the American Foundation for Equal Rights ... As a victorious former presidential campaign manager and head of the Republican Party, Ken has the proven experience and expertise to help us communicate with people across each of the 50 states." Stephen Petrow, former president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, wrote in a Huffington Post column, "... the 43-year old Mehlman found the courage to be honest about his identity with family, friends, former colleagues and current colleagues [who have] been wonderful and supportive." Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe said in a public statement, "We hope the fact that Ken Mehlman has reached this level of honesty will now encourage other political leaders to reject divisive anti-gay campaign tactics..."
Participation in New York Gay Marriage Vote
Ken Mehlman played a key role in the passage of the same-sex marriage law in New York. Mehlman reached out to conservative donors and operatives in an effort to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.In June 2011, Mehlman went to Albany to speak to leaders of New York’s legislature, where he encouraged lawmakers to vote in favor of same-sex marriage. Mehlman told the group, “There’s a strong Republican and conservative case to be made in favor of the right to marry.”
Mehlman often spoke with undecided GOP senators, including three of the four who eventually voted in favor of the bill. Mehlman, who gained the support of many prominent gay-rights backers, discussed the political and ideological reasons why lawmakers should vote for the bill. He said, “Letting two adults who love each other get married strengthens and promotes families.” Mehlman told the GOP senators that legalizing gay marriage aligned with the Republican interests and principles. He also emphasized that polls showed a significant shift toward voter support of gay marriage. Subsequently, the votes of the four Republican led to the end of a deadlock in the legislative session and made New York the largest and most influential state to adopt same-sex marriage.
Several gay rights leaders and bloggers recognized Mehlman’s role.
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Legislation
Previously, Mehlman was closely involved in the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation. In fall 2010, Mehlman worked with the White House and lobbyists in order to convince GOP senators to vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy requiring gay servicemembers to conceal their sexuality. After Mehlman undertook efforts to lobby 10 GOP senators, 6 of them voted to repeal the policy.Personal life
Mehlman is Jewish and lives in the ChelseaChelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.